For a moment, before I read the links, I was going to defend her by saying something like, "aw, you know, everyone can lose their temper on the internet."
I take back the thought. She deserves whatever she gets.
Also, why are self-described "I'm not a conservative, I'm a libertarian" types always such smug, stupid assholes?
Perhaps the need to defend the hubris of her self-appointed title makes her a tad defensive.
2. I find that they're blind to the contradictions in their positions that arise as they bounce around what they support/don't support on the political map, and thus tend to have an inflated view of their own wisdom.
I'm not a conservative, I'm a libertarian
Conservative took on overtones of 'crazy religious voter', so there was nowhere to go for the voter who fits 'well-off person who wants her taxes to go down.' I've heard it drives actual libertarians up the wall.
the real revelation of her dust-up with Sadly, No! (1 2 3 4) is that it's possible to be moderately successful in her line of work and still be idiot enough to take the bait so relentlessly.
My exposure to this Alkon person began just now, but surely being baited by the libruls is part of her schtick, no? You might as well talk about Ann Althouse taking the bait so relentlessly.
Or to put it another way: Alkon is trolling Sadly, No, and not vice versa.
"I'm not a conservative, I'm a libertarian" types always such smug, stupid assholes?
Because you have to be smug and stupid to be a libertarian, and that pretty much means you're going to be an asshole.
5, yes. 6, I, personally, would actually rather be read as "crazy religious voter" than as "selfish rich or wanna-be-rich idiot," myself. But hey.
Oh, no. She is too priceless. She knows someone who is Gary Ruppert's friend. Too, too much.
Alkon is furnishing boring run-of-the-mill racist drivel (and so are her commenters), but the Gary Ruppert thing is damned funny and this is also amusing: I'm a fiscal conservative and largely libertarian, although, per Milton Friedman on open borders being a disaster in a welfare state, I'm not for open borders.
... for the particularly in-your-face way that it just makes no sense at all.
PF, that's masterful contrarianism but it's not correct.
Wow. I can't tell if that's more of a swipe at the dead mom, or at the survivors.
(Also, she may have been heinous, but nine kids? I sympathize with the woman anyway.)
14. Mostly the mom, though there's a certain OMGYOUDINT quality to that obituary.
13: Good lord, that's amazing, Apo. How'd you like to be a parent and get a copy of that sent to you anonymously?
That must've been cathartic as all hell to publish.
The latest S,N post on this -- about the dog shit moat -- is pretty fucking awesome.
13: One wonders what they think about her husband, by whom she will be met in the afterlife.
the thread of the fourth link is the funniest thing i've ever read. she claims to have a friend who knows that gary ruppert is the mastermind behind Sadly, No. I've never in my life laughed as hard as I did when I read that.
Yeah, the shit moat is classic. I hope someone really did this.
And now we have a zestier way of saying "cut off your nose to spite your face."
The bitter obituary is evidence that someone is an evil psycho. But whom?
I know of psychotic offspring out there who endlessly hate on their long-suffering blameless mothers. Two spring to mind immediately. One I routinely use in ethics classes for examples of behavior that is clearly immoral but that no one has a moral right to use coercive measures to stop. The second person who comes to mind is not only evil, but gets fixated really easily. This one would carry on the bizarre vendetta long after the target's demise.
OTOH, maybe the mom was psycho. Perhaps, and this is actually very likely, both people are bad news.
If all of the surviving kids signed the obituary, maybe it was legit.
23: The first time I read it, it looked spiteful. The second time I read it, it looked like a lament.
25 - yes, it just seemed really sad to me.
25, yes. Part of the lament being about the surviving kids' inability to agree on something as simple as a funeral, which is why I think there's a swipe at the survivors there that might be even more pointed (though obviously the subtlety is lost on you people) than the one at the mom, which is TOTALLY OBVIOUS even to the idiots gathered here.
20 to 27.
Although the obituary also says her son and daughter will meet her in the afterlife, and then ends by saying "GOOD BYE MOM", making me wonder who wrote it after all.
"We'll all meet you in Hell, you bitch".
The tranny-bashing by the S,N trolls on Alkon's blog really got to me. I have a close friend who from time to time mentions concerns about personal safety in situations where it wouldn't even begin to occur to me, and she does this because she's aware that there are people out there who will kill her if given the chance. Those people are given cover by the kind of comments posted by S,N trolls on Alkon's blog. Seriously, people, fuck you.
