April 25, 2017

Democratic shit talk.

I was fascinated by the news that "Sh*t talking is Democrats' new strategy" and blogged it yesterday in "DNC Chairman Tom Perez routinely uses the word 'shit' in speeches." So I decided to search for "shit" in the book I'm reading "Shattered/Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign."

Here's what I found. I've left out occurrences of "bullshit," because that word is more normalized (why is an interesting question that Meade and I just had a long conversation about). I've left in the somewhat oddball word "ripshit" (which seems to be like "ripsnorting," but with shit (watch what you snort!)).

At Kindle Locations 1250-1256:
Biden’s penchant for saying impolitic things would be an area ripe for exploitation for the Clinton team. He, and his legacy, would suffer. While [Biden and Clinton] fought over who had the better style, Sanders would float above the mudslinging by continuing to focus on issues. “It’s ticky-tack shit that would just not be good and then they would grate on each other and then it would be a downward spiral,” the Clinton aide said.
Kindle Locations 1352-1359:
[Iowa state director Matt] Paul... walked in to find the former president sitting in a leather chair. Bill was wearing a suit and a pair of leather gloves; his arms were crossed. Even if the yelling hadn’t been audible through the walls of the boutique hotel, it would have been clear that he was in a foul mood. His eyes were fixed on Paul. If there’s ever a time to make sure I know my shit, the staffer thought, this is it.
Kindle Locations 1835-1837:
At the end of the spot, Hillary says she is running for all of the “Dorothys” out there who need a champion. Voters liked her “strength, resilience, [and] take no shit attitude,” said a person familiar with focus group data.
Kindle Locations 3220-3223:
The kneecapping of several aides, which wouldn’t fully take shape for a few more weeks, didn’t mean Hillary intended to let the rest of her staff off easy. She was ripshit over the confluence of calamities in Michigan. Her senior aides and advisers all got reamed... the day after the Michigan primary.
Kindle Locations 4579-4580:
Heading into Monday, July 25, the first day of the convention, Mook was nervous. “Absolutely shitting my pants” is how he described it to others.
Kindle Locations 5599-5602:
Putin might not be a Communist anymore, but he was a Russian autocrat who came to power after a distinguished career in the KGB. This was the kind of spy-thriller shit that would surely break through in the press. If the public saw Trump putting Russian interests above American sovereignty, Hillary’s aides thought, the story had the potential to break his back....
Kindle Locations 5636-5641:
“Could you imagine a day so fucking crazy that no one gives a shit about this?” one aide said of the October 7 intelligence report. Suddenly, the upside-down dynamics of the 2016 election came into sharp relief.... “Here’s something Donald Trump did and said and was arguably disqualifying to a lot of voters— something that could put the race away— but within moments, a factor related to e-mails comes around and puts the thumb on the other side of the scale.”
Kindle Locations 5686-5693:
[T]he most jarring and memorable video clip in modern campaign history... couldn’t put Trump away. Early in the campaign, Trump had said he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue shooting people and not lose a vote. Maybe he was right.... It was a terrifying realization... “People already knew he was a womanizing piece of shit,” a senior Clinton aide said. “It doesn’t change the narrative.”

52 comments:

Wince said...

"We give a fart about people."

Democrats should listen to George Carlin's 'Seven Words You Can't Say on TV.'

"Farts are 'shit' without the mess."

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"Heading into Monday, July 25, the first day of the convention, Mook was nervous. “Absolutely shitting my pants” is how he described it to others."

If Mook was doing that on the first day of Hillary coronation, imagine what he was like on election night. He must have rushed to the bathroom about 9 pm Eastern and gone through 6 rolls of tp.

MadisonMan said...

Hillary says she is running for all of the “Dorothys” out there who need a champion.

My Mom's Mom was named Dorothy. I don't think she would have voted for Hillary.

tcrosse said...

Fuck is the new Shit.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

“People already knew he was a womanizing piece of shit,” a senior Clinton aide said. “It doesn’t change the narrative.”

