August 4, 2010

"It’s interesting to watch Katie Couric drop her pretense of impartiality..."

"... as with JournoList, it’s nice to have solid confirmation of what we’ve long suspected."

Oh, ridiculous. In private, who didn't have a laugh at the names of Sarah and Bristol Palin's kids? I bet the Palin family members themselves laugh about it. "Solid confirmation"?! Spare me.

171 comments:

mesquito said...

Because, you see, what Couric said had nothing to do with partisan and ideological animus. Right?

Scott said...

A phony controversy over a phony controversy.

blake said...

Me.

And laugh about is not the same as laugh at

AllenS said...

I know that I laughed at the Obama daughters names. As a matter of fact, black first names are kinda goofy. Don't ya think?

TWM said...

I never laughed about their names, nor do I think most people did. They are unusual, yes, but I believe they show a great sense of humor (like the Carr family I knew who named their boys Ford and Scooter) and are certainly not deserving of derisive comments and laughter.

AllenS said...

I have a Lakota Indian friend who named his son Scout.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Bob_R said...

Ah, but AllenS, the nomenklature only allow themselves certain kinds of naked class bigotry. Hatred of white proles is acceptable - even mandatory. Any mockery of the classes they consider subservient is strictly prohibited.

MadisonMan said...

I suspect it's very easy to predict who thinks Katie is laughing about vs. laughing at the names.

She seemed pretty professional in the tape -- it can't be easy recording promo blurbs like that. I like that she apologizes when she messes up.

I'm reminded of Shakespeare.

chickelit said...

Who are the Beevis and Butthead overdub guys in the background?

Couric's ratings have taken a beating since linkage so it's all kinda karmic.

Katie Kouric Karma

Famous Original Mike said...

It’s totally fine to laugh about someone else’s unusual name! Just look at the media’s distaste for the current First Family. Malia and Sasha?!

As my whimsy leads me.. said...

Laugh at unusual names? No way. As one with an odd name, who went to school with Morri, Clyda, Kavin, Bedouin, Ray Anne, and others, I thought her kids' names were intriguing. They show much thought and creativity.

Toy

Unknown said...

Blog posts seem to be getting distinctly snarky. As a member of a family with 'weird' names in that they are Assyrian, and Hungarian, and Biblical disciples names, the names Track and Trig rated barely a blip. What's with the snark? Air getting a bit rarefied in Madison?

blake said...

I suspect it's very easy to predict who thinks Katie is laughing about vs. laughing at the names.

She seemed pretty professional in the tape


There weren't any Palins in the room, MadMan.

Regardless of how she sounds why would anyone think (given her history) that this doesn't reveal more of the same?

traditionalguy said...

What is the big deal about selecting the right names for children? Trigg sounds like a math major and Track sounds like a hunter. These days the young procreating couples are making up names that just sound good to them. That may be the unbelievable thing to Couric and friends...That a powerful politician shows off the kids which she names and nurtures. That is so dumb.

As my whimsy leads me.. said...

AllenS, I like the Obama girls' names. They are easy to say and spell. I also like a lot of ethnic names. I do think kids' names that are bizarrely spelled and unpronounceable are a burden on the kid, though. My rule is to add Senator, Judge, or Reverend to a name to see if it sounds good. My own name wouldn't pass that test, though. It's too late to go back to my middle name.

Toy

chickelit said...

Ride bene chi ride l'ultimo!

mesquito said...

For the record, I looked it up:

Track
Bristol
Willow
Piper
Trig

Fun. Charming. Interesting.

Unless, of course, you were primed and ready to shower hate and bile up whomever John McCain chose as his running mate.

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

Would you rather be called As or Toy? I picked those two because it was convenient, and nothing more. I was looking through my Army roster from 1967, and I was reminded of how most first names back then were considered normal. But then there is Mosie, Garfield and Symather. Doing my geneaology research I noticed a Napoleon and a Percival.

Obviously, Palin tendencies in my idiot family.

traditionalguy said...

I clicked the Sarah Palin tag and counted 20 posts in 16 months. The best one was Breast Enlargement Gate. That girl gets around and still excites the crowd wherever she goes, unlike King Obama I who is down to 41% job approval and falling.

Bruce Hayden said...

"A phony controversy over a phony controversy."

Spoken like a true believer in the One. And, yes, desperate spin of outdated talking points to try to change the subject from the MSM actively managing the "news" to get him elected and his agenda enacted.

Talking about MSM bias - anyone else note the purchase this week of Newsweek by the husband of Jane Harmon? And can anyone here remember what her day job is, and has been for quite some time now?

Anonymous said...

I liked the names of the Palin kids when I first heard them, but they are unusual.

Malia is a popular name in Hawaii. It's the Hawaiian form of Mary.

Sasha's name is really Natasha.

Scott M said...

If you're going to grant Couric the leeway to make fun of Palin's choices in the names of her kids, you also have to grant that same leeway to anyone that makes fun of Lotion (Loe-shawn), Timiqua (tim ee kwa), Shanaenae...well, you get the point.

If you're willing to grant that, AA, I'll grant your original point.

Jim Treacher said...

Sounds like somebody's getting worked up about it, and it ain't me...

Scott said...

"Spoken like a true believer in the One."

LOL

Scott said...

Jim Treacher is God. :)

Phil 314 said...

Uh, I believe the Professor feels this is much ado about nothing. I have to agree with her. My first thoughts about Todd and Sarah's kids was "What's with the names?"