Right on, Togolosh. Fresh for me all over because of a recent Lisa Harney post about her experience as a trans woman with domestic violence, and some thoughtful reflections on the general subject of triggers. There is no license for bloggers to be assholes about trans people just because the bloggers are out fighting the Powers That Be - there's no moral economy of indulgences here, where some good posts about (say) the recent sins of Jonah Goldberg means time off from any concern about perpetuating bigotry and discrimination oneself.
I don't get it. Who's Gary Ruppert? Is he an internet tradition of which I am not aware?
33: Text of the obituary is here.
Also lalala I'm bored. Stupid [ redacted ] California and your awesome beer bars that apparently close at 8 PM (!).
Also stupid sleeping people and stupid gymnastics. And stupid thousands of miles between me and Blume.
37: But, but, but think of the local produce, Sifu.
40: farm stand closed before I got there. Anyhow, how many fresh figs can one dude stick up his ass, really?
41: We yearn to learn. Staistics and pictures, please.
Don't think of it in terms of fresh figs, think of it in terms of fig wasp eggs. That should give you an appreciable multiplier.
45: not to mention the sublime image of said wasps erupting in full, delirious flight from some lucky sphincter! Fun!
Alkon is trolling Sadly, No!, and not vice versa.
Alkon and the Sadlies are always already trolling each other, locked in an embrace of love and hate which only the fires of Hell will dissolve.
(Actually, I think Alkon is out to troll everyone, generally, while the Sadlies are trolling Alkon, specifically.)
The tranny-bashing by the S,N trolls on Alkon's blog really got to me
There's a kind of drag humor that revels in mocking bricks, but "OMG, she's a tranny!" isn't even remotely clever or funny, just loutish and dull.
I don't know who Gary Ruppert is either, except as the name of one of the Sadly, No! trolls.
I don't know who Gary Ruppert is either, except as the name of one of the Sadly, No! trolls.
But a friend of yours knows him?
No, I don't lie down and take it like a good little victim, do I?
Here, from my own blog, as I'm not going to waste time writing original stuff for you:
What I find especially hilarious is the claim, by these tiny little turds, that I am anti free speech because I refuse to pay to provide them a platform for it -- in other words, that I won't pay for them to ruin my comments forum with posts in the name of their in-joke commenter, and all the rest of their efforts to wreck discussion here.I encourage and will even defend the free speech of those who disagree with me -- which means they are free to march the streets criticizing my views, write to newspapers criticizing my, and/or put up blogs criticizing my views, and even put up parodies of my views. If they put up a parody that's actually funny, I'll probably even link to it.
And as some thinking person posted above, don't you think transgendered people have it hard enough, without "progressives" using being transgendered as a way to supposedly denigrate me? The amazing thing is that they were doing this to punish me because they believe I am racist.
I've written columns to help people understand that people who are, say, cross-dressers are just as human and deserving of respect as the rest of us.
Meanwhile, the people who call themselves "progressive" have a way different take on who gets to be considered human.
I'm not going to waste time writing original stuff for you
And yet you'll waste time commenting.
I assume 50, not being original, was cribbed from Conservapedia.
For what it's worth, Amy, I don't think you're racist, just casually ignorant and none to bright, and they're assholes.
Which, hey, keep wrestling in the ol' shit moat. Y'all are funny to watch.
I consider puppies human. And kites, and delicious fresh peaches. Not robots, though. Even if they're sexy robots.
The amazing thing is that they were doing this to punish me because they believe I am racist.
I'm pretty sure at this point it's because you're acting ridiculous.
That's the influence of TV, Sifu.
I'm not going to waste time writing original stuff for you
I hate summer reruns.
But a friend of yours knows him?
I have a friend who has a sister who has a boyfriend who knows him.
And yet you'll waste time commenting.
Yes, because I've been deeply disturbed by the way so-called "progressives" used being transgendered as a way to attack me. I don't see being called transgendered derogatory, simply incorrect. But I was shocked that it was used in a way that was apparently intended to derogate me. Aren't you?
Where are all the "progressives" speaking out about this?
Oh, wait -- they're too busy laughing about how I must have an adam's apple on Sadly Pathetic.
Amy, you're making a classic mistake: thinking that anyone gives a shit about your blog.
