Patterico's Pontifications

1/24/2011

Take the Andrew Sullivan Challenge!

Filed under: General — Aaron Worthing @ 10:12 am



[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here.]

Okay so metaphorically, we just chopped off Charles Johnson’s head and mounted it on a pike on our collective front lawn, so why not go for Andrew Sullivan next?  Sullivan, in his usual method of being immune to facts, has gone all “Trig Truther” on Jared Loughner, claiming 1) it was reasonable to assume that the right was responsible for the Safeway Massacre, and 2) it might turn out Loughner was inspired by the right.  This gets to be too much for Megan McArdle, who writes in part:

Andrew’s defense seems to be that there are a lot of right wing jerks out there, and that by combing Loughner’s writing, he can find a few sentences here and there that sort of sound like things that might have been said by one of those right wing jerks.  But I’m pretty sure that if I combed through Loughner’s writing, I could find some sentences here and there that imply that Loughner read Andrew’s writing, or gay rights literature, or Edmund Burke.

To which Sullivan replies:

Really? Go ahead. Make my day. Or withdraw the claim.

Um, “make my day?”  Isn’t that violent rhetoric?

And really coming from Sullivan, that sounds like overcompensation.

But as for the challenge… okay, guys, let’s “make his day.”  This is a full on bleg.  Let’s find quotes from Sullivan that sound a lot like Loughner and post them in the comments.  Probably the first place to start would be Sullivan’s Trig Trutherism, compared to 9-11 Trutherism.  So come on, let’s see if anyone can make his day.

H/t: Big Government, and Simon Jester.

[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]

79 Responses to “Take the Andrew Sullivan Challenge!”

  1. mmm, i was tempted to say that we should give this story a happy ending, but um… no, bad idea.

    Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Aaron Worthing (73a7ea)

  2. Megan is a sensible person. Its a shame she has to get wrapped up on the lunacy of Sullivan, not least because they are both at the Atlantic.

    This can’t end well.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  3. You mean violent comments like this on a noted pro-life blog?

    Jasper says:
    January 21, 2011 at 11:07 am
    ’2 cent solution’

    I would propose the 4 cent solution. A .45 between the eyes ….

    Jasper says:
    January 21, 2011 at 8:10 pm
    “We do our ministry with love, not with hate speech, not with slander, not with anger or outburst. with a calmed, rational and loving approach”

    I promise Joy, I will calmly pull trigger of my .45 into an abortionist that cuts the spinal cords of innocent babies. There will be no anger, slander or hate speech, only justice.

    http://www.jillstanek.com/2011/01/jivin-js-life-links-1-20-11/

    Jim (87e69d)

  4. Under the Google advance search you can tell it what domain to search, FYI.

    Topsecretk9 (ab69ad)

  5. FYI, some comments disappear when the proprietors notice that a comment comes from a banned troll …

    SPQR (26be8b)

  6. A.W. – Given their shared feelings for Sarah Palin, I’m sure Mr. Feets has some quotes from Sully to share.

    daleyrocks (e7bc4f)

  7. Testimony from his friends indicates that Loughner hated George W. Bush and was obsessed with conspiracy theories. And Mr. Sullivan was more than willing to make his blog a place for airing crazy anti-Bush conspiracy theories, like this doozy from 2006:

    One subversive theory – which I’m not endorsing, just airing – is that (Cheney and Rumsfled) merely wanted to turn the Saddam regime to rubble, and then play along with neocon democracy supporters, while making sure that the military was never given enough resources to do nation-building. Then Cheney and Rumsfeld could prove their point about the impossibility of reforming the Muslim world, and promote the view that we need merely to pummel enemies, project military fear across the region, and deter Islamo-fascism by “shock and awe.” The Likud strategy, in other words.