Is there supposed to be something after 3:24 on the clip. It kept freezing at that point.

former law student said...

"Track" was named for the Palins' favorite sport -- who could mock that? Not Golf Couric.

But Trig was not named for Sarah's favorite hs class.

Scott said...

"Is there supposed to be something after 3:24 on the clip. It kept freezing at that point."

That's where Katie Couric bites the head off a kitten.

kjbe said...

The girls' names I've heard used before, but I remember giving a second look to the boys'. Nothing unusual there. The same thing happens toward me, quite a bit.

llona, I think you answered your own question.

former law student said...

Who are the Beevis and Butthead overdub guys in the background?

I assume the college press guys who uploaded the clip.

Issob Morocco said...

Sorry Ann, your request for being spared is denied. She should know better than that and we could find more over the top names for children than Track and Trig.

MadisonMan said...

I know that I laughed at the Obama daughters names. As a matter of fact, black first names are kinda goofy. Don't ya think?

Yes. (Although I would add a qualifier in front of black, such as some, and in fact the black adjective isn't necessary at all).

People will judge you on your name. If you want to have your kid be judged, and thereafter battle some preconceived notion, by all means name your kid something non-mainstream. It's creative, cute, charming, interesting. That's what you think. But is it what the person who will be hiring your kid in 15-20 years thinks?

Opus One Media said...

Now see he got it wrong. He wrote, "These gatekeepers, these guardians of the truth, consider most of us unworthy of anything but casual contempt.."

I don't think anyone's contempt for Sarah Palin is casual and it most certainly is worthy!

Straighten up and fly right there fella.

Synova said...

What pretense?

Oh, well. I suppose it was a pretense in the sense that everyone understood she was preteding.

But the funniest dang thing I saw was a juxtaposition of Couric during her interviews with Palin and with Obama.

Just the look on her face.

Scott said...

"But is it what the person who will be hiring your kid in 15-20 years thinks?"

Dude, the hiring manager will probably be named Perri or DeWayne or Inersha.

Darcy said...

While I think you do have a point about wildy creative names, MadisonMan, are you really suggesting Sarah's kids names would be detract to their getting hired at some point?

Are the names Oscar and Clyde more palatable to you (my boss's young sons' names)? Easier to hire? Not "mainstream" enough?

I'm Full of Soup said...

In this instance, I won't criticize this mediocre excuse for a news reader but I certainly don't see a need [althouse] to defend her from those who see it as just more evidence of liberal media arrogance.

wv= goolex [what ghouls use for constipation]

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The audio cut off.. so it looks like whatever Katie said is gone.

Bob_R said...

Of course, the real pretense here is that the little NOVA cheerleader and Wahoo Tri-Delt is something more than a puffed up local TV weathergirl.

Shanna said...

I know that I laughed at the Obama daughters names.

I think Sasha is a pretty name (although it’s actually a boy’s name) and Malia is also nice and melodic, although it sounds more made up (probably isn’t, just saying).

I think Palin’s kids names sound very wildernessey. Cute, though. At least they aren’t boring!

All of the kids names are cute, actually! It’s not like they named them Apple or lemonjello. They could be so much worse.

I'm Full of Soup said...

What does she get paid btw?

I calculate her pay is $6 for each person who watches the CBS Evening News on an average night.

CBS may have drawn more viewers if they hired a few of the "Girls Gone Wild" crowd and hosed them down during the telecast.

wv = fleri [reminds me of New Orleans]

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

From Demi Moore's Wikipedia

They have three daughters together: Rumer Glenn Willis (b. 16 August 1988), Scout LaRue Willis (b. 20 July 1991), and Tallulah Belle Willis

I had a similar reaction to these names given to Bruce Willis kids.

I dont know if this is the right way to say it.. but people do 'grow into their names'.. whatever name they get.

garage mahal said...

Darcy is an awesome name. Would definitely hire :)

Scott M said...

People will judge you on your name. If you want to have your kid be judged, and thereafter battle some preconceived notion, by all means name your kid something non-mainstream. It's creative, cute, charming, interesting. That's what you think. But is it what the person who will be hiring your kid in 15-20 years thinks?

That depends on the name, of course. My son is named very conventionally for his father and grandfather. Technically, he's a III. But, we don't call him by his first name, we call him Trip (short for triple...I never liked the more Southern "Tres"). As a guy, I think Trip is a cool name no matter what you end up as. But, first and foremost, he goes into job interviews, for instance, with his name. Afterward, he can immediately ask them to call him Trip.

A good, out-of-the-mainstream-but-still-cool compromise, I feel. Besides, Trip is a good QB name...

The Crack Emcee said...

I have never given the names of Sarah Palin's children a thought. And, while I don't think that video shows anything worth commenting on or presenting as news, I never thought for a second that Katie Couric is anything but a Left-wing loon, unable to tell the truth and completely unworthy of the position she holds in American society.

Irene said...

Sprout.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Tune in tomorrow when Couric mocks Julia Roberts for naming her son Phinneaus.

Automatic_Wing said...

People will judge you on your name. If you want to have your kid be judged, and thereafter battle some preconceived notion, by all means name your kid something non-mainstream. It's creative, cute, charming, interesting. That's what you think. But is it what the person who will be hiring your kid in 15-20 years thinks?

People should consider this before naming their kid Shaneequah.

Scott said...