57: besides in this thread, you mean? Maybe they have errands to do, or maybe there's something good on TV. Which is not to say that there shouldn't be marching in the streets because somebody, somewhere said something inappropriate, but excuse me if -- with self-identified conservatives spewing hateful crap over media with several orders of magnitude more reach than anything you or S,N! commenters have ever gotten your grubby little hands on -- we have better things to do.
Wait, though, don't you describe yourself as "libertarian"? And you're claiming to be in high moral dudgeon over inappropriate speech? All aboard the disingenuous bus!
The secondary classic mistake: thinking that any blog's posts are shit-given enough to warrant mass condemnation. (Tertiary: their comments. See.)
Where are all the "progressives" speaking out about this?
Would it comfort you to know that at this very moment the Obama campaign is preparing to denounce Sadly, No!?
Where are all the "progressives" speaking out about this?
Oh no, the crickets give us away!!!
I used to get pissed off when people called Coulter a transsexual, with manhands and all that, *because it's wrong to imply that being a transsexual is a bad thing, and that Coulters flaws are moral and intellectual, and have nothing to do with her sexual preferences or gender. But I've never heard of you, Amy. It's not really fair to expect a person to speak out in the comments section of a blog written by some asshole she's never heard of before and hopes to forget about very very soon.
Beefo Meaty might not think you're racist, but I do. But I think it's very very wrong to call you a transexual, because [see * above].
I don't see being called transgendered derogatory, simply incorrect.
No one gets so worked up they post pics to disprove it if they just think it's incorrect.
If she were transexual she'd probably be a lot cooler.
Missed opportunity, really.
65: I dunno, I think it would be sort of like Log Cabin Republicans--the way the Republican part so much more than cancels out the gay part, leading to totally uncool gayness. Transexual libertarian advice-giving could sort of work out the same.
67: I was thinking the bullshit libertarianism would sort of fall away if she actually faced discrimination. Maybe she's not that smart, though.
IIRC Gary Ruppert writes or used to write a conspiracy theory blog, though I can't find it . I think that the troll at SN is not really him.
My exposure to this Alkon person began just now
Mine too. And all I can say is, "What a thoroughly uninteresting person." Even the dustup with SN = yawnsville. I'm surprised that FL even found it worthy of a front-page post (and given the standards around here, that's saying something).
She holds a set of utterly conventional views and utterly conventional unstated attitudes that can be uncharitably characterized as racist or charitably characterized as glibly ignorant.
Has she ever written anything noteworthy that would cause me to care about her views? I'm asking in all seriousness. Is she an Internet celebrity that one should be acquainted with if only to be able to appreciate knowing asides about their awfulness, like Glenn Reynolds or Jonah Goldberg?
And the Anchoress.
All my wingnut needs are satisfied by an occasional visit to Alicublog. Edroso does a bang-up job and deserves a round of applause.
I was thinking the bullshit libertarianism would sort of fall away if she actually faced discrimination.
Real libertarians don't care about discimination, even if they are members of a minority group susceptible to being discriminated against. Persistent, unfounded discrimination is actually impossible in the libertarian utopia, because the free market is self-correcting. If there is a group of capable employees / solvent tenants / creditworthy borrowers out there that is being discriminated against, it will create a market opportunity for other employers / landlords / lenders to fill, resulting in a new equilibrium that disfavors the prejudiced.
And even if discrimination is a problem, blunt remedies like equal opportunity laws, equal housing laws and public accommodation laws are a cure worse than the disease, because they entail unwarranted intrusions into the right of individuals to freedom of association, freedom of contract, and private property. The more self-assured libertarian might also the argument that discrimination is a positive economic *good*, because it conveys important information in price signals and creates incentives for individuals to dissociate themselves from certain deprecated signifiers of group identity.
Anyway, Alkon is a faux libertarian because she didn't get all Radley Balko in response to a story about an innocent person getting killed by the police in a drug raid.
72: Although l'homme meme did say:
Distasteful as I find Alkon's premise to be (and by distasteful I mean, "dehumanizing and racist"), I'd advise she browse this page. Or this one. She'll find that "women in the black community who squeeze out litters of fatherless children" actually make up a pretty small percentage of the victims of these tactics.
You know, I can't for the life of me figure out why I shied away from calling whatserface racist up above. She really is.
I'm not sure either. Hi, if your response to a murder is to go on about how it's the victim's fault and you just can't help yourself from pointing out how she's black and has six kids and just can't refrain from talking about litters and squeezing out kids, you're either racist, or too stupid to type.
