August 16, 2013

Questions, questions.

I was amused to find myself amongst the miscellaneous items at the end of "The Best of the Web" today. That stuff at the end is definitely not the best of the web. It's more of a grab bag of things that can be made funny by putting it under a funny heading.
Questions Nobody Is Asking

" 'Why Don't You Ask Me Next Time Before Writing That I'm Either Malicious or Dumb?'" --headline, Althouse.blogspot.com, Aug. 14

"Why Is Samantha Power Speaking to Invisible Children?"--headline, NationalInterest.org, Aug. 14

Answers to Questions Nobody Is Asking

"Michelle Obama: 'No,' I Will Never Run for President"--headline, WeeklyStandard.com, Aug. 15

12 comments:

Brent said...

You know that James Taranto adores you right?

I was intrigued when Rush Limbaugh, when asked several years ago which blogs he reads pretty much everyday for show prep, included Hugh Hewitt and Althouse in his list.

RecChief said...

I'm about tapped out on political stuff for a while. How about we talk Hockey? Wisconsin has several teams we could talk about:
Wisconsin Wilderness up in Spooner; Jets down in Janesville;Crusaders over in Hudson; Gamblers in Green Bay; Admirals in Milwaukee; and of course, the UW Badgers who have produced such NHL greats such as Chelios, Heatley, Richter, Joseph, Rafalski, Gary and Ryan Suter, and Pavelski, just to name a few.

Sam L. said...

I am amused 5x a week by Mr. Tarantula.

Levi Starks said...

Actually Just yesterday I suggested that Michelle will be be the the be the next president.
And fortunately for her she won't have to run, she'll be coronated. I know you all think I'm crazy, but she has the same qualifications as Hilary. Plus people actually like Michelle. Being president is no longer about substance, it about style. The number of people who care about style are now in the majority. Republicans don't have style, it's just not in their DNA. I say we need another 8 years of Obama style. Will there be anything left worth saving at that point? I have no Idea, but I'm going to kick back and enjoy the show.

Glen Filthie said...

Well I think that one with Moochelle is pretty much a no brainer...

Birches said...

You mean Tarantosaurus Sex, Sam L.

Saw the line in BOTW and laughed.

Ann Althouse said...

"You know that James Taranto adores you right?"

I know he likes me. I wonder what he thinks of the Daily Caller's Charles C. Johnson, whose question I was quoting in the post title. I see he includes the double quotes, making it clear he knows it's not me asking the question that "nobody" is asking.

But note that Johnson's question is about a question, so that question really is the question no on is asking. No one, thinking of writing about a column that either dumb or malicious would call up the columnist and inquire: Are you dumb or malicious?

It's not the sort of fact checking one might seem to need to do before writing about something!

What weird phone calls we'd be making if there were obligations like that.

The real point of acting like there is an obligation of that kind is to push back anyone who wants to criticize.

You can't criticize until you take various steps first.

hombre said...

Q: "Okay, are you malicious or dumb?"

A: "No."

Carry on, please, Professor.

Birches said...

I thought it was pretty obvious that Taranto sided with you by putting the post in "Questions that Nobody is Asking."

Ken Mitchell said...

Those minor bits at the end of the WSJ's "Best of the Web Today" email are sometimes funny in the same way that Drudge headlines are funny; the way they are juxtaposed on the page. So, "Questions nobody is asking" is followed by "Answers to questions nobody is asking". Even when the individual bits are only vaguely humorous, the supposed connections between them can be.

Sam L. said...

Levi? People like MO? Really? She has style? Shirley, you jest.

And a few days back I found this at BOTW:
"Elephant Snot Not Answer for Cleaning Tucson's Graffitied Saguaros"--headline, Arizona Daily Star (Tucson), Aug. 14
Made my day, it did, having been in Tucson and seen saguaros.

Charles Johnson said...

This is really jumped the shark now.