Classy

by publius

I usually only read people like Riehl through the filter of John Cole and Tim F. But I saw (via Memeorandum) that Riehl wrote something about Obama's grandmother, and assumed the worst. Turns out, I was right -- it's the worst:

Man. I hope his numbers don't start to drop. He might have to hold a pillow against her face and maybe later break into tears the way Hillary did. Only I suspect hers were genuine.

You read it there first folks -- if his numbers drop, Obama might have to murder his grandmother and then cry fake tears about it.

Comments

[Ugh]

Hasn't that guy been invited to give commentary on CNN?

[tom p]

you expected better?

[rea]

Maybe, just maybe, one of the results of this election is that even Republicans will begin to realize that this stuff doesn't paly well any more.

[Ugh]

OT - Surprise, surprise. The College Republican who claimed that an Obama supporter robbed her and carved a "B" on her face? Racants today. Apparently charges will be filed against her.

I'm expecting a mea culpa from Bizarro World any second now.

[KCinDC]

Damn, Ugh, I thought the people saying she carved the B herself because it was backwards were going a little far, but maybe not.

Another story of right-wing classiness: Proponents of California's anti-gay Proposition 8 admit sending blackmail letters to raise donations.

[cleek]

posting rules be damned, there's no other way to put it: not only is Riehl dumber than just about anyone else on the internet, he's also twice as scummy.

and yes, he's been on CNN.

[Ugh]

KCinDC: I wasn't buying. The alleged circumstances seemed too perfect. But then, the backwards B, dullest knife wielded by a robber ever, and holding still so the B comes out nicely.

[KCinDC]

You're right, Ugh. I wasn't paying enough attention to the story yesterday.

[KCinDC]

Michelle Bachmann attempts classiness by taping an apology ad. I'm sure that'll fix everything.

[Porcupine_Pal]

The 'balance' has to come from somewhere.

[david kilmer]

I'm actually starting to think that cleek's theory about projection is right.

[jonnybutter]

I think of this post and pub's next one ('Giants') as a pair. Our stinky vestigal racism and the kind of ugly comment on display above are all about projection.

90% of the brouha about race in this country is from a white pov, as it has always been. Whoever it was made the semi-famous comment to the effect that black Americans 'can't be racist', was wrong, strictly speaking (wrong because any homo sapiens can be racist). But he was, perhaps, getting at another truth: the 'race problem' in the US is almost exclusively a non-black problem, at root. Racial animosity is not the fault of black people. Yes, it sounds obvious, because it is. But all the endless deadly serious bloviating about race in the press and on tv suggests otherwise, that it's 'our' problem, and there is fear and guilt behind every word and gesture. That is a white POV.

Same with Riehl's comment and the thousands like it, both bloggy and mainstream. His quote is about himself. He should be embarrassed to have displayed his own cynicism, callousness and narcissism for all to see, but he gets around that by pretending he's talking about Obama.

We need mental and physical health insurance parity in this country. Really. Mental health problems in an individual are one thing; cultural mental illness is another - scarier, more appalling.

[jonnybutter]

Um...as we were saying:

Ashley Todd, 20-year-old college student from College Station, Texas, admitted Friday that the story was false and was being charged with making a false report to police...

Todd, who is white, told police she was attacked by a 6-foot-4 black man Wednesday night.

Are you sure he was 6'4"? And not 6'6"? Did he say he was the Boogie Man of your secret dreams, Ashley?

[Eric Martin]

More Riehl class from today (apparently, he's upset about another anti-Palin piece from Kathleen Parker):

"Note to Kathleen Parker: Before you go off like that again, you might want to change your Buckley School photo (at right) to something other than one that says, "Hey, I'm getting older but I'd still love to meet some young would be journalists out of Harvard who love to f/ck!"

Or perhaps that glasses sliding down the nose Charlie Gibson look is now a little more befitting your stature assuming you've put on a little weight?"

Charming, huh?

Via Roy

[Catsy]

Wow. The one Eric just linked to is pretty bad too, but I have to admit that Riehl's comment about Obama's grandmother takes the cake as being one of the vilest, most inexcusably inhuman things I've seen in the political blogosphere. And I've been to the dark places of the internets.

Why is this piece of human filth not shunned by all decent people?

[Eric Martin]

Why is this piece of human filth not shunned by all decent people?

But he is.

[ThatLeftTurnInABQ]

Why is this piece of human filth not shunned by all decent people?

I used to (and still in part do) hate Riehl and others like him but part of me is starting to pity them just a little bit. They are still loathsome and despicable, but they are also trapped in a hell of their own making, imprisoned by fears that are so irrational and out of touch with reality that nobody else can do anything to rescue them. Now that their side is losing power, it seems like the apocalypse to them. That makes me laugh but it also is sort of pathetic at the same time. That disturbed women in PA with the faked ATM incident is in some ways a metaphor for what is happening to the extreme right - self-mutilation is all they have left.

Note that this holds only as long as they aren't able to act on their fears (or inspire others to do so) in a way that hurts other people.

[vida]

"I'm expecting a mea culpa from Bizarro World any second now."

It there, but I honestly have never read a worse apology. Ever. Mostly they congratulate themselves for retracting a false story which they are sure "the left" would never do. Painful to read - don't do it unless you are interested in dysfunction. They really are nuts.

[KCinDC]

Rush Limbaugh is better known than Riehl, but he contented himself with speculating that Obama's visit to Hawaii was a pretext for something mysterious related to his birth certificate. Can he be institutionalized for his own good?

[matttbastard]

Riehl bumps and updates his original post:

Update: Well, due to the extreme criticism from the "Laura killed her high school sweetheart, Cheney shot his friend, Bushitler" Left - I felt I should update and bump this post. I'm sorry if my sarcasm regarding the pillow reference came across as too unkind. I am certain Obama is a kind man. Consequently, I don't actually believe he would "smother" his Grandma with a pillow.

I imagine his compassion would compel him to use a plastic bag. But as that is so environmentally unsound, I didn't want to even suggest it in case it might damage his reputation among the faithful, so many of them being Green and all.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled post.

Yep--classy with a capital 'ASS'.

[Anarch]

Ignoring the Bushitler thing... what bewilders me about Riehl's, uh, response is that Laura Bush did actually kill her high school friend and Cheney did actually shoot his friend in the face. Is he so far gone that he can't tell the difference between documented facts and his febrile, matricidal fantasies?

...on second thought, don't answer that. I'm not sure I want to know.

[hilzoy]

Yuck. I was going to say 'ugh', but I thought Ugh might not like it.

I wonder: does he think at all before he hits the 'post' button? Does he ask himself: is this something I want to stand behind?

[russell]

Woodwork squeaks and out come the freaks.

IMO it is, in however perverse a way, a good thinng for folks like Riehl to crank it up to 11 if that's what they want to do, and put their callous weirdness on the public record. That way we all know where they're coming from.

A lot of the conservative agenda has basically crashed and burned over the last few years, and it ain't over yet. Do they want to face reality, deal, and join the rest of the human race in sorting the mess out, or do they want to crawl into their cave and blame the rest of the world for the failure?

It's cards on the table time. Now's when we get to see what a guy like Riehl is made of.

Thanks -

[Andrew]

When you've spent years fostering hate and stupidity as a virtue within your party, don't be shocked when they act in a hateful and ignorant manner.

[Mrs. Polly]

If you scroll about a third down Reihl's comments, you come to this one: "I can't believe that Obama would take time away from campaigning to go visit his grandma in a foreign country."

I thought it might be a put-on, but the rest of the comment is so incoherent that it may very well not be!

[KCinDC]

Polly, the comment by clb72 reads:

I can't believe that Obama would take time away from campaigning to go visit his grandma in a foreign country. This is clearly a desperate plea for the votes of old people whose grandkids never visit. If he really loved his grandma, he would completely ignore her so that people wouldn't think he was using her to score political points. I bet he wasn't wearing his flag pin when he went to her bedside.

There's no way that's not someone being sarcastic.

[russell]

This is clearly a desperate plea for the votes of old people whose grandkids never visit.

He's piggy-backing on the Great Schlep strategy!!

Thanks -