Joel Stein’s Latest Cry for Attention
The subtext of every Joel Stein column is “Hey! Look at me!” He doesn’t say anything that might get him a nasty look at the water cooler, but he does occasionally (and deliberately) poke conservatives in the eye, just to get some buzz — witness his “I don’t support the troops” column. (As a bonus, he often gets an award for honesty from conservatives who believe that Stein is saying what they believe all liberals think.) He’s also a lazy putz who fell for the silly “Bush gave the troops a fake turkey” canard.
I tend to think it’s best to ignore him, but I also want to make the e-mails stop.
And so, here is Stein’s latest cry for attention:
But I’ve come to believe conservatives are right. They do love America more. Sure, we liberals claim that our love is deeper because we seek to improve the United States by pointing out its flaws. But calling your wife fat isn’t love. True love is the blind belief that your child is the smartest, cutest, most charming person in the world, one you would gladly die for. I’m more in ‘like’ with my country . . . When I look at the countries like people, I love Sweden the best.
The great thing about America is that there are no laws against leaving. If you prove to me that you’re serious about staying away, Joel, I’ll even take up a collection. I’m sure the readers here can collectively afford a single one-way plane ticket to Sweden.
You misunderstand, Mr Frey: Mr Stein isn’t crying for attention simply for himself; he’s crying for attention for the whole, failing newspaper for which he works. Heck, his editors — for the sake of argument, we’ll just assume here that there are actually real editors at The Los Angeles Times — have probably told him that he needs to be more controversial, to get more people reading, and maybe sell a couple more papers.
Of course, if you star seeing sycophantic comments from someone named Joelkoshi, you’ll know how he really wants to make himself unfireable. 🙂
The conspiracy-theorist Dana (556f76) — 12/27/2008 @ 4:33 pmI keep thinking of a fantasy world where people like Joel Stein are treated like Sarah Palin.
But that isn’t possible. At the same time, I know who I would rather have as a neighbor.
As for Sweden, I would bet coinage that Stein never had to work and pay taxes there.
Eric Blair (9294a8) — 12/27/2008 @ 4:43 pmAs for me, I think that Joel Stein’s comments are absolutely spot on!
Joelkoshi (556f76) — 12/27/2008 @ 4:44 pmHe can move to the Rosengard district in Malmo, [park the car elsewhere] and live in one of the socialized crime ridden Millionprogramme tenements that have architecture described as “East German”.
SteveG (a87dae) — 12/27/2008 @ 4:46 pmOn a side note it is interesting to see how socialist intervention in the housing market worked out over there in the Swedish utopia… maybe he could post a dispatch on that
As for Sweden, I would bet coinage that Stein never had to work and pay taxes there.
Only coinage, Eric? I would say greenbacks.
Paul (creator of "Staunch Brayer") (ed9791) — 12/27/2008 @ 4:47 pmPatterico, don’t you dare question the patriotism of the excellent Joel Stein!
Nofanofnewspapercos (556f76) — 12/27/2008 @ 4:50 pmI don’t get the impression that Sweden’s such a tolerant country – their immigration laws are quite restrictive, yes? So they wouldn’t want Emo – Boy in the first place.
Dmac (eb0dd0) — 12/27/2008 @ 4:58 pm“Joel Stein”
Typical leftoid hypocrite.
Liberals like him get the United States involved in two world wars, Korea, and Vietnam, get 600,000 Americans killed doing it, then scream bloody murder about what terrible warmongers the Republicans are.
Spare me.
Dave Surls (6edcc5) — 12/27/2008 @ 5:13 pmI would contribute 50 bucks to his plane fare. They never leave, though.
Mike K (2cf494) — 12/27/2008 @ 5:27 pmI’m in for $50, but I want to see a jpg that it’s 1-way only.
Simon Kenton (19874b) — 12/27/2008 @ 5:31 pmBut, who’s to say the Swedes would take him?
Another Drew (wwbkaADitcy) (d6787b) — 12/27/2008 @ 5:36 pmEven they have standards (not as many as they may want, in retrospect).
____________________________
When I look at the countries like people, I love Sweden the best.