And we have the Clintons to thank for lowering the bar on that. They're the ones who convinced the American public that being "a womanizing piece of shit” doesn't matter when it comes to deciding who to vote for president.

(Of course, JFK and LBJ was also womanizing pieces of shit, but their sexual transgressions were not reported on by the media during their presidencies.)

LYNNDH said...

So Hillary ran a disastrous campaign. No Shit Sherlock!

Laslo Spatula said...

I suspect that Mook's name is now synonymous with Shit in the Democrat Party.

I am Laslo.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

It simply astounds me that Democrats feel they can change the rules to benefit themselves and never imagine that it might come back to bite them in the butt.

"Womanizing." The filibuster.

furious_a said...

Democrats are coprocephalics.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

"Trump is a womanizing piece of shit" - and Bill Clinton isn't.

There you have it folks, why Hillary lost, part 531.

Michael K said...

"Defining deviancy down" is the new Democrat normal.

Paddy O said...

EXCLUSIVE: Behind the scenes strategy meeting at DNC headquarters.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

I have to wonder: if Eisenhower had been as much of a horndog as JFK (and not only a horndog, but a reckless one, who slept with women with Mafia connections), would the 50's press have shielded him the way they shielded JFK? It would have been tricky to report on, not only because of the mores of the times, but because Eisenhower was a war hero. I still think it would not have been ignored the way JFK's compulsive promiscuity was.

tcrosse said...

The media despised LBJ, and gleefully reported his vulgarity, but left his horndoggery alone.

Nonapod said...

Whether we're talking about womanizing, lying, or just cursing, I guess the Clintons and Democrat Party have gone a long way to normalizing what was once considered shameful behavior. In some was maybe that's a good thing, since it encourages people to be more honest about who they actually are and generally be more self aware, but it still feels like a loss.

David said...

Ike got a pass during WW II. Kay Summersby may or may not have been his mistress, but a lot of people thought she was. This never hit the press, and the gossip was circumspect. People understood that the war was more important. FDR got a similar pass from the press, though there was never someone as obvious as Ike's attractive and vivacious chauffeur.

Under pressure of war men and women look for solace with the opposite sex, licit or illicit. But now we give no scope to military officers on this score. Only their civilian bosses get to skate by.

mezzrow said...

“People already knew he was a womanizing piece of shit,” a senior Clinton aide said. “It doesn’t change the narrative.”

Just wanted to repeat this part for the sheer pleasure of doing so. It makes me smile when I read it here, too.

Bill Peschel said...

"Biden’s penchant for saying impolitic things would be an area ripe for exploitation for the Clinton team. He, and his legacy, would suffer."

Journalists' obsession with opinion and image trumps reality. Biden had no legacy, except a reputation for plagiarism and mishandling female flesh.

Jersey Fled said...

I've never understood liberals attraction to foul language. Do they think it makes them sound cool? Smart?

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Biden had no legacy, except a reputation for plagiarism and mishandling female flesh.

4/25/17, 9:26 AM

Let's not forget his reputation for stupidity.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Putin might not be a Communist anymore, but he was a Russian autocrat who came to power after a distinguished career in the KGB. This was the kind of spy-thriller shit that would surely break through in the press. If the public saw Trump putting Russian interests above American sovereignty, Hillary’s aides thought, the story had the potential to break his back....


The coordinated bullshit attack from camp Clinton and her media.

Unknown said...

Dems talking like trump remind me of George Costanza trying to talk like a Texan.

Gk1 said...

This was the same crowd clutching its pearls about Trump saying he would grab pussy. They then looked around the room to make sure everyone was as scandalized as they were. Everyone pretty much laughed in their faces because of their fevered defence of renowned pussy grabber Bill Clinton. Are these people really that self-unaware?

TestTube said...

Use of strong language is an art form. Like other art forms, it is a gift sparsely distributed.

Perez, an ectomorph with a high, whiny voice, who has been blessed with an abundance of forehead and sad puppy-dog eyes, doesn't do strong language well.

The result is somewhat comical.

Ken B said...