No mention of sex with bears, but it would seem to be useful training.
I have evidence that she typed it. My Canadian boyfriend told me he has a friend who saw that she typed it.
My theory is that libertarianism is a form of undiagnosed brain damage. A stroke, for instance, can render people unable to recognize faces. Libertarianism is what happens when people lose the part of the brain that recognizes collective action problems.
Alkon exhibits another kind of agnosia here: In 50, she seems absolutely impervious to the contents of 31, 32 and 47.
When medical science finally catches up with me, y'all are witness to the fact that I recognized this first. I will demand that this be called politicalfootball syndrome, or pf syndrome for short.
76: All right, where's this Eskimo gal I'm supposeta shoot?
76: "Huynh" seems like such an onomatopoeically perfect name for a wrestler that I'm sorry to have to say that she's Vietnamese and it's pronounced more or less "Wheen" rather than just being a grunt of effort.
81: French phonetic transliteration is a tricky! OTOH, it renders the common Vietnamese name "Nguyen" better than any English phonetic transliteration I could devise.
Shorter Amy Alkon,
I'm gonna be an abrasive prick and then if I provoke a response I will scour it for anything to use against my opponents.
Classic behavior that has been used for centuries. Very petty, very sad.
While she gets all knee jerky on "progressives" I do admit I now find the term 'libertarian" to be useful for 'selfish asshole whiner who wants a bigger piece of the pie."
Libertarians used to be pretty much conservatives who wanted to legally smoke pot but in the last 10 years or so they've become the disgruntled people who drank the conservative koolaid and are pissed and disillusioned because, surprise surprise, only the rich got richer and they got squat. Being stuck with the empty bag all they can do is use the bigger fool theory and try to make money selling their crap to even bigger fools.
Sad thing is, I know quite a few libertarians who don't even come close to fitting the "right win pothead" stereotype, and not because they don't smoke pot. They oppose corporations, militarism, drug laws, and a whole bunch of other stuff that ought to be opposed, IMO. There's some wacky ideas about how to handle environmental issues, and they suck on healthcare, but they are far from being right wingers. Unfortunately as far as the various voices claiming the libertarian banner go, they are completely drowned out by glibertarians like Reynolds and Alkon.
Incidentally, doesn't Alkon sound a lot like the daughter (or perhaps consort) of The Mekon?
togolosh,
They oppose corporations, militarism, drug laws, and a whole bunch of other stuff that ought to be opposed, IMO
To me that sounds a lot more like a Democrat but maybe because they drink the right-wing koolaid they don't identify with Democrats.
85: Republicans and Democrats support miltarism and drug laws to equal extent. Democrats don't necessarily want as many wars, but they want just as big of a military-industrial complex. This leaves the tax issue, on which people are prone to selfishness anyway, and which makes libretarians DEFINITELY favor Republicans.
Tripp@85 - the thing that makes them incompatible with the Dems is that the oppose things like regulation of tobacco, or public healthcare, or welfare (including Social Security). As a political stance real libertarianism simply doesn't fit in the Dem-GOP axis at all.
My own politics is waaay towards the libertarian side of anyone who could still be called a liberal and still reliably vote Democratic. Sadly the two party system forces what should really be about 5 parties on the left and 4 on the right into awkward coalitions that please nobody.
Multi-party systems aren't really much better. The lesser parties end up horsetrading with the big parties on specific issues, or more likely on pork barrel, without really affecting what happens much. In the worst case a charismatic leader uses a splinter party to make himself a kingmaker and wrecker to be bought off.
Amy Alkon: The amazing thing is that they were doing this to punish me because they believe I am racist.
75. Also, obviously it's wrong to call you a tranny to punish you for your racist comments. Many transgendered people strive to be non-racist because of their awareness of discrimination and bigotry. To associate a racist twerp like you with so many fine trans people is ugly and wrong.
I hate to point out the obvious, but Aikon commented here not because she cares so deeply about trans people but because she wants the attention.
My Canadian boyfriend
So now B's recruited Cala into her sordid lifestyle.
togolosh,
My own politics is waaay towards the libertarian side of anyone who could still be called a liberal and still reliably vote Democratic.
Awww, bummer. You sound like a good person too.
Are you an idealist? If so then there is hope you'll grow out of it. In the meantime be true to yourself, of course.