October 2, 2011

"Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness...."

Anti-fat insults, from the Bible.

No, I didn't go looking for anti-fat insults, though I did have a tab open on the Frank Bruni column delving into the hot topic of whether Chris Christie is too fat to win a presidential election.
Let’s talk about discipline.... Discipline can... be overrated. A vegan-come-lately, President Clinton fought and often lost his struggles with diverse appetites...

[And] President Bush...  seemingly kept his midlife resolve never to touch booze again, worked out religiously, maintained an early bedtime and vacationed like clockwork at his ranch[.] Bush was arguably more disciplined in those arenas than his predecessor and successor combined, but discipline was entwined, as it often is, with an absolute certainty and even inflexibility. And those qualities arguably had consequences far greater than Christie’s evident gluttony might.
As an open tab, that item had a chance at getting blogged, but the fact is, I was just looking up "apple" in the Bible, for my previous post, and got drawn into Deuteronomy 32. If you think we are cruel to fat people today, you should see what God had in mind.

88 comments:

ricpic said...

What makes you think those biblical quotes are insults? Fat equaled high status until modern times, very modern times.

The Crack Emcee said...

Bush was arguably more disciplined in those arenas than his predecessor and successor combined, but discipline was entwined, as it often is, with an absolute certainty and even inflexibility. And those qualities arguably had consequences far greater than Christie’s evident gluttony might.

Yeah - it turned out Bush was right on, pretty much, everything the idiots decided he was too rigid about.

But as this this quote implies, on the downside, he still gets blamed/punished for being surrounded by idiots.

Solution?

Get mirrors so non-fat naysayers, who are thick between the ears, know who to blame next time.

As vain as they are, they'll go for it,...

chickelit said...

Let he without wax light the first candle.

chickelit said...

Let he without wax light the first candle.

edutcher said...

Ah, yes, we're supposed to be sensitive, non-judgmental, value neutral...

until it's some RethugliKKKan who might overturn The Messiah.

Let's hear it for civility.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

Solomon didn't just sit around the palace, he sat AROUND the palace.

Known Unknown said...

On a related note, I coined the nickname "Fat Shortstop" for Detroit's Jhonny Peralta.

He's no longer a shortstop, but he's still fat.

And Carston Charles Sabathia is a 'fat fuck.'

Anonymous said...

I wonder when the fees will start. This is good for America. We all need to pay fees. This is one great way for us to move forward. Re-elect the democrats all the way.

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/article/durbin-fees-are-coming-thanks-progressives

xnar said...

I lost my appitate after watching the Shocking Meat Video.

But now I'm dabbling in a pint of ice cream wondering if I too could be president one day.

A. Shmendrik said...

Note to Gov. Christie: Do not allow your self to be photographed eating a corn-dog, at a State Fair, or otherwise.

SukieTawdry said...

It's been reported that although Bush was famously free of prejudice, he did harbor a bias against the overweight. Apparently he found fat people quite off-putting. And a fatty who was late for an appointment? Fuggedaboutit.

Is Christie too fat to win a presidential election? Oh, probably not, but his weight certainly puts him at a disadvantage. Let's pit a fat guy against a really, really short guy sometime and see what happens.

ricpic said...

What fees, AP? Greens fees? Your god pays nada in fees, lives off the cuff, in toto.

JR said...

My favorite story of a – “very fat man.”

But when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his cloak.

He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.

It came about when he had finished presenting the tribute, that he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. But he himself turned back from the idols which were at Gilgal, and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king." And he said, "Keep silence." And all who attended him left him. Ehud came to him while he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." And he arose from his seat. Ehud stretched out his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh and thrust it into his belly. The handle also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the refuse [shit] came out. (Judg 3:15-22).


I take ‘fatness’ as simultaneously physical and a metaphor for fatness in corruption.

I cite this case of Ehud to clients referred to me by clergy (pro-bono poverty law stuff) who are getting stiffed.

William Black has written extensively on ‘control fraud.’ Fat cats in government and corporations who use positions of authority to commit fraud. Controlling power to get fatter in power to commit fraud.

I just watched Schlinder’s List again last night. “I'm a profiteer of slave labor. I am a criminal.”

Nothing like raw confession by a fat cat.

Whether the -- refuse [shit] -- will come out on any of these politicians may depend on Ehuds.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

Wow Random, awesome story. I picture Ehud as Bruce Willis and
Eglon as Robert DeNiro in a fat suit. Directed by Tarantino, of course.

cubanbob said...