An attempt to capture the deplorable vote. Taking to heart the advice that they are out of touch, they embrace the demotic.

n.n said...

Their euphemisms are worse. Unsuitable for men, women, boys, girls, and babies, too.

Unknown said...

Interesting usage of s**t. I would imagine there are simply too many references to "bulls**t" to deal with. As for why that term is so common, I always look first to Harry Frankfurt's little gem of a book, "On Bullshit." As he says, we all do our part; and the term does seem to capture the hopeless cynical posturing of our age.

"Rips**t" is interesting. I remember years ago reading a quote from President Clinton (as he then was) about "not giving a rip." I have also heard people (a few times) declare themselves "rips**t" as in "indescribably angry." Maybe it's a regional thing?

n.n said...

Their Choice of euphemisms are insidious. A clear and progressive threat to men, women, boys, girls, natives, and especially babies.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

This is the first time I've ever come across the term "ripshit."

Unknown said...

TestTube: "Perez, an ectomorph with a high, whiny voice, who has been blessed with an abundance of forehead and sad puppy-dog eyes, doesn't do strong language well."

Well played. While Laslo will generally win these threads for Shock-Wit, you may open a whole new category of Brutal Characterizations or something.

Carry on.

Matt Sablan said...

"I've never understood liberals attraction to foul language. Do they think it makes them sound cool? Smart?"

-- The same reason teenagers use it. It is deliberately used to make the other person uncomfortable and signal to others in your in-group that you're cool.

urbane legend said...

Michael K said...
"Defining deviancy down" is the new Democrat normal.

I don't think a line running through LBJ, Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and Anthony Wiener is new.

TestTube said...

Thank you for your kind words, Owen!

Jeff Gee said...

I've worked jobs (this is New Jersey) where everybody finished every sentence with the words "an' shit." "Well, I'm gonna hit the road an' shit.' "They said we needed to tone it down an' shit." "Hey, man, you just gotta go right up to her and ask her out an' shit." The Jersey Full Fecal Stop.

holdfast said...

I've never understood liberals attraction to foul language. Do they think it makes them sound cool? Smart?

Maybe they think it makes them sound like Marines ?

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

holdfast said...
I've never understood liberals attraction to foul language. Do they think it makes them sound cool? Smart?

Maybe they think it makes them sound like Marines ?

4/25/17, 10:30 AM

I actually think you have something there. Many of the men are beta males who sit quietly and nod their heads while radical feminists blather about "mansplaining" and "toxic masculinity." Cursing must make them feel like they haven't totally castrated themselves.

As far as the rad fems go, well, they take pride in being "nasty women," don't they?

Big Mike said...

I've never understood liberals attraction to foul language. Do they think it makes them sound cool? Smart?

@Jersey, it has two attractions for them. First, they think it makes them sound tough. I personally know no liberals whom I would regard as manly in any way, but they assume that an occasional cuss word throw in makes them seem "macho." Second, they assume that this is how working people talk, and thus they think they're making a connection with working men.

Unknown said...

Matthew Sablan: "...It is deliberately used to make the other person uncomfortable and signal to others in your in-group that you're cool."

What intrigues me is the aggressive component, the strategy of unbalancing the listener. Of course, used too often the words lose all shock effect, an' shit.

But until that overuse occurs, the speaker can invoke some kind of social energy and appropriate it, as if to authenticate his or her assertions.

To work effectively in the patois of others, to (may I say this?) appropriate their usages to serve one's own agenda, is an art. And as TestTube has ably noted about Perez, not all of us can do it well. For instance, when I say "yo!" nobody gives me no respect.

Big Mike said...

As far as the rad fems go, well, they take pride in being "nasty women," don't they?

Right until they get clocked in the head. That's taking equality of the sexes too far in their opinion.

Rusty said...

Jersey Fled @ 9:26
They think it makes them sound working class.
Like when ARM calls someone a "goddamn cunt". It's just precious.
Like when any beta male swears.

TestTube said...

The only Democrat Party Politicians I know of who can use strong language effectively would be Jim Webb and some of the Union bosses.

Hillary Clinton could, maybe, if a)she could only say something that hadn't been run through seventeen focus groups and b) if she could do anything without messing it up.

tcrosse said...

"Most people should not swear. This is not a moral judgment but an artistic one. The fact is, most people don’t know how to swear any more than they know how to play the bassoon. Both require years of practice and expert instruction. Yet virtually all the swearing one hears in the course of a day sounds trite, discordant, and uninspired. The lack of melody and imagination offends the ear more than the words offend the sense of decency. Profanity should therefore be left to the skilled and well-trained professional."
-Mark Twain

furious_a said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
furious_a said...

"...nobody gives me no respect, yo." is the correct usage.

Infinite Monkeys said...

“Could you imagine a day so fucking crazy that no one gives a shit about this?”

Throwing in a "fucking" just to be a wee bit edgier than those only saying "shit".

Maybe they think it makes them sound like Marines ?

You mean, like corpse-men?

Beldar said...

Just finished the book two days ago.

"Ripsh*t" stood out to me when none of the other examples you mention did. Otherwise, the authors were quoting, or pretending to interpret the thoughts of, someone else. They were speaking in those others' voices.

But "ripsh*t" stuck out like a sore thumb because it wasn't a quote or an attributed phrase or idea, but rather a declaration made in the authors' own voice. And it's one of many, many indications that the authors are badly-educated Hard Left Democrat political operatives masquerading as journalists. Jonathan Allen left Politico to go work directly for Debbie Wasserman Schultz and others at the DNC, but was welcomed back to Politico afterwards: He is quite literally the "Democratic operative with a byline" that Glenn Reynolds regularly points out.

Thus, the authors can treat as "inexplicable" or "crazy" the decision by Hillary Clinton to set up and rely upon a private email server, when to even the most casual objective observer her obvious motive was to limit, control, manage, and when necessary suppress all evidence of the Clintonistas' influence-peddling, graft, and corruption.

I don't regret buying the book, and indeed, I suspect that most of the gossipy details are factually accurate. But no one should be misled into thinking that this Left-on-Left gossipy hit piece has a close correspondence to overall objective reality: It's written entirely from within the liberal elite bubble, even as it mocks Hillary for being unable to get outside that bubble.

Viking In Winter said...

I believe it was Norman Shawarzkoph who opined that there are three types crap. Horseshit, bullshit and chicken shit. All of which are visible in political discourse.

Unknown said...

furious_a: "...correct usage."

See? See? I can't catch a f**ing break.

damikesc said...

Dont these same dilettantes whine about Pence's rules involving behavior around other women?

Paddy O said...

Reading these paragraphs for some reason brings to mind Kip from Napoleon Dynamite.

JML said...

Viking, a long time ago when I was an Ops Officer in the AF, our unit was a tenet unit on a Pacific Air Force Base. We were Airlift Command and as such, could wear a variety of uniform combinations, especially when we deployed. Unknown to me, during one deployment, the new Chief MSgt of the Base sent out a Directive that stated only the authorized service cap was allowed to be worn. When I returned, I was wearing Jungle Fatigues with a unit ball cap - a no no. So the Chief sent a memo that mentioned the incident he had regarding me. (No incident - he must have driven by and seen me.)

So I responded with an official suggestion on the Base Improvement Suggestion Form with the though that due to the headgear abuse, the base should have a team go around the base and look for examples. I recommend the team wear a distinctive brown Ball Cap and the team be called the Special Hat Investigation Team, shortened to SHIT, and that the Chief should be the head of the team, and he would be the SHIT HEAD. I then went on to offer team duties that shortened to HORSE SHIT and CHICKEN SHIT.

I gave it to my Commander and we had a good laugh. He gave it to the MAC Group Commander and they had a Good Laugh. He gave it to the MAC Wing Commander and they had a good laugh. He gave to to the PACAF Base Commander and they had a good laugh. He gave it to the Chief. the Chief was not amused.

tim in vermont said...

You mean, like corpse-men?

I still wonder what became of Obama's zombie army. Where is it now?