Reminds me of all the Hollywood liberals who, if an election wasn’t to their liking, have threatened to relocate to either Canada or Europe. Not a threat to move themselves to a nation like, say, Mexico, El Salvador, or Zimbabwe. No, of course not. Instead a threat to flee to either Canada or Europe.
And yet these same people become so indignant and resentful if a crackdown on permissive immigration laws — hell, on merely the quandary of illegal immigration itself — in the US is being promoted.
Phony asses.
Mark (411533) — 12/27/2008 @ 5:56 pm____________________________
My guess is—apologies to DRJ—that Stein has seen too much Swedish porn, and thinks that the whole country is like that.
So it would be amusingly ironic to see him in such a place, shunned and treated like the Ugly American he actually is, as opposed to how many Americans are portrayed.
There is a strong stink of the Chess Club Treasurer about Mr. Stein, don’t you think?
Eric Blair (9294a8) — 12/27/2008 @ 6:29 pmAcually, Stein doesn’t love Sweden. If he did, he’d be willing to die for Sweden. Joel Stein is unwilling to sacrifice – certainly to anywhere near that extreme – for anything or anyone.
And he sure as hell wouldn’t die for Sweden.
Robert C. J. Parry (50a453) — 12/27/2008 @ 6:53 pmWhy don’t these clowns ever actually leave?
JD (0232da) — 12/27/2008 @ 7:00 pmThis guy is a real piece of work. He redefines love and true love, then he sets up the usual conservative straw man.
He doesn’t like fundamentalism? Move to Sweden, Joel baby! You’ll love how the “youths” there will treat you.
C.S. Lewis, in his journal for July 1924, wrote this of someone, but it fits Stein perfectly.
Jim C. (9e7cc9) — 12/27/2008 @ 7:18 pmOnce Baldwin and Streisand leave, then we can start worrying about asshats like Stein. And it is not like these clowns cannot afford to leave, they just do not have the courage of their convictions, and are liars.
JD (0232da) — 12/27/2008 @ 7:22 pm“courage of their convictions”
As far as I can tell, liberal leaders believe that they ought to have unlimited power. Liberal followers believe that they ought to have unlimited welfare checks.
That’s about the extent of their convictions.
Dave Surls (6edcc5) — 12/27/2008 @ 7:50 pmStein still demonstrates that he doesn’t get it, but I do think telling liberals that they’re idiots is love. They have to grow up and learn some time.
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 12/27/2008 @ 8:04 pmPatrick, my perception of Joel Stein is that he’s lighter than air. I don’t bother reading him.
Tim McGarry (9fe080) — 12/27/2008 @ 9:35 pmI think when someone says “You don’t agree with me, so get out”, they lose all credibility with me. It’s a thought-stopper, and nasty to boot.
I was born in America. I was raised in America. I’m not planning on moving out. Even though sometimes I don’t like it very much. The idea is to change it from within.
And that’s exactly what we did when we elected Obama.
That kind of rhetoric goes just a bit far.
Russell Miller (c75e4d) — 12/27/2008 @ 10:16 pmI love his comments about how the real reason we love America is just because we happened to be born here. I guess all those Cubans that are willing to risk death to come here didn’t get the memo about their “tribalistic reasons” that they should love Cuba. Or all the other millions of immigrants who want to come here? They prefer America for “tribalistic reasons” too?
I had a conversation years ago with a friend from Mexico who was talking about how much he loved Mexico City (where he grew up) and somebody asked him why he wasn’t there, if he loved it so much, and he looked at them like they were crazy. He talked about the education, the job opportunities, etc. The richest irony of Mr. Stein’s column is that he cannot seem to come up with any objective reasons why someone might prefer to live in the US, yet he accuses conservatives of “intellectual laziness”! Hah!
Linus (090bd1) — 12/27/2008 @ 10:18 pmI think when someone says “You don’t agree with me, so get out”, they lose all credibility with me.
You lost credibility with me by setting up that strawman.
Paul (creator of "Staunch Brayer") (ed9791) — 12/27/2008 @ 10:27 pmRM writes:
Hmm. From the Chicago Machine. ACORN. Changing campaign promises.
Hope that works out for you.
Eric Blair (9294a8) — 12/27/2008 @ 10:49 pmAmerican liberalism is about putting a small group of government officials in charge of a large number of citizens.
American conservatism is about putting a large number of citizens in charge of a small group of government officials.
The former is the status quo for the last few millennia; the latter (trying to be) the new paradigm of the world.
Our Country is the change.
Whether or not the President-elect is smart enough to realize this, remains to be seen (to my ears, his campaign rhetoric did not inspire confidence in his support of Freedom and Liberty, and I hope that I am completely wrong on this).
Pons Asinorum (5fa803) — 12/27/2008 @ 11:41 pmAll I see is another liberal who has convinced himself that European-style socialism is the way to go, and that we in the good ol’ U.S. of A. would be so much better off if we’d just sacrifice some of our freedom to the benign control of the state.
In other words, a repeat of the never-proven theory that the government is smarter and more capable than the governed — that we need the state to take care of us because we are patently incapable of taking care of ourselves.
Icy Texan (b7d162) — 12/28/2008 @ 1:52 amStein so frequently embarrasses himself – how come he never notices? When little boys like him get stuck in the 4th gear in an adolecent pout of self-indulgence, I have little tolerance. Obviously he and Sweden were made for one another.
Dana (79a78b) — 12/28/2008 @ 9:05 amRussell freakin’ annihilated that strawman. We are not calling on the likes of Baldwin and Streisand to leave. They vowed to do so. Stein, in his juvenile ramblings, expressed love for a a quasi-socialist country over his own. We are free to mock him, Russell, just like we will mock you.
JD (92549f) — 12/28/2008 @ 9:16 amIts worthy of note that Stein does the same thing every other leftard does when the subject is freedom. He invokes either the right to screw in the street(sexual freedom) or the right to kill babies.(the right to “choose” to kill)
No other freedoms interest them in the least. In fact, they detest the very notion of people living their lives as they choose unless, of course, it involves either fornication or the killing of children. That’s it. That is their entire universe. The two issues comprise two sides of the same perverted coin.
ccoffer (8a6d92) — 12/28/2008 @ 9:58 amAll I see is another liberal who has convinced himself that European-style socialism is the way to go
But it would be socialism, or liberalism run amok, imposed upon a society that is very different from the generally mono-ethnic, mono-cultural characteristics of a Scandanavian nation.
If a government is going to be very permissive and full of big hugs and kisses, and one then wonders how that may impact the society in question, I point out the analogy of parents and their children.
If kids in a family tend to be self-controlled, disciplined (or at least not noticeably undisciplined) and resourceful (eg, academically competent), their parents can be more easygoing and generous without the risk of putting themselves and their sons and daughters into a state of chaos or indefinite dysfunction.
But if kids in a family are anything but disciplined and resourceful (ie, they’re more likely to create problems at school and eventually be high-school drop outs, etc), and, at the same time, their parents admire a feel-good, do-gooder approach to housekeeping, then a bad situation is likely to become even worse.
Of course, if you’re one of those liberals who at least has the advantage of a bit of social/economic versatility — if you’re a so-called limousine liberal in particular — and you end up creating or nuturing a lot of dysfunction in your society, you eventually can move away from the debacle you’ve created or find the means of putting up high walls to protect yourself.
Mark (411533) — 12/28/2008 @ 10:13 amMock me if you want, I really don’t care.
I’m off to do something productive.
Russell Miller (c75e4d) — 12/28/2008 @ 10:56 amYes, Russell, we are going to mock you for your silly idea that electing Obama – a Chicago machine politician now busily appointing Clinton leftovers to his administration – “changed” anything.
SPQR (26be8b) — 12/28/2008 @ 11:12 amRussell,
Was it really necessary to spoil a beautiful Sunday afternoon with a reminder, on a thread that had nothing to do with him, that Mayor Daley’s jug-eared pet monkey is “Mr. President-Elect”? Now I’m going down to my basement to put my arm around my gun cabinet and read my Bible with bitter sobs.
nk (2f022a) — 12/28/2008 @ 11:26 amWe’re also going to mock you Russell for the “You don’t agree with me, so get out” strawman. The limousine liberals we chided (Baldwin, Streisand and a few others) made public declarations that if GWB were elected in 2004, they would leave the country. GWB won the election. They didn’t leave, so we called them on their BS.
Paul (creator of "Staunch Brayer") (ed9791) — 12/28/2008 @ 11:30 amThings HAVE changed!
Just not for the better.
Icy Texan (b7d162) — 12/28/2008 @ 11:37 am“I love Sweden the best.”
I like Sweden’s foreign policy better, because they’re neutral and aren’t always getting into knock-down dragout wars all over Europe and Asia.
Too bad our own liberals aren’t like that. They’re constantly getting us into world wars or squabbles in crapholes like Korea and Vietnam that leave hundreds of thousands of Americans dead in fights that are basically none of our business.
If all the Woody Wilsons, FDRs, JFKs, Trumans, LBJs and all their idiot followers want to pack up and move to Sweden…I’m all for it. It would save tons of American lives.
Dave Surls (dd61e6) — 12/28/2008 @ 12:05 pmThe best father in Chicago wrote:
If it makes you feel any better, he’s not the president-elect yet. On November 4th, the voters selected slates of candidates to serve as members of the Electoral College. On December 15th, the people chosen as Electors met in their various state capitols, and cast their ballots for President and Vice President. Those ballots were then sealed and transmitted to the Congress.
On January 5th or 6th, the President of the Senate, presiding over a joint session of Congress, will open those ballots and disclose the vote totals to the Congress. It is only at that point that our next president and vice president will have been elected!
Right now, the gentlemen in question are former Senator Barack Obama and (still) Senator Joseph Biden.
And am I the only one who has wondered why Mr Biden has not resigned from the Senate? He skipped his last duties as a senator, and Governor Ruth Ann Minner has already appointed one of his cronies to replace him in the Senate. He’s just drawing a paycheck for not doing his job.
The nit-picking Dana (556f76) — 12/28/2008 @ 12:05 pmI’m off to do something productive.
Since you’ve already wasted our time today reading your insipid drivel, how about doing something really productive, and find a way to give that valuable time back to us?
Russell’s probably down at his local Starbucks, no doubt regaling the customers with his dynamic mantra of everything old is new again.
Dmac (eb0dd0) — 12/28/2008 @ 1:48 pm“…He’s just drawing a paycheck for not doing his job…”
Isn’t that what he’s been doing for the last thirty-some years?
Another Drew (wwbkaADitcy) (d8d174) — 12/28/2008 @ 2:13 pm‘Nother Drew, Mr Biden at least used to show up for work. But when the Democrats just couldn’t muster the neede votes to break the filibuster — you remember, the one in which they had ten Republican votes in hand to do — Mr Biden found more important things to do that day.
The persnickety Dana (556f76) — 12/28/2008 @ 6:15 pmWho is it that keeps hiring adolescence-frozen over-indulged twits as columnists?
drjohn (97e307) — 12/29/2008 @ 12:46 pm“Despite {Glen} Beck’s rationalization, I still think conservatives love America for the same tribalistic reasons people love whatever groups they belong to. These are the people who are sure Christianity is the only right religion, that America is the best country, that the Republicans have the only good candidates, that gays have cooties.”
you gotta admit, he’s an entertaining writer..which is why you criticize him. Republicans are just like he categorizes them…a bit simple.
datadave (a50390) — 1/5/2009 @ 6:22 amDo you even KNOW any republicans?
Scott Jacobs (a1c284) — 1/5/2009 @ 6:36 amDatadave needs to change his character assassination target from “Republicans” to “conservatives” because a vast number of Republicans are centrist or left-leaning. Conservatives have, for the most part, tied themselves to the GOP out of a dearth of viable conservative political parties. Datadave’s character assassination would be more potent in that manner.
It is unfortunate the US has a 2-party system. Geo. Washington warned against the very system the US currently has, and very prophetically, I might add. I am Republican solely because it is the only viable option currently, although I have begun a search for a more worthwhile party with which to affiliate myself.
the very conservative John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/5/2009 @ 6:53 am