Wingnutienity
Mark Steyn, Canada’s Leading Asshole, is at it again. Last week he took joy in thoroughly regurgitating the dolchstosslegende; this week, a little more of the same, with bonus chunks of batshit insanity retched into the airwaves and internets.
Steyn: “Billions for imperial administrators, but
not one fucking cent for the social contract.”
First, a dolchstoss redux of sorts. Goddamn it, argues our Wingnutien, if the Senate can’t get behind Dear Leader’s Improved Surge/Terminate-The-Brutes policy, then what’s the point of having a Senate at all, the fucking backstabbers?
Above: Improved Surge
In a two-party system, if you’re pro-war, it would be nice if one of those parties was pro-war. That’s to say it would be nice if the Republicans in the Senate understood that you need to be waging this war seriously, and not undermining the President’s conduct of it.
[…]
You know, I simply think that John Warner…I mean, I find it very difficult to discuss the United States Senate without expressing total contempt. But I think people like John Warner have an absolutely absurd idea of what their role is. I think the signal they send to the world is that the President is extremely lonely and politically isolated. And then of course, that emboldens all kind of forces in the world who feel that they just have to sit him out, wait him out, and that they no longer…they don’t need to take any change in strategy in Iraq seriously. I think this is a dreadful thing. You know, it’s no way to fight a war, and frankly, the United States Congress actually doesn’t have a terribly good record on foreign policy, compared to the executive, and it certainly doesn’t have a good record on the long term consequences of war and national security issues.
[…]
Yeah. I mean, this is what I think people don’t understand, that militaries don’t win wars, nations win wars. And nations have to win wars on all fronts by using all elements of national power, including media and diplomatic and political, which means that Senators should not effectively be crafting alternative war strategies. You know, the reality is that this President, I agree with, I think it was Newt Gingrich’s suggestion earlier today, the President should have a war cabinet, small war cabinet of four or five people. That’s the way most countries have traditionally fought wars. And if you’re not in that war cabinet, then you shouldn’t be trying to undermine war policy. Shame on Senator Warner.
I especially love it when Steyn argues, though through the negative, so eager is he to sneer at Congress, that the Executive has a relatively good record on foriegn policy. Bwahahaha! But what about the fuck-ups, the ‘greeted as liberators,’ the WMD — stop it! Shut up! Mark can’t hear you! He’s covering his ears and babbling; he’s not gonna listen to your demands for accountability! He’s not gonna put up with any, ‘I was right and you wingnuts were wrong’ shit, oh no:
I mean, I never feel more foreign than when we have these slightly surreal debates that are going on at the moment, because a lot of it is retroactive. You know, that fellow who gave the response to the State of the Union, Senator Webb […]spent most of his address whining about what might have been if they’d only listened to him in 2003, essentially. It’s not 2003 now, it’s 2007. And the idea that as a kind of intellectual exercise, you can debate whether or not to wage a war, whether to wage it ineffectually and all the rest of it, no, you can’t. You’re in it, and you have to win it, and you can have an argument about how to win it, but if you’re not even interested in victory, as most of these Democrats, and pathetic people like Susan Collins of Maine are not, then really, you can’t be part of that conversation.
What? Wingnuts be responsible, accountable? Step out of the way so that more competent people can get us out of this mess? Fuck you, Hoser! We wingnuts may have wrecked everything but shut up about that! How dare you withdraw our blank check! What are you, a terrorist?
Classic ‘Steynwalling’ here. But then, you’d aggressively cut off any demands for accountability too if you were stupid enough, like Steyn was, to argue (just as a for-instance) in April 2003 that “In a year’s time, Iraq will be, at a bare minimum, the least badly-governed state in the Arab World and, at best, pleasant, civilized and thriving.”
Crazy, huh? But this sort of thing Steyn can do in his sleep. Sure it’s wingnutty, even batshit fascist cuckoo fucktard wingnutty, but you expect more from Steyn — or at least I do. And just when I feared he was sleepwalking through his pundit workday, he summons up from his depths a wingnuttery of such concentrated evil that I am thrilled, sated, ready to walk out into nature with a vacant stare, occasionally muttering in an elderly timbre things to myself about how unfortunate the world is that it contains monsters like Mark Steyn:
I’m a believer in small government. I think it’s very difficult for big government to maintain the kind of self reliant citizenry that you need to win long existential struggles like the one we’re in.
Are you not thrilled? Steyn, like his fellow Wingnutien David Frum, believes in economic libertarianism/’small government’ because it stresses the citizenry so that it will:
live in fear of losing everything and therefore to adopt – as fearful people will – a cowed and subservient posture: in a word, they behave ‘conservatively’.
Wingnut social engineering: ‘toughening’ people so that they will be servile, and therefore easily manipulated into accepting your ongoing wars with…well, just about everyone on Earth, if you have your way. Of course, just as Steyn isn’t about to be a real soldier in his ‘existential’ crusade, neither is he gonna be one of those consigned to the ‘mass-toughening’ project, for he believes that “one of the key measures of a society’s health is how easily you can insulate yourself from its underclass.”
But he’s not through for the day! It turns out that there is for Steyn a proper time for ‘big government’: when it can churn out and maintain an imperial service corps, administering our colonies:
he institutional performance of government departments other than Defense has been abysmal. This is one of the greatest failings of United States foreign policy. Its very heartwarming when you see US soldiers with beaming Iraqi kids because theyve just rebuilt the schoolhouse, but its t what US soldiers should be doing. In the modern world, your civil service, judiciary, agriculture and treasury expertise need a capacity for global projection, too.
Pith helmets are never far from Steyn’s mind, but being Canada’s Leading Asshole and all, he’s far too subtle, today at least, for open imperialism. No, the operation must be given a douchebag-thin layer of legitimacy:
They don’t need to be running the joint[…] Instead of Paul Bremer as viceroy, a lot of really great discreet Number Twos in the Interior, Treasury, Education and other ministries.
Puppetry. Or, as Steyn just a few sentences before lovingly quoted an Australian politican saying, “Sovereignty is not absolute”.
Well, which should they do? Wage the war seriously, or support the President’s conduct?
Bonus Chunks Forever!
Oh, somehow I missed this of Steyn’s last week, his attempt at wingnut comedy.
[Groan. Crickets chirp. A tumbleweed blows by.]
So war opponents in Congress send [the signal] to the world . . . that the President is extremely lonely and politically isolated
Reminds me of the headline after the SOTU speech that repeated Bush’s “I’m a uniter not a divider” thought bubble. He sure has united the 70% of Americans who oppose the war.
Wow. So, not only does he come out and say he’s “pro-war” (Who are we fighting and why? Who the fuck cares, let those bombers fly!!) he then goes on to bitch about having at three-branch government system.
Christ.
“I think the signal they send to the world is that the President is extremely lonely and politically isolated. And then of course, that emboldens all kind of forces in the world who feel that they just have to sit him out, wait him out, and that they no longer…they don’t need to take any change in strategy in Iraq seriously. I think this is a dreadful thing.”
NO, see, cause foreigners have a Middle-school level understanding of how the US Governmental system works. Checks and balances, that sort of thing.
Let’s review:
– An imperial, corporatist, totalitarian state is an example of small government.
– Loyalty to the state and the Party is an example of rugged individualism.
– Failure means success.
The Bush administration shares the views of International Wingnuttia, people.
Mark Steyn is a defeatist. In 2002 al Qaeda did not exist in Iraq – Saddam Hussein saw to that. Following the American invasion, al Qaeda now operate in Iraq. That looks like a major advance to me and Mark Steyn seems quite happy with that.
You know, they’ve had a lot of their senior guys picked off, killed, captured, they’ve been reduced pretty much in Iraq to killing other Muslims.
Odd, isn’t it, how the White House squatter Small Government Steyn idolizes is, you know, the creator of the two biggest fucking bureaucracies in recent American history. And two of the most corrupt, for that matter.
In a two-party system, if you’re pro-war, it would be nice if one of those parties was pro-war.
Waah, my extreme views don’t dominate one of the two parties in Congress!
Steyn doesn’t seem to realize that leadership in a democratic government means persuading other people to follow your lead. Bush is a failure on that count. His solution seems to be not to find a more convincing spokesman for the job (even if that were possible in the war with Iraq) but to give the current failure more power.
I think the signal they send to the world is that the President is extremely lonely and politically isolated.
Poor old President Nobby No-Mates. You’d have a lot more kids willing to play in your sandpit if you didn’t keep sending ’em off to get killed.
Back on Planet Real, I think it’s a very good sign that the Prez is politically isolated. Shows that most people are not completely barking mad. Or maybe they are barking mad, but in a good way.
If he painted himself purple and swung naked from the chandeliers reciting The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, he’d have a better approval rating.
I love this site and read it every day. Still, sometimes the excessive use of wry language and inside jokes (“dolchstosslegende”, “Wingnutienity”, even “Dear Leader” in an unfamiliar context) make it difficult to understand what folks are trying to say (well except for the implicit “these people are nuts”). If I can’t parse the snideness, and I regualrly read many political blogs, please keep in mind that anyone coming here for the first time would not be encouraged to return or participate in the dialog.
Before people get irrate, to clarify, I speak more of fewer instances of the high irony than of its conmplete eradication.
I’m just sayin’
Stabbed in the back by his own commenters! j/k.
HTML Mencken? Dig the new nym.
In a two-party system, if you’re pro-war, it would be nice if one of those parties was pro-war.
“pro-war” is nice? it would be nice if someone was “pro-war? what is wrong with these assholes? don’t they even listen to what they’re saying? no wonder bush’s support is dropping down to nothing. he only appeals to people who used to torture small animals and birds when they were kids.
Hmm, I thought Bush had been laying Number Twos on Iraq for years now.
I think the signal they send to the world is that the President is extremely lonely
“I work very hard and come up with great prans
But nobody ristens, no one understands,
Seems rike no one takes me seriousry …”
If you were an Al-Qaeda operative, how different would your argument be? “C’mon in, the Quagmire’s fine!”
Suppose, for the sake of argument, we all just kept our mouuths shut about the war and let Bush do what he wanted. He’s got to leave office in 2 years anyway. So don’t the bad Iraqis and their Al Quaeda friends just have to outwait Bush in any case? Surely none of the candidates of either party will be stupid enough to pursue this clusterf*ck into their own term. What does Mark propose we do then? Force Bush’s successor to continue a war he or she is not interested in pursuing? Allow His Majesty a third, fourth or fifth term to finish the job? Or, alternatively, is it not enough just to keep quiet – do we actively have to cheer him on so he can complete his excellent Iraqi adventure before leaving office?
…and not undermining the President’s conduct of it.
Uh, you know what Mark? He’s doing a fine job of that on his own…
Doubt it – people who think that albatrosses ’round the neck are a badge of honor are already in his camp.
Is he Canada’s leading asshole just because more people take him seriously than Adam Yoshida?
Allow His Majesty a third, fourth or fifth term to finish the job? – Jersey Tomato
Maybe that is what will come next. The wingnuts will claim that it would be treasonous not to let George W stand for a third, fourth or fifth time. I am sure that most of the Washington Establishment would go along with that. I can see a slight problem though for Hillary Clinton, it would allow her husband to stand again and he would probably win. Just think how pissed off that would leave the wingnuts. We might even see a vlog of Pammy’s tits exploding.
Why don’t you have a contest? Vote for Canada’s leading asshole! Might be fun.
I’ll bet Sissyboots Steyn won’t even make the cut. We have better candidates – David Frum, anyone?
In a two-party system, if you’re pro-war, it would be nice if one of those parties was pro-war.
Because there’s only two possible positions on any issue, both positions are equally logically valid, the numbers of supporters are roughly equal, and the sum of the positions of every adherent to any particular position maps perfectly to one party. What a wondrous world!
who in the hell proudly calls themselves ‘pro-war’?
damn. that just blows my mind.
I take your point, KC, and sometimes going down the rabbit hole of allusion (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland) can be exhausting and, once one hits the bottom, not as rewarding as one hoped.
Having said that, I think Google and links close the “loop” fairly quickly, and I like learning things like “dolchstoss” rather than the less historically rich “backstabbing.”
I think the Germans may have a word for the SadlyNo method of formation: Snarksbildung.
Oh, and that pic of Mark Steyn looks like Donnie Wahlberg after electro-shock therapy and a retreat with Focus on teh Family.
I think the Germans may have a word for the SadlyNo method of formation: Snarksbildung.
Oh, Germany, is there any phrase you can’t reduce to a single, multi-syllable word that sounds like sneezing?
Heck, they probably have a word for “a single multi-syllable word that sounds like sneezing.”
Crax me up. These assclowns babble on endlessly about democracy. We represent democracy. We’re bringing democracy to the middle east. Democratic nations just say no to terror. Wouldn’t it be nice if they understood what a multi party democracy IS? If you believe your government is doing the wrong thing or headed in the wrong direction, in a democracy you not only are alowed to say so, you are obligated to work to change the policy. This does not make you a traitor. This does not hurt the troops. This does not embolden the enemy. And even if it did, it is still the nature of a democracy.
They talk about democracy all the time, but then over and over they advocate for an authoritarian police state. Single party rule and punishment for dissent. Their political viewpoints would be much more at home in Beijing, their religious worldview would fit comfortably in Tehran, and yet they scream for the blood of those very non-white people. At some point, it seems to me, they should be forced to unify their positions, eliminate the hypocricy and false binary choices and state a coherent position that makes sense.
Of course, the lack of these things has yet to hold them back in any way…
mikey
“one of the key measures of a society’s health is how easily you can insulate yourself from its underclass.â€?
Goddamn, that makes me want to hurt him. Badly. And no, we’re not *whining* that you were wrong about Iraq because we like saying “I told you so”. We’re making an actual argument that since you have proven yourselves to completely misassess the situation in Iraq, to misunderstand the consequences of the actions you were demanding, and to be unable–still–to admit that what we’re doing is not working, it would be useful for the good of the country, Iraq, and the world to let someone who has demonstrated none of those dubious qualities–and in fact has often demonstrated the opposite–to try to solve the problem. In other words, we’d like you to step out of the hole and put the shovel down so the rest of us can figure out how to fill it in. You, on the other hand, and your “pro-war” pals seem content to keep digging till you have a mass grave.
Fuckwit.
Must admit that Sadly, No is the first time I’ve encountered this guy’s ranting so I’m not fully informed as to his positions (though they are all probably easily guessed). It strikes me that he is mightily concerned with US politics for someone who doesn’t even live here.
Has he proposed an Anschluss yet?
Canada must not be world dominating enough for him.
Also, nice hair. Perm?
“If this were a dictatorship, it’d be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator.”
Seems to be the POV for a lot of the wingnut crowd…
“You have the inalienable right to do what I tell you, and nothing more…”
It must be really, really frustrating to be a batshit-insane imperialist warmonger, and to be living in Canada.
Oh, Germany, is there any phrase you can’t reduce to a single, multi-syllable word that sounds like sneezing?
Heck, they probably have a word for “a single multi-syllable word that sounds like sneezing.�
Einzelmehrsilbigeneisentoenendeworter? I have way too much free time.
In a two-party system, if you’re pro-cannibalism, it would be nice if one of those parties was pro-cannibalism.
There’s a funny bit in his Wikipedia entry:
Steyn now divides his time between Quebec in Canada, and Lyme, New Hampshire in the United States, due to NH being one of the States with the least amounts of government intrusion. He is married to a former editor he met whilst working at the Independent, and has three children.
Where does he rank Quebec on government intrusion?
We might even see a vlog of Pammy’s tits exploding.
At least it would be a good reason to put up with Mr. Bush for another term.
Steyn now divides his time between Quebec in Canada, and Lyme, New Hampshire
AHAH!!! An explanation at last. The later stage symptoms of Lyme Disease include hallucinations, memory loss, severe startle reactions, panic attacks, sleep disturbance and depression. Ok, sure, the guys around the bend, but a plausible case can be made that its all because of those damn NH ticks…
mikey
Whenever I hear some variation of the phrase “embolden the enemy,” I know I’m dealing with a moron.
steve_e said,
January 26, 2007 at 16:01
Let’s review:
– An imperial, corporatist, totalitarian state is an example of small government.
– Loyalty to the state and the Party is an example of rugged individualism.
– Failure means success.
Or, to put it another way:
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
Who knew Steyn was a member of the Inner Party? The Two Minutes Hate will now commence . . .
This Steyn guy actually spends some of his time in Quebec? Where shall I send the torch and pitchfork mob?
And by this, I mean that I don’t want to kind of wanker in my beautiful province de Quebec.
dang, mikey.
Looking over the last six or so comments I’ve posted in these parts, and the last post or two at my blog, I see you took all of it and bolied it down to two concise, direct paragraphs.
well played, Sir; well played.
I think the difference between Steyn and Yoshida is that Steyn is Canada’s leading pro-war asshole, while Yoshida is Canada’s leading prolapsed asshole.
Why don’t you have a contest? Vote for Canada’s leading asshole! Might be fun.
I’ll bet Sissyboots Steyn won’t even make the cut. We have better candidates – David Frum, anyone?
This is the only time I’ve regretted that Conrad Black renounced his Canadian citizenship. Though either alleged Prime Minister Stephen Harper or Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian “Il Duce” Fantino would win hands down, even over David Frum.
I doubt if Adam Yoshida will leave his mother’s basement long enough to stand for election…
Oh, and that pic of Mark Steyn looks like Donnie Wahlberg after electro-shock therapy and a retreat with Focus on teh Family.
Yes, a little btw moment: Doesn’t that look like some hammy, neck-bearded William Shatner wannabe doing a version of Blue Steel perfectly calculated to wet Midge Decter’s withered flaps?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yRm_K9OpYbo
Canada’s leading asshole/grandfather figure.
I’m just guessing here, but wasn’t Steyn, who now is so concerned about the messages the Senate is sending to the world, among those who four years ago couldn’t care less what the world thought when the whole world was telling us not to go to war in Iraq (the whole world, that is, except the poodle and Poland).
Wow. I remember the Berkeley-to-Cambridge pipeline with tremendous fondness, but I didn’t think you could still get acid of that quality any more.
Obviously, the Quebec-to-Lyme, NH pipeline has taken up the slack nicely.
And the idea that as a kind of intellectual exercise, you can debate whether or not to wage a war, whether to wage it ineffectually and all the rest of it, no, you can’t. You’re in it, and you have to win it, and you can have an argument about how to win it, but if you’re not even interested in victory, as most of these Democrats, and pathetic people like Susan Collins of Maine are not, then really, you can’t be part of that conversation.
I can’t explain this level of delusion any other way. Mark Steyn, who is not actually a citizen of this country, believes he can dictate who among United States Senators are permitted to ‘be part of that conversation.’ Again, wow.
[pedantry]And Lyme, NH is not actually the original home of Lyme Disease. That honor falls to Lyme, CT, which is also the home of a lot of the Republicans who helped return Holy Joe Lieberman to the Senate, which may explain, but not excuse, a lot. [/pedantry]
don’t get me wrong, gavin, don cherry is an asshole, of that there can be no doubt.
however, don cherry is the kamloops of assholes, whereas mark steyn is the montreal canadians circa 1977, guy lafleur style.
You know, I really do love you guys, so it pains me to do this to you, but I’m afraid I must.
Dinesh D’Souza was on NPR this afternoon, offering his incisive commentary yet again. You know, things like how America’s involvement in Vietnam began in the 1950s. Or some airheaded drivel about how “military tacticians from Sun Tsu to Clausewitz” have argued that military success is dependent upon a formula of “resources times will”.
It’s….well. It’s something. Don’t ask me what, but it is something.
Shorter Dinesh on NPR:
Iraq is nothing like Vietnam, because Vietnam was unimportant. And we didn’t feel like winning in Vietnam anyway. Also, South Vietnam’s government was corrupt and ineffective, while Iraq . . . um, never mind.
I heard there’s a Lyme, CT in every state in the union.
Steyn fits the clinical definition of fascist pretty well — keep the lowborn low and cowed, keep women pregnant, keep invading foreign countries for the greater glory of Der Vaterland. Why does anyone listen?
Women can’t be fascists????
So, Steyn sez George Bush is lonely?
Hmmm, that could be a great idea on which to base a plaintive song in a movie musical featuring marionettes. Maybe we could have him sing it while pacing the long, empty White House hallways, or toying with the keys on his baby grand, or just laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling…
It would help if he sang it in a funny accent, too.
Jersey Tomato said,
January 26, 2007 at 17:26
“Suppose, for the sake of argument, we all just kept our mouuths shut about the war and let Bush do what he wanted. He’s got to leave office in 2 years anyway. So don’t the bad Iraqis and their Al Quaeda friends just have to outwait Bush in any case?”
Precisely. Another checkmate.
[…] Shorter Dinesh on NPR:. Iraq is nothing like Vietnam, because Vietnam was unimportant. And we didn t feel like winning in Vietnam anyway. Also, South Vietnam s government was corrupt and ineffective, while Iraq . . . um, never mind. – more – […]
Well cover me with peanut butter and throw me to the labradors. This guy is so stupid, he has gone right through Stupid and come out the other…
Sorry, false alarm. He hasn’t come out the other side.
[…] Shorter Dinesh on NPR:. Iraq is nothing like Vietnam, because Vietnam was unimportant. And we didn t feel like winning in Vietnam anyway. Also, South Vietnam s government was corrupt and ineffective, while Iraq . . . um, never mind. – more – […]
If I hear the word “existential” one more time, and it’s not in reference to Soren Kierkegaard or Rollo May, somebody’s gonna hear from me.
Steyn fits the clinical definition of fascist pretty well — keep the lowborn low and cowed, keep women pregnant, keep invading foreign countries for the greater glory of Der Vaterland.
Women can’t be fascists????
Oh my God, I want so badly to make an Ann Coulter joke here…
Of course women can be fascists. They simply modify women in that sentence with “other.”
Oh, and D. Sidhe, for years I’ve been trying to hand Coulter with the nickname “Fascist Barbie.” Give me some help here, guys.
So now they’re going after JOHN WARNER???? John WARNER??????
If one of the biggest pro-war psycho hawknuts in the Senate is now being trashed by the neocon cabal, I think that in itself is a clear indication that the White House has totally lost its moorings and is floating along in dangerously fuzzy LaLa Land somewhere.
Since when did JOHN WARNER (Sorry about the chronic caps, I just can’t quite get over it) earn the badge of liberal surrnder cheese monkey traitor?
Man. This is weird. Even NIXON knew when to quit.
Jillian said,
January 27, 2007 at 3:48
“Dinesh D’Souza was on NPR this afternoon, offering his incisive commentary yet again. You know, things like how America’s involvement in Vietnam began in the 1950s”
It did begin in the 50’s…political involvement that is.
[…] , because Vietnam was unimportant. And we didn t feel like winning in Vietnam anyway. Also, South Vietnam s government was corrupt and ineffective, while Iraq . . . um, never mind. … – Read More – […]
[…] Kleiman notes the following quote by Sadly, No! favorite Mark Steyn: Why did Bosnia collapse into the worst slaughter in Europe since World War Two? In the […]