My first partner's nephew is named Chance. His mom named him that because it was a really risky pregnancy, and they didn't think he was going to make it.

The kid is in high school now. He's happy and good looking, he doesn't drink or use drugs, and it looks like he'll be going to college -- all pretty amazing given that his home is on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Maybe an unusual name, or a name that means something, is a gift. It reminds a kid that they're unique in the world. Nothing wrong with that.

AlgonquinS said...

This is from AllenS. Blogger sucks.

I guess I'll have to clear everything up, my humor/snark isn't going over well.

I didn't laugh at the Palin's kids names nor did I laugh at the Obama kids names. I was only trying to make the point that parents these days chose different kinds of first names, and if you think the Palin names are laughable, well then, how about the Obama names.

And blogger sucks.

Anonymous said...

Like Blake, I didn't laugh at the names of Palin's children in private or in public, Althouse. Just sayin'.

When the video of Couric mocking the names of the President's daughters surfaces then I'll "spare" ya. It's just one more layer of the double standard where conservatives are treated with distain, progressive/liberals drooled over. I mean, who can forget Couric's even-handed treatment in the Palin interview, right?

mesquito said...

I know guys named "Chance." I also know guys named "Cody" and "Ty."

They're all rodeo cowboys, for some reason.

Darcy said...

Hi, garage! :)

ricpic said...

I had four uncles: Uncle Carl; Uncle George; Uncle Joe; Uncle Frank. Uncle Carl was married to Aunt Rose. Uncle George was married to Aunt Florence. Uncle Joe was married to Aunt Sadye. Uncle Frank was married to Aunt Mary. They were all 1st generation American Jews who had deliberately been given "American" names, non-quirky names, names of the dominant culture. What's happened to us? What stupidity reigns that parents have to be "creative" in their naming?

Scott said...

@Mesquito: Maybe it's a Western thang.

MadisonMan said...

My rule is to add Senator, Judge, or Reverend to a name to see if it sounds good

Another good rule: If you are outside and calling for your kid, can people tell that's what you're doing?

blake said...

There's that aspect, too. If Kouric wasn't mocking Palin, then we should hear about "weird kid names" in general, shouldn't we?

Wouldn't have to be Obama, but the Willis kids? Or how about Penn Jilette, who's son is named "Zoltan" and daughter is "Moxie Crimefighter". Why not mention "Dweezil", "Moon Unit" and "Ahmet" Zappa?

Isn't that how a normal person (not obsessed with Palin) would think?

DaveW said...

Anyone remeber Frank Zappa? He named his daughter Moon Unit. Moon Unit Zappa.

Ahem.

Anyway, I didn't laugh at the Palin kid names, but I did think them unusual and creative. They obviously didn't dig them out of a baby-name book, or so it struck me at the time.

I don't think that clip says anything bad about Couric. I'm sure there are better examples of bias from her.

traditionalguy said...

I knew a drygoods store owner named Penney who named his first born son "J C". The sports addicts seem to like boys names to be short and tough like "Biff", "Matt", "Stan" and "Rob",as the full name and not nickname.

Michael Haz said...

who didn't have a laugh at the names of Sarah and Bristol Palin's kids?

Me.

Don't see the big deal. Most of the adolescent girls in my neighborhood are named after upscale cars. So what? Character, not names, is what matters.

The Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gabriel Hanna said...

Not long ago my wife and I were camping, in the Seattle area. Three girls ran by, and their mother yelled after them

"Aidan! Misty! River!"

We're STILL laughing about that.

I don't like the way the media has treated Sarah Palin and her family, but I do think they gave their kids dumb names.

hawkeyedjb said...

Both Ms. Palin and Ms. Couric come across as pleasant lightweights, elevated by others to stations above where their abilities would indicate. We're not talking about a couple of deep thinkers here. And as for suffering the disdain of Katie Couric (if she was being disdainful), it's not quite like being insulted by someone whose opinion is important.

John said...

In private who doesn't laugh at the name of Obama's kids or talk about Michelle's dishwasher sized ass?

I mean really Ann who doesn't? Of course if any media person were caught doing so in private, no way would you post such a defense.

Once in a while I think they threaten to take back you Yale degree so you post something like this to prove that you really are one of them.

X said...

Jonah Goldberg wanted to name his daughter Optimus Prime.

DADvocate said...

I've laughed at a lot of names. A sister in law has two sons named Derrick and Tyler. Since they lived in Texas at one point, I thought it was mildly humorous. (Tyler, Texas and oil derrick).

A woman I work with has 5 daughters, intentionally or unintentionally all named after cities somewhere, Sidney (Australia), Madison (Wisconsin) and I can't remember the other three.

My daughter has a female black friend named Lyric, not too bad. Then I ran into a black boy named Lyric. When I told the girl I had met a boy named Lyric, the first thing out of her mouth was, "Is he black?" She knew what AllenS is talking about.

Hell, we tried to go unnisex with my oldest daughter and named her Craig Kelly ... She hates her first name and always wanted to change it to Cindy. I don't blame her.

One of my son's friends is named Treg. Don't know where that came from.

It seems people are more into odd names nowadays. They think it will somehow make their kids more unique.

AllenS said...

Napalm would be a good first name.

DADvocate said...

A local talk show host used alcohol names for his two sons, Jack Daniels and Sam Adams.

garage mahal said...

I don't think Michelle Obama's ass is that big. Or better asked: compared to what? Where does that come from?

Michael Haz said...

River Phoenix would be pissed about this, were he alive. His birth name was River Jude Bottom (per his bio in Wiki). River Bottom, that was his birth name.

His half-sister's name was Trust Bottom.

His sister's birth name was Rain Joan of Arc Bottom.

Another sister's birth name was Libertad Mariposa Bottom.

The youngest child in the family was named Summer Joy Bottom.

Thank goodness the family changed its last name to Phoenix before Summer Joy Bottom went off to college.

Those darn Palins. Just as hip as Hollywood lefties. Whodathunkit?

chickelit said...

Once in a while I think they threaten to take back you Yale degree so you post something like this to prove that you really are one of them.

Althouse went to Yale? That's news. I thought she was a mere land granter like some of the rest of us.

chickelit said...

Garage Mahal wrote: I don't think Michelle Obama's ass is that big. Or better asked: compared to what? Where does that come from?

Man, even six figures a year can't buy a man an eye for figures.

A.W. said...

well i haven't seen the video--i can't until i go home, but the description seems like thin gruel.

the names were odd. that's just reality. and there is nothing wrong with noting that, even humorously, as in "what is up with that?"

Of course more hilariously liberals thought conservatives would be appalled because two of the kids were named after television witches. which is gets double hilarity for two reasons. First conservatives aren't really generally that uptight. Second, the children were named before characters they were supposedly named after appeared on TV.

But i am disturbed that Willow might have been named for that Val Kilmer movie, given the bad taste involved if that was the case. ;-0

Scott said...

@garage: I am told that among the hip-hop set, guys will make passes at girls with big asses. So perhaps the First Lady's tush is a national treasure. (Soon to be a major motion picture starring Nicholas Cage.)

But I'm gay, so that's not exactly what I look for. =)

chickelit said...

Shirley Sherrod (remember her?) named her son Kenyatta and her daughter Russia. I don't recall any media derision over those names. linkage

Rockeye said...

Two observations. General McChrystal lost his job and was forced to retire over his snarky comments made in private. Not exactly comparing apples to apples, but, I do see a thread of similarity.
Second observation: lucky for Couric that Palin hadn't named her kids Kwame and Latownda. Because mockery of uncommon names (and neololgisms i.e. refudiate) are reserved for some and prohibited for others.
The tacit understanding that it's alright to mock Palin's childrens names but not not the Obama's by our cultural gatekeepers actually is significant. What it shows is that objectivity isn't seen as essential to the journalism of Couric and others, rather as a sort of irksome joke. The way we, as children, would only stop tormenting our siblings when mother was watching.

A.W. said...

garage

i'm not saying michelle obama's butt is big. only that sir-mix-alot attends every speech she makes. :-)

(and that is 100% kidding.)

Btw, am i the only one who thought about that Gieco ad, with supposed movie footage of Abraham Lincoln?

I'm Full of Soup said...

It's actually more backboard-sized than dishwasher.


wv= squinta = try it Garage next time you check out Michele's dupa

jeff said...

"In private, who didn't have a laugh at the names of Sarah and Bristol Palin's kids?"
Well.....me for one. Or at the Obama kids either. Now Jermajesty? Of course. I'm only human. I also laugh hysterically at Jeremy. But that has nothing to do with the name.

garage mahal said...


Man, even six figures a year can't buy a man an eye for figures.


Granted, I prefer the Kim Kardashian ass shape in the first place. Curvaceous. Mmmm mmm mm.

victoria said...

You call that shocking and biased, please. I've heard worse coming out the mouth of Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck on a daily basis. I saw this feed on Huffington Post and think it is super mild and not really politically charged at all. Want politically charged, look at the film of Glenn Beck making fun of the Obama kids concerning the oil crisis. Make my stomach turn.



You don't really think that, Ann? Do you?
Vicki from Pasadena

The Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
victoria said...

Really Ann, people should think long and hard before they give their kids names like Track, Trig, Rumer, Talullah etc. This anticipates that they will be mocked and, quite possibly, beaten up. Parents, before you saddle your child with a name like Pilot Inspektor, think long and hard. Think.

I,too, think this is a phony controversy over a phony controversy.And I am not a big fan of "The One" that you righties like to use as an insult.

Shouldn't we be thinking about ways to put people back to work and solving out budget woes instead of this bull.


Vicki

Shanna said...

The tacit understanding that it's alright to mock Palin's childrens names but not not the Obama's by our cultural gatekeepers actually is significant.

Why would anyone want to mock Obama's kids names? Seriously, they aren't weird or ugly names. They're cute! Geez.

Even though I think Palin's kids names are cute, I can see why some people think they're funny. Not to say I don't think there's a heavy dose of politics related hatred of Palin involved in some of the mocking.

victoria said...

Sixty grit, that's the best you can do? Lightweight.

Vicki

I'm Full of Soup said...

Ok Vicky - How about this?

I will support a 25 cent increase in the gas tax if the revenue goes only to infrastructure and you must support cutting the budget of the Dept of Education by 50%?

Do we have a deal?

MamaM said...

The young woman who rang up my coffee at Panera this morning, was named Essence. When I told her I liked her name, she smiled.

Rockeye said...

Victoria:
I'd be happy if just our elected "leadership" would think about ways to put people back to work and solving out budget woes. That is what we hired them to do, and it would seem we instead have a laser focus on golfing scores and the fierce moral urgency of acquiring larger personal jets for members of the most ethical congress ever.

DADvocate said...

This anticipates that they will be mocked and, quite possibly, beaten up.

Ever heard Johnny Cash's song, "Boy Named Sue?" Those kids will grow up to be tough as nails instead of spoiled wimps wishing we could all live in a fantasy land.

BTW - Victoria is one of those names met with derision. Sounds snotty. Kids go around with their noses in the air saying with a fake British accent, "Victoria.... Queen Victoria" Vicki's fine though.

I feel for the people with unfortunate last names. Ever wonder how many times in their life people with the last name Newton hear "Fig Newton?" More than you can count, I'll tell you. A guy I work with a guy whose last name is "Whack." Rough childhood I'm sure.

Darcy said...

Did she have a sis named "Nuance" MamaM? =)

Oh, and me. I didn't laugh, either. I particularly found the girls' names charming.

Ah well. Got to amuse Katie! Whee!

Alex said...

I agree that Journolist exposes a naked class bigotry. Sarah Palin belongs firmly to the lower middle class and those people the Democrat elite hate.

AllenS said...

victoria said...
Shouldn't we be thinking about ways to put people back to work

Yes. Here's a great idea. Have the government employ another 10,000 people to choose children names.

Alex said...

Really Ann, people should think long and hard before they give their kids names like Track, Trig, Rumer, Talullah etc. This anticipates that they will be mocked and, quite possibly, beaten up. Parents, before you saddle your child with a name like Pilot Inspektor, think long and hard. Think.

nice to know you are confirmed school bully. People like you make the world a hateful place to grow up in.

former law student said...

Nobody here has read In This House of Brede? I mean, I haven't either, but I know that Rumer Godden was a respectable novelist.

I forget where I read this, and google is no help, but unusual names for guys are thought of as weird, so they have a tough time being teased, while unusual names for girls are thought of as distinctive, making them seem more fascinating.

The parents of Holly and Timothy Near liked vegetation, but it must have been rough on the female Timothy.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

OT

Drudge says...

EXCLUSIVE 1:26 PM PT: CA Prop 8 held to be unconstitutional under due process and equal protection. Will be released at 2 PM PT...
Judge strikes down -- IN 138 PAGE RULING -- 'Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California'
...

Alex said...

Oh, ridiculous. In private, who didn't have a laugh at the names of Sarah and Bristol Palin's kids?

Uh Ann, I didn't and nobody I know laughed at them. Don't project your hatred and bigotry onto everyone else.

prairie wind said...

Lots of discussion about the names of the Palin kids and the Obama kids, but not a word about the name "Barack," which is just as weird as Trig or T'Neequa. Guess that goes to show you that people will get used to names.

I kind of like Tallulah...she was named for Tallulah Bankhead, wasn't she? I've laughed at many names over the years. Haircuts, too.

prairie wind said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
exhelodrvr1 said...

hawkeyedjb,
"And as for suffering the disdain of Katie Couric (if she was being disdainful), it's not quite like being insulted by someone whose opinion is important."

It is important, if her level of disdain affects the way she presents the news. And based on the news storis that are provided on her show, it would seem that is does affect it.

former law student said...

Having haunted the liqueur aisles in liquor stores in Chicago, Barack sounded quite familiar:

http://www.bekesipalinka.hu/termek_new/big/agyas_barack_csoport.jpg

AllenS said...

Barack is a very common name. In Kenya.

Anonymous said...

How about the name of Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham? Supposedly her father had wanted a son.

"Jermajesty" takes the cake, though.

traditionalguy said...

Prarie winds...Tallulah is a place name for a river, gorge and falls starting in Western NC and ending in the northeastern corner of Georgia. The name is said to predate the Cherokees who took up the name from Creek Indians there before them. It was too pretty a name to change it.It is like Palin's kids names in that it has no meaning except as a great sounding spoken name.

mesquito said...

I had a friend who had the gift of introducing himself with to women at parties, with a perfectly straight face, as "Scrotum Ballswallower."

Methadras said...

What is the long held confirmation? That little Katie Couric is an idiot? That requires confirmation?

AlphaLiberal said...

Have you even heard of Grover Norquist, Ann? He who holds closed meetings with conservative journos, lobbyists, Republican staff, etc.

It's not a bull session. These meetings are even more overtly political to discuss and share strategy.

Where is the Althouse outrage there? Not good for your right wing links, page views and traffic?

They gather every Wednesday morning in a boardroom of Americans for Tax Reform. Norquist is president of the anti-tax group. The shades are down, the lights are weak, yet an incandescent assuredness infuses the room. A hundred and twenty people mill around, eating bagels, distributing talking points, exchanging business cards and tips. They are lobbyists, analysts, senior White House and Hill staffers, advocates for property rights, gun ownership and traditional values. There are never enough chairs. The air is as warm as a hatchery.

"Guys, could you all please be seated," Norquist said on a recent Wednesday. " 'Cause as usual, we have a fun-filled, action-packed, spine-tingling agenda."

The sessions are by invitation only, and off the record. A Washington Post reporter was allowed access on the condition that no participant would be quoted without permission.


Wash Post

Selective and partisan outrage!

David said...

"Where do they get those names?"

Hardly a snarky comment.

Of course, this was during (before?) the Republican convention before Couric and others had gotten the memos on how to destroy Palin.

What's really remarkable about the tape is the overall favorable portrait of Palin in the prepared script.

Boy, did they rewrite that script.

blake said...

Oh, wow, AL! That's exactly like 400 journalists and Obama staffers (but I repeat myself) conspiring to decide how to tilt the news to favor their side.

Good find!

wv: localmo

(He sure is.)

Jim said...

Funny first names?

I'm stilling giggling like a schoolgirl over "BARACK"

I mean naming your kid after housing for single military men? WHAT A HOWLER!!!

I've been twittering back and forth with Katie Couric about this for YEARS NOW.

I mean...there's GOT to be a clip of her snarking about HIS name, isn't there?

Isn't there????

Oh yeah....never mind....

Rose said...

There are no David's, John's, Steven's or Bill's in my kids' classes. No Ann's or Janice's either. Very few Cathy's. No Katie's either.

There is a Stormy Rain, River, and a host of names in that vein. A few "traditional" Michaela's and Brittany's.

Katie Couric is a "mean girl" and if anything threw Palin off her stride, it was probably the sharply dawning realization of malice in the facial clues, the tone and every fiber of Couric's being. I suspect Palin was prepared to stand up to the bullies of the world, had done so with the bullies in her own state, but was temporarily unprepared to find Couric was not the sweetie her on-air persona suggests.

And now, Sarah Palin has taken every brick they could throw, and is still standing. Not just standing, but knocking them dead. She'll still be standing when Couric's network du jour folds up and disappears. And so will her beautiful kids.

AlphaLiberal said...

There is no reasoning with paranoids who have dug in with a conspiracy theory.

You guys are fucking crazy. You think Obama was born in Kenya, that an email list is a conspiracy to control the news, that gay people marrying somehow threatens you, that immigrants are out to take over the country.

You've gone completely bonkers. Paranoid conspiracists.

AlphaLiberal said...

I'm stilling giggling like a schoolgirl over "BARACK"

It's actually a pretty common name in many cultures.

Idiots.

Jim said...

Alpha -

And yet you persist. If you REALLY believed what you say, you'd leave.

You'd have left long ago. But you don't. You're just a whiny little schoolgirl whimpering about how put upon you and your Leftist friends are.

If we're so bad and it's impossible to reason with us, then there really is no point in your continued presence. Because if that's true that makes you INSANE.

Insanity being defined, of course, as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

So which is it, Alpha? Are you actually insane or are you actually leaving?

Jim said...

Alpha -

YOU are the moron. If you can't "get" sarcasm, then you're farther gone than even your posts would indicate.

I suggest getting back on the meds straight away.

mesquito said...

Where are all the journlists in that meeting, alpha?

Michael Haz said...

"Alpha"? Now that's a first name worth laughing about.

Anonymous said...

Here in the mountains, people are often given initials instead of names. I knew an L.R. and and R.L. and never knew their names, even after they died. Their obits didn't give their names, if they even had names.

One legend (and I doubt it's more than that) is that a local boy joined the Army during WWII and gave his name as J.B. The Army told him that he had to give them a name, which he vehemently denied having. They asked and asked him, and he finally, slowly, and clear said, "My name is J-only, B-only." He was known to the US military as Jonly Bonly after that.

Kids' names on my kids' ball teams over the years: Crash, Chance, Woods, Forest, Sage, Dakota, River.

Welcome to the sticks. Here's your banjo.

Triangle Man said...

The names of the Palin kids, and plenty of other ridiculous ones, would be completely acceptable as nicknames among the "upper" class.

paul a'barge said...

For the record, I did not laugh at the names of the Palin children.

Just so you know ...

On the other hand, I can hardly restrain myself from a gut-level guffaw every time I hear the names of black Americans, and that includes Ta-Nehisi Coates, or what ever it is.

The Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
X said...

Windbag, it's not legend. The mayor of our town had only initials and the military did that with him too. We all knew him as Ponly Monly

MayBee said...

I didn't laugh at the Palin names, although I'm not above name laughing (Jermajesty is absolutely my fave)


I do think people who hated her were especially irritated by their names and more happy to make fun of them.

I don't believe Katie would feel comfortable enough to make fun of the names of the Willis girls, or Zuma and Kingston Rossdale, or Barron Trump (or Tiffany Trump).

At the time she laughed at these names, Katie Couric was dating a man named Brooks.

Anonymous said...

Laughing at an uncommon name is trivial. The larger, disgusting point is that the media laughed at the kids themselves.

Paul Kirchner said...

garage mahal said...Granted, I prefer the Kim Kardashian ass shape in the first place. Curvaceous. Mmmm mmm mm.

I had wondered whether there was any topic on which I would agree with garage mahal.

Okay, there's one.

Brian said...

OK. Well some of the more interesting names of actual African-Americans here in the Bible Belt:

Shithead Jones (pronounced shi-theed).

Orangejello and Lemonjello (or-onj-el-o and le-monj-el-o)

Clitoria (pronounced.. oh you know)

I'm not making this up.

Ralph L said...

My grandmother was known as Trix from the age of 3, but her real name was Jennie. She didn't learn her lifelong friend Pearl's real name was Margaret until her obituary.

My mom's cousin Julia went through life as Bootsey, and her sister, Bibbie.

Dude, the hiring manager will probably be named Perri or DeWayne or Inersha
More likely, Mohammed or Jesus or Xingpao.

JAL said...

@ vicotria This anticipates that they will be mocked and, quite possibly, beaten up.

Someone will (would have) beat up the Palin kids?

And lived?

hahahahahaha

Jeremy said...

Windbag said..."Laughing at an uncommon name is trivial. The larger, disgusting point is that the media laughed at the kids themselves."

Oh, cry me a river.

The "kids" are actually pretty funny.

*Follow the Levi/Bristol relationship and tell me that's not funny.

JAL said...

Paris Hilton?

And what's that guy's name? The rip off?

Perez Hilton?

paul a'barge said...

Calif Prop 8 Unconstitutional?

garage mahal said...

I had wondered whether there was any topic on which I would agree with garage mahal.

Okay, there's one.


And jazz. There's two!

Brian said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JAL said...

Speaking of names -- True story.

I have a friend whose aunts are named Tonyta and Tewannah. (This is a white family.)

Tonyta names her daughters Felita Dyree, Velita Lyree and Marie Onita.

My friend has a baby. Aunt Tonyta talks with her and says "What did you name her?" And friend says "Anna Kathryn."

Aunt Tonyta says "I wouldn't hang that name on a dog!"

(Apologies to Joy and and her family if you're reading this. But y'all made me laugh so hard I cried.)

Brian said...

@Jeremy:
Follow the Levi/Bristol relationship and tell me that's not funny.

Message from Tripp:
It ain't funny to me.

Shanna said...

One legend (and I doubt it's more than that) is that a local boy joined the Army during WWII and gave his name as J.B. The Army told him that he had to give them a name, which he vehemently denied having. They asked and asked him, and he finally, slowly, and clear said, "My name is J-only, B-only." He was known to the US military as Jonly Bonly after that.

I have an uncle who is named after I guess my great grandfathers army buddy. Since they didn't know his middle name my uncle's name is "Guy B.".

I also had some sort of great (great?) aunt who they called 'girl' until she was 5 or so and then they let her pick her name. And she always kicked herself for picking "Bernice".

The Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
hawkeyedjb said...

exhelodrvr1 said...
"It is important, if her level of disdain affects the way she presents the news. And based on the news storis that are provided on her show, it would seem that is does affect it."

Well of course it does; Katie Couric is playing to her (dwindling) audience. Those who watch Ms. Couric are the ones who want their news presented with a left-wing slant by a perky, airheaded nitwit. If she loses those viewers, her audience will number in the dozens.

JAL said...

Oh yeah ... one of Tonyta's grandaughters was La-ah.

Trooper York said...

Many Italians are named Tony because when they got off the boat at Ellis Island they had their destination written across their forehead.

TO NY.

Anonymous said...

Oh, cry me a river.

Let me know when you run for public office, so I can destroy your kids' reputations, okay, pal?

Big Mike said...

In private, who didn't have a laugh at the names of Sarah and Bristol Palin's kids?

Me, for one.

I've always thought of Katie Couric as a bimbo unburdened by talent or conscience. Nothing she's said or done since leaving morning "news" has caused me to reconsider.

former law student said...

TO NY

There is a sad story behind the most common Italian surname, Esposito (the exposed one). It was given to unwanted babies left on the steps of churches, convents, etc. It's as if the most common English surname were Foundling.

victoria said...

Alex, your comments confirm what I have always know about you, you a a judgemental jackass. Though it is nice to see that you are equally jackassy to the left and the right.

DADvocate,life is tough enough and the world gives us enough hard knocks without having to spend your childhood defending your given name.

Proud of my name but they never picked on Victoria, it was vicki, ickly sticky goey.
Did it make me tougher, na.
Victoria

The Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
victoria said...

Actually Tallulah was named for Tallulah Bankhead, a movie actress and a stage star of the 30's and 40's. Rumer was for Rumer Godden and Scout was for, duh, Scout in To kill a Mockingbird.


Victoria

blake said...

On the other hand, Demi was named "half" because it sounded nice and French.

MadisonMan said...

you must support cutting the budget of the Dept of Education by 50%?

Why so little?

MayBee said...

In private, who didn't have a laugh at the names of Sarah and Bristol Palin's kids?

btw, Pauline Kael called to say she absolute agrees with this.

Josh Painter said...

You keep it classy, Ann.

- Jp

virgil xenophon said...

If EVER a guy deserved to murder his parents for the name they laid on him it was a man I knew growing up by the name of Roe Haddock. LOL!!!

ken in tx said...

When I was in Jr. High, one of my teachers was J. C. Bailey, the letters J & C were his name. He said that in the army, they made him make up a name. He called himself Jesse C. Bailey. That became his name from then on.

MathMom said...

I have not one, but TWO, cousins named Brandi Ann. I worried they'd both wind up to be centerfolds. Haven't seen them in years, so I don't know how they came out.

Willow and Bristol would have been better choices. IMHO.

Bruce Hayden said...

You guys are fucking crazy. You think Obama was born in Kenya, that an email list is a conspiracy to control the news, that gay people marrying somehow threatens you, that immigrants are out to take over the country.

As usual, over the top generalizations.

As for the immigrants, the problem is that Congress has drawn a line as to who should be allowed to immigrate, and who shouldn't, and that line is not being enforced by the Executive Branch, and in the case of the Obama Administration, is being flagrantly flaunted.

We cannot afford unlimited immigration, because at some point, it costs more than it brings in. We cannot afford a billion people living in this country, and is likely what we would see if immigration were not limited. And beyond that point, which we seem to have crossed, immigrants, esp. poor ones with no skills, cost more than they bring to this country. You may wish to have a significantly lower standard of living due to your perception of humanity, but most of us do not.

But more relevantly, the Journalist emails do show that the "news" that many, if not most in this country were exposed to, was being actively managed by the MSM throughout the Obama election and up until fairly recently.

You can pretend that it didn't happen. But it is just too coincidental those times when the Journalist members would figure out a common spin or response to something, and all of a sudden, in lockstep, many of the media outlets that they work for would, in lockstep, respond almost identically through what stories they would push and what stories they would suppress.

William said...

At 6:33pm, Instapundit links to pictures of a shit faced Kouric doing a sad, desperate boogie. Such photos would be career ending if they were of Palin. These pictures should be used to illustrate and illuminate any article on the Couric-Palin contretemps.

jr565 said...

THis doesn't change the fact that Katie Couric is totally partial and biased and far left, there isn't much to this particular story. So she thought the names were weird. It's not like she dwelled on it and went into a diatraibe against the Palin's. THey happen to have unique names.
In fact they remind me a bit of the Phoenix family, with the bizarre nature inspired names. And if someone read off those names I could imagine anyone doing a double take.

So, much as I'd loke to jump on Katie Couric, this is much ado about nothing.

jr565 said...

-cont-
Though I don'think she would have been as willing to laugh about the names if they were barack's kids.

John0 Juanderlust said...

This really was minimal, if an issue at all. It is this sort of hair splitting that hurts the credibility of legitimate allegations of media bias.

No surprise with Katie, but the names aren't that crazy.
Did anyone think Katie was above snobbery and subjective quips? This is a failed "gotcha!" Too many real aberrations in this admin and the media to go after the trivia.

I know of a girl named Shithead (shi-THEED). That would be trouble.
Wait till we get an out-take of Katie under Obama's desk. Could happen

Fen said...

This really was minimal, if an issue at all.

Sure. JournoLists in a cabal to shape the news in favor of their preferred candidate. Nothing to see here, move along.

Democrats have no shame.

Kev said...

If EVER a guy deserved to murder his parents for the name they laid on him it was a man I knew growing up by the name of Roe Haddock. LOL!!!

And if not him, then the girl who went to my college: Robyn Banks. (No, really.)

My daughter has a female black friend named Lyric, not too bad. Then I ran into a black boy named Lyric. When I told the girl I had met a boy named Lyric, the first thing out of her mouth was, "Is he black?" She knew what AllenS is talking about.

Hmm--I taught a girl named Lyric, and she was white. At the time, I thought it was funny that Lyric was playing an instrument instead of singing, well, the lyrics.


wv: sheedu. I wonder if anyone's ever given that name to a kid...

Clyde said...

@ Darcy

Clyde is certainly more palatable to ME! :-)

Names, alas, go in and out of fashion. Clyde was among the top 100 most popular names for boys at the turn of the last century, according to the baby names site at ssa.gov. It's Scottish and means "heard from afar," probably describing the river of the same name. At this point, it's not even in the top 1000 any more, driven out by negative cultural references like "Bonnie and Clyde," Ahab the Arab's camel, Clint Eastwood's orangutan, etc.

I'm glad that your boss is doing his bit to keep the name in circulation.

prairie wind said...

Shithead (Sh'theed) and La-a (La-dash-a)...I simply don't believe those stories. Urban myths.

Darcy said...

Oop! Sorry, Clyde! I have gotten used to calling the little - and I mean toddlers here - darlings Oscar and Clyde. But I must say, those names don't exactly roll off the tongue for baby talk. LOL.

I totally understand the generational popularity of names, btw. My parents' names were Dick and Thelma. (I went out of my way by my teenaged years to tell people my dad's name was Richard, lol) ;-)

Clyde said...

No problem, Darcy!

I found the stories up-comments about people being called by their initials familiar, because when I was a small boy, since my Dad was also Clyde, my relatives called me by my initials, C.E. It wasn't until I started elementary school that I started insisting that everyone call me by my given name and not my initials. It tooks several years after that to finally persuade my grandparents to do so.

Clyde said...

And having a distant ancestor named Richard Head (early 18th Century) back in the paternal side of my family tree, I fully understand about the "call me Richard" phenomenon. You wouldn't believe how hard Mom laughed when she found that out.

DADvocate said...

Couric's comments weren't in private. Makes me wonder what she said in private.

Floridan said...

Lighten up.

DADvocate said...

Victoria, it was vicki, ickly sticky goey.

I never knew a Vicki until I was in the 8th grade and beyond that kind of name calling.

My name is Ross. If I had a dollar for every time I've heard "Ross the Boss", and I still do, I, nor my children, wouldn't have to work another day.

Anonymous said...

My understanding is that Trig is named after his great uncle.

http://www.ktuu.com/global/story.asp?s=8194634

The word trig has several meanings:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/trig

neat, trim, smart, or spruce.

in good physical condition; sound; well.

to support or prop, as with a wedge.

to act as a check on (the moving of wheels, vehicles, etc.)

lucid said...

Katie doesn't have much time to pay attention to the news.

She is too busy banging her brains out with her 33 year old boyfriend and worrying about his banging everything else that he can get to hold still for two minutes.

Some news anchor.

former law student said...

Robyn Banks

Thanks for the laugh. I assume she isn't.

A friend's dentist is named Les Plack. Was his name his destiny?