So Christie is fat. I trust him more because of that. He is what he is and doesn't care what you think. Better a fat man in the white house than the current fat head in the white house.

DADvocate said...

BTW - we seem to be on a religious theme today. Appropriate for Sunday.

A. Shmendrik said...

Random Arrow said...
My favorite story of a – “very fat man.”


Before you even got to "pro-bono" I was thinking Eglon as played by
Victor Buono

caplight said...

A seminary student who served with me did a paper on the Ehud/Eglon story. He said that it was a form of ancient humor where Ehud's left-handedness was a sign of his deviousness and Eglon's corpulence was a tip that he was a homosexual. The reason he would allow Ehud in his bed chamber alone was because he hoped for a tryst. His desire for sex became his undoing. Maybe the thrust of the sword was a signifier also.

caplight said...

I always liked this one from Nehemiah:

Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength. Neh 8:10 KJV

jamboree said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Carol_Herman said...

He also flew off his Segway. And, he flew off his bike. You never saw him riding a horse, either. Which was something Ronald Reagan did with panache.

Both Ronald Reagan and Nancy kept themselves slim. (Reagan wasn't much of a drinking. Deaver said he'd give him a glass of wine ... because it brought a nice flush to his cheeks.

IF THIS IS A DIG AT CHRIS CHRISTIE, HOWEVER ... I'd remind you of Jackie Gleason! ("And, away we go!")

Meanwhile, at the opera, everyone waits for the fat soprano to sing. Because it means the opera is over. And, you can applaud. And, then go home.

This "fat" hype is a LIE, anyway! Because the camera puts ten pounds on ya ... even if you're anorexic.

And, besides. Ruben was right! The health of a woman could be seen when she was adorably pudgy.

As long as all the weight wasn't around her ankles.

YIPPEE! CRACK'S BACK!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, like ricpic says, fatness is about wealth here. The quote suggests that Israel became content and decadent, abandoning fidelity to God. NIV translation, with footnote c noting that Jeshurun is a name for Israel.

15 Jeshurun[c] grew fat and kicked;
filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior.
16 They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols.

It's about fatness in the sense that Sartre talks about, contentedness, etre en soir, rather than pour soi hunger. I think it's clear that Christie is a pour soi crusader rather than an entitled, content, politician. At the moment Perry seems to me to be the strongest candidate for that kind of criticism (although obviously he was tremendously driven earlier in his life).

Carol_Herman said...

Just thought I'd mention this. Because Dubya gave Arik Sharon his stoke! As soon as "gaza's pullout was done," ... with nothing to show for it for Israel! The bozo, Dubya, asked Sharon to shift his soldiers to the West Bank.

And, Condi Rice was an idiot!

Carol_Herman said...

"Scooter" Libby NEVER leaked Plame's name! From the get go Colin Powell KNEW that Armitage was the one!

All Dubya wanted to do was give Cheney a heart attack!

Dubya's nickname for Colin Powel was "BALLOONFOOT."

Alex said...

Roseanne Barr wants to behead the ultra-wealthy

Jason (the commenter) said...

Everybody knows that Christians only care about quotes from the Old Testament dealing with Sodom and Gomorrah.

Jason (the commenter) said...

ticpic: What makes you think those biblical quotes are insults? Fat equaled high status until modern times, very modern times.

Read the passage, the quote isn't meant to be flattering. The fat people are linked with Sodom and Gomorrah.

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

Gluttony was one of the seven deadly sins. But given that CC's a GOP-puerco, he's probably got the others on his scorecard as well--greed, lust,wrath,etc

J said...

Ah ,Sky Hobo, aka Carol the snitch, back to stinking up the boards. Yr a suspect too, bum

chickelit said...

It's even worse in German. He calls Jeshurun a dick:

du bist wächserne Fett, du bist gewachsen dick, du bist mit Fett abgedeckt

Trooper York said...

Sigh.

Really.

Carol said...

I think Christie would seriously lose his mojo if he started dieting and working out and getting all ascetic like W. Yeah, GWB was set in his workout routine and don't you mess with it.

But unfortunately Christie is going to start suffering from his weight, and soon. It wears on the joint and causes all kinds of problems. Just go to WalMart and see for yourselves.

Just look at my avatar pic - taken in WalMart, where people can't even stand up straight anymore!

Carol said...

...oh, that's "joints" not "joint." Oops!

rhhardin said...

Amber waves of bean. video

Wholesome fat.

Trooper York said...

It is the considered opinion of most historians that William Howard Taft was a mediocre president falling safely into the pack alongside such luminaries as Franklin Pierce and Chester Arthur. But William Howard Taft is the only American who has served as both President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He is the favorite Republican of most Democrats since he was instrumental in passing the Sixteenth Amendment that formalized the Income Tax which is of course the favorite law of all tax and spend Democrats as they always seek to model the government on the physique of President Taft. He was of course our largest President weighing in at over 300 pounds for most of his life and invented the term "press" which referred to his habit of sitting on reporters who wrote critically of his administration.
(Beware A Lean and Hungry Look, Why the Best Politicians Are Fat, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Little Debbie Press 2012)

J said...

Ah Trooper Perp and his sidekick Gallina.

The A-tard gang in action

Trooper York said...

The President most often selected as our best was of course Abraham Lincoln but recent scholarship has downgraded his place in our history. He of course was a racist as he fought the civil war to save the union and not to free the slaves and give them free stuff. He was also in the closet because of his homosexual relationship with Joshua Speed who was his life-long lover. This combination of racism and homophobia and the fact that he was Caucasian has led to him being downgraded to a level below Millard Fillmore and James Polk who were members of the Know Nothing Party as recorded by their Recording secretary Carol Herman. He is also being downgraded even further as he was our thinnest President. He suffered from both melancholia and bulimia and ringworm the he had caught from his unusual obsession with his rare clumbers.
(Beware A Lean and Hungry Look, Why the Best Politicians Are Fat, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Little Debbie Press 2012)

Michael K said...

"Fat equaled high status until modern times, very modern times."

It was a complement to the husband that he had a fat wife and vice versa.

Jack Spratt and all that,

Cedarford said...

Thinking of fat, and the phony controversy about the informal historical name of the land Perry's family leased news the Chicommies have opened OFC - the Obama Fried Chicken chain.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2044016/Obama-Fried-Chicken-Is-President-giving-Colonel-Sanders-run-money.html?ITO=1490

The Chinese of course have their own view about black barbarians.

The OFC Slogan underneath reads "We so cool, aren't we?"

Of course, rubbing it in, the Chicommies also have a 50-100% tariff on the price of imported American chicken. Something to think about when you see free trade ideologues fall to the ground spasming, frothing at the mouth, and screaming "Smoot-Hawley" - anytime Fair Trade and tariffs on China is mentioned.

BTW - Obama would make a great fried chicken mascot. He is thin, so makes a better mascot than Chris Christie and half the Chicommie Politburo. And fried chicken+Negro are globally associated as a natural pairing.

Peter Hoh said...

I'll see you on the Biblical quote, and raise you one from the Bard:

Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look; he thinks too much; such men are dangerous.

With regrets that Trooper got there first, sort of.

Jose_K said...

jhonny Peralta
He's no longer a shortstop, but he's still fat
He is an All Star caliber one. And far better than the 22th SS in range, captain supeflous.

Jose_K said...

Since most americans are overweihgt, he is one of us.

Fred4Pres said...

Fatty McAwesome's problems go well beyond his weight.

J said...

"dick" in gr. is thick. Not quite the same --but more like yr fantasies, Pollita the surfer-paralegal--lets see , phony italian, spanish ,chemistry, "law"-- and add german to the list of your BS.

Anonymous said...

A woman who's been married for only a few months tells her best friend that she's thinking about divorcing her new husband. "Why in the world would you do that?" the startled friend asks. "Charlie is so successful, you have a beautiful house, he got you a new Mercedes, and you're going on a 3-week luxury cruise!"

"Yes, Charlie is very nice," the dismayed newlywed replies, "unfortunately he keeps wanting anal sex. While I try to accommodate him, physically I just can't take it any longer. When I went to the doctor this morning I found out that although my anus had been the size of a dime before marriage, thanks to Charlie it's now the size of a quarter."

"I can't understand you," the friend replies, " you'll throw all that away over fifteen cents."

Peter

traditionalguy said...

Why would we trust the Presidency we expect to take care of us to a man who cannot take care of himself???

Phil 314 said...

Uh, didn't we recently elect a smoker to the Presidency.

Cedarford said...

I don't really care if a President has health problems - be they just cruel fate (Cain and McCains cancers, Bachmann's craziness) or lifestyle choices (Bubba's greasy burgers, Christies fatness, Obama's smoking).

As long as they can do the job and aren't at high odds to drop dead, become significantly incapacitated, or go crazy in office.

After, if Christie has a heart attack 20 years from now, Obama gets lung cancer 15 years later..well, sad for them but no consequence to the governing of the country.

Even the "pure" - perfect weight, don't drink don't smoke eat only perfect food - types - all eventually die as well.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

J said...

"dick" in gr. is thick


It is you who betrays his ignorance, sir. If I said, "J ist ein dicker Kerl," a German would understand that you are fat, not that you are thick (which you apparently are).

sakredkow said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Phil 314 said...

I don't really care if a President has health problems - be they just cruel fate (Cain and McCains cancers, Bachmann's craziness) or lifestyle choices (Bubba's greasy burgers, Christies fatness, Obama's smoking).

But if they follow the Protocols of Zion, well then I have issues.

Cedarford said...

Phil 3:14 said...
I don't really care if a President has health problems - be they just cruel fate (Cain and McCains cancers, Bachmann's craziness) or lifestyle choices (Bubba's greasy burgers, Christies fatness, Obama's smoking).

But if they follow the Protocols of Zion, well then I have issues.

===============
Funny how most people can distinguish between health problems and unacceptable political beliefs - like Obamas socialist wealth redistribution schemes being more relevant to him being allowed to continue as President versus his cigarette smoking on thesly...

Peter V. Bella said...

The skinny knobby kneed(look at him in shorts) guy in the White House isn't doing to well. Who cares if the next guy is fat or even has a college degree. If he can balance a check book and work well with others let's go for it.

It couldn't be any worse.

J said...

wrong again tyrone the moron and plagiarist (don't use Pynchon's character either dreck, when you don't know Slothrop from yr tax scams)

thick or big, not necessarily fat, scheissekopf--which is Fett, or Fettsack--"du bist ein Fettsack"

you don't know any german, mormon trash. Being fast on the google doesnt mean jack , phony

Sprezzatura said...

Trooper,

You may draw the fat-as-bad line somewhere north of other folks, but I'm guessing that you do eventually draw such a line.

I recently saw a fat guy riding around in one of those electric carts. He had two poles attached to his "rig." One was a Texas flag, which is cool--I'm for the Lone Star state. The other was the stars and bars, which I don't get.

Maybe this guy had a medical condition that resulted in his heft. But, it's more likely that he was just a big fat loser who couldn't walk very far.

Can't we all agree that if you're too fat to walk, you're too fat?

bagoh20 said...

Althouse: "...but discipline was entwined, as it often is, with an absolute certainty and even inflexibility."

Crack: "Yeah - it turned out Bush was right on, pretty much, everything the idiots decided he was too rigid about. "

I agree, but the people who were lost in their own rigidity against him and remain rigid even today with 20/20 hindsight don't consider themselves rigid, because just like with racism, stupidity, hypocrisy and unscientific beliefs, they can't be guilty because they are "progressives". Those things are only ailments of the rubes.

Valentine Smith said...

No one has ever been arrested for fat driving.

J said...

mo' pointless sockpuppetry

the okie (in Sacto CA) must have 3-4 comps on, and his compaq, probably even texting from his nokia--a pointin and a clickin'

Sprezzatura said...

"I agree, but the people who were lost in their own rigidity against him and remain rigid even today"

followed by rigid right wing dogma.




LOL.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

@J

I took four years of high school German, and two years at university. Not a native speaker, no, but better than you. "Fett" is closer in meaning to the greasy stuff that's attached to your steak. "Dick" is descriptive of a fat person . But please, continue to be a fucking idiot..

Sprezzatura said...

BTW, waxin phat bitches isn't necessarily a bad thing nowadays.

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

Anyway Dick/dicke by itself is like stout, ie Big. thick. Fat as in obese or...fatso is like "dickbauchig" or Fettsack (per Deutsch woerterbuch.... not googlestein.

Herr Christie ist
dickbauchig. Verstehen zee, schmutz? gut

J said...

btw who's the Pointsman, "Slothrop"?

rapido, Doktor Google!

purplepenquin said...

Won't waste my time feeling sorry for him,
I seen the other side to being thin.
Roll us both down a mountain
and I'm sure the fat man would win.

Trooper York said...

Well PbandJ there are a lot of people who are morbidly obese. They have both a physical and mental problem. But there are plenty of people who have a few extra pounds on them who live happy productive lives and don't need to hear from the health nazi's every day.

Largo said...

Don't feed trolls, lest they waxen fat and grow thick.

viator said...

"Denmark has introduced what’s believed to be the world’s first fat food tax, applying a surcharge to foods with more than 2.3 percent saturated fats"

abc news

No chance of this passing in a Christie administration.

viator said...

Chris Christie is well rounded.

lemondog said...

Campaign slogan:

'Fat President Lean Government.'

Got my vote.

J said...

Speaking of corrupt fat conservatives, it's...Trooper Snitch!

"beleibt" is the word for corpulence . Flynnberg ist beleibt

Joe Schmoe said...

I've had enough stories about our supposed prejudices that rear up in the voting booth. The press seems to always be admonishing that we won't vote for someone because they are fat, a minority, a woman, or what have you. As we prove time and again, Americans aren't that stupid.

Anonymous said...

23 And Noah spake to the multitudes where they were assembled, saying, Want I not to say that my wife is fat...

24 And the multitude cried out with one voice, crying, How fat is she?

25 And Noah answered them, saying, So fat is she, that the LORD did rebuke me, saying, Bade I thee to take into the Ark two of every living thing, not two tons of every living thing.

Steve Koch said...

It is one thing to be a little over weight but Christie is way, way over weight. It seems doubtful that such a fat guy would win the presidential election. Americans are pretty superficial.

Having said that, he would probably do a good job as president. He seems to have a lot of common sense and has no fear confronting those who need to be confronted. He gets things done in a state that is mostly dem. He is not very conservative, more middle of the road in his politics so independents might find his politics more acceptable than other GOP candidates who are more conservative.

Michael said...

J: Are you now going to do to the German language what you have done to Spanish? Go post some comments on your blog. Or read Hegel.

J said...

None of your business, Mikey dreck.

didn't claim mastery of pinche aleman (unlike some of the phonies on this blog)--but read it alright ,and.. I check the german dictionary. You on the other hand, obviously don't..know shit about either german or spanish, like you don't know f*ck about Hegel or philosophy or economics, shekelsswine.

Robert Cook said...

"I took four years of high school German, and two years at university. Not a native speaker, no, but better than you. 'Fett' is closer in meaning to the greasy stuff that's attached to your steak. 'Dick' is descriptive of a fat person."

Late science fiction writer Philip K. Dick wrote an autobiographical science fiction novel called VALIS in which he himself appears as two characters--representing the divergent aspects of his character. One of the aspects bears his real name--Phil Dick--while the other is named "Horselover Fat."

"Philip" is greek for "horselover" and Dick is, as you state, German for "fat."

J said...

Ah it's Byro the Subluxanator with his phony red profile now, "Cook", talking to itself. You never read PK Dick's madness anyway,apart from the intro.

If you had a german dictionary you'd find out Dick is thick,big. Fett is fat; Fettsack or beleibt obese, like you. Even PKD would have known of these distinctions.
Just STFU

Robert Cook said...

"You never read PK Dick's madness anyway,apart from the intro."

Dick lot you know.

J said...

Thats right A-bots---Cookie exposed!

a white trash stoner from Sac aka Byro. But he's also at least5-6 other sockpuppets here, including "Fred4 Pres"

Robert Cook said...

Ice cold. Try again.

Nichevo said...

In Upton Sinclair's Lanny Budd series of WWII-era novels, the protagonist (Budd) refers to the very fat, thick, corpulent Hermann Goering as being nicknamed "Der Dicke" which I believe he translates as "Fatty."

Nichevo said...

And why are you all taunting poor J? He is sorry he shot all those people and the Congresswoman. His lawyer says so.

BarryD said...

Note that in a society where everyone wore big robes, one would have to be REALLY fat for it to be particularly noticeable.

Unknown said...

NYT article distilled:

Both Clinton and Obama have less resolve than Bush, therefore resolve must be bad.

Oclarki said...

Why do people still use the King James Version when they quote scripture? Very few Christians use that translation any longer?

Robert Cook said...

"Why do people still use the King James Version when they quote scripture? Very few Christians use that translation any longer?"

Because it is a masterpiece of the English language, perhaps the acme, along with Shakespeare's works, of english literature.