    Under this interpretation, Bush was too trusting or dumb to understand the deviousness of their plan to fail in Iraq; Wolfowitz saw it too late and got out; Rice is stuck managing the debris that a democracy-promoting president and a democracy-hostile Pentagon created. The troops were just pawns in Cheney’s and Rumsfeld’s strategy. This interpretation would mean that incompetence is not the issue. Cheney and Rumsfeld have succeeded: they have turned Iraq into a failed state, removed its capacity to make WMDs, and detonated a regional Sunni-Shi’a war. Now they want to use the same brutalist strategy against Iran.

    Note, the thinly veiled anti-Semitism. (“Likud Strategy”) Is the idea that the shooting of a Jewish congresswoman by an obsessed conspiracy theorist was motivated by a deranged columnist spreading a conspiracy theory with an anti-Semitic element any less plausible than the idea that the shooter was motivated because a politician put crosshair symbols on a map?

    Gregory of Yardale (db9fb3)

  8. I can’t write what I first came to mind regarding the title of this post.

    vote for pedro (e7577d)

  9. “Jim” is ine of the multi-time banned asshats, no?

    JD (914189)

  10. I have the feeling that Mr. Sullivan is not much of a woman-liker. But I could be wrong. Maybe he likes women quite a bit.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  11. If I write, “Jim is the biggest [fitb]ing [fitb]bag” in a comment, does that mean that Pat/Aaron agree with my assessment?

    vote for pedro (e7577d)

  12. I’m felches transtesticled underage goats.

    JD (914189)

  13. Jim felches transtesticled underage goats.

    JD (914189)

  14. This time it was me, not the guy who took my name Friday afternoon.

    As to your question about what does Stanek believe, the answer is “I don’t know”. There’s nothing on her blog that says she doesn’t necessarily agree with things posted on it. But her blog is apparently moderated, and these comments came from last Friday.

    Jim (87e69d)

  15. I know what would really make Mr Sullivan’s day, and no, I don’t want to help.

    The Dana who likes women (3e4784)

  16. Michelle Malkin had a nice piece about the Insane Rage of the Same Sex Marriage Mob from November 2008 which is chock full of quotes and links suitable for framing.

    daleyrocks (e7bc4f)

  17. But daley….that’s different! Honestly, I think all this derives from a weird psychological place. People like Sullivan think that they are nice people, and that they are correct in the absolutist sense. So when he says crazytrain stuff, why, he is a nice guy. It’s clear it is just hyperbole.

    But those nasty teabaggers? They are awful racist stupid nimrods. When they say extreme things, they MUST mean it. And therefore are a danger to everyone.

    So: a lack of empathy, ironically enough, is responsible for this kind of folderol.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  18. Stop the presses! I get it!

    Keith Olbermann throws a snit and gets fired/leaves his show.

    Andrew Sullivan starts picking a fight with Megan McArdle. Soon he will walk off in a snit.

    And then…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bazCYKWzqhg

    Python knows best.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  19. But, but, but ! That means we would have to read his crap !

    No thank you.

    Mike K (8f3f19)

  20. It is my belief that the political spectrum does not sit on a line, but is actually on a circle. The political center is at the bottom of the circle, and different ideoligies can be placed left or right of that spot. With the extreme left and extreme right meeting at the top in crazyville. That is where they share many views and traits.

    This is why it is so hard to place a nutcase like Jared Loughner in an pigeon hole.

    seems clear (7de58f)

  21. seems clear, it is hard to place Jared Loughner in a pigeon hole, not because of the circularity of any political spectrum ( correct as that is ) but because he’s a paranoid schizophrenic. He’s not able to think coherently and trying to treat his thoughts as if they were coherent is just insane.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  22. He’s not able to think coherently and trying to treat his thoughts as if they were coherent is just insane

    But enough about Sully…

    carlitos (a3d259)

  23. What’s hilarious about you wacky angry small time bloggers is you got nothing to offer, but you’re so desperate to offer it. it’s so fascinating watching you attempt to stir things up

    My recommendation is to learn how to write, maybe you could cultivate some actual ability, and then take another run at this whole “blogging” thing. Look at successful blogs where people actually care about the content. Notice how much better they are with language than you?

    Just some friendly advice!

    modok (99bb48)

  24. modok eats boogerz.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  25. yeah, Andrew’s Trigg Trutherism crap surely resembles some crazy mumblings of Loughner, just the conspiracy theory alone. Nutso.

    Topsecretk9 (ab69ad)

  26. Note Sullivan’s complete hypocrisy. His first post on the Gifford shooting started with Palin’s map and was 90% an attack on Palin. But if someone makes a claim about him, he indignantly demands proof.

    Karl (f07e38)

  27. I am not a Christian. I prefer my Jesus neat.

    –Andrew Sullivan, here http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/05/what-mancow-teaches-us.html

    “No! I won’t trust in God!”

    –Jared Loughner, as quoted here http://www.good.is/post/unsettling-quotes-from-alleged-arizona-shooter-jared-loughner/

    IT’S OUR FIFTH ANNIVERSARY!
    CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DONATION.

    –Daily Dish fifth anniversary post

    Why can’t a group take power of an old currency to start a new currency?

    –Crazed shooter

    carlitos (a3d259)

  28. Just FYI, my windows machine won’t let me to links. Weird.

    carlitos (a3d259)

  29. modok – Do you have a blog I can read?

    daleyrocks (e7bc4f)

  30. What is shadow banking, where did it come from, how did it operate, what role did it play in this crisis and how do we deal with it going forward?

    Was this bust really a function of a phony boom created ultimately by the Federal Reserve?

    –both from daily dish

    Is it possible that politicians are taking advantage of the money system?

    –crazed shooter posting at ATS

    carlitos (a3d259)

  31. modok, are you taking up a collection to support your next vacation?

    SPQR (26be8b)

  32. geography is the new hot discipline

    –sully quoting Fred Pearce

    If you don’t know the country name then you’ll never know where it’s location is.

    –crazed shooter on ATS

    carlitos (a3d259)

  33. What’s hilarious about you wacky angry small time bloggers is you got nothing to offer, but you’re so desperate to offer it.

    You don’t really warrant a response, troll, but I’ll give you one anyway. Here is what I “have to offer”:

    1. I have a job in private enterprise where we create and distribute a product that helps people lead more productive lives.
    2. I pay my taxes to the Feds, state, county, and city. I receive no direct welfare payments.
    3. I do my utmost to obey laws; I have never been arrested, let alone convicted of any offense.
    4. I donate time and money to charities that comport with my values.

    Now then, modok, how many of the above can you also claim? Or are you another loser lefty who thinks that life owes you something just because you weren’t born rich, smart, or charismatic?

    JVW (4463d3)

  34. Great job, carlitos!

    Topsecretk9 (ab69ad)

  35. It’s possible to overthrow a government and change the currency.

    –crazed shooter at ATS

    NEW IRANIAN CURRENCY? An intriguing possibility.

    –Daily Dish, Monday, July 07, 2003

    carlitos (a3d259)

  36. we truly believe in a new currency

    –shooter’s youtube video

    The Dollar ReDe$ign Project is an open-source effort to bring new currency ideas to the fore.

    –sully, 23 Apr 2010 01:38 pm

    carlitos (a3d259)

  37. Let’s find quotes from Sullivan that sound a lot like Loughner and post them in the comments.

    I think you are going about this backwards. It’s not Sullivan’s writings that need to be combed through, but Loughner’s. After all, McArdle’s point was broader:

    But I’m pretty sure that if I combed through Loughner’s writing, I could find some sentences here and there that imply that Loughner read Andrew’s writing, or gay rights literature, or Edmund Burke.

    The writings don’t even need to be Sullivanesque, they could resemble gay rights literature generally and still prove her point.

    Anon Y. Mous (5ac901)

  38. Maybe I just happen to miss them, but it sure seems to me that Mr. Sullivan is not appearing as frequently as a guest on the network Sunday morning shows or cable political gabfests as he used to. Perhaps the schedulers have become worried that he might bring up his glutes or something about Trig at an inopportune time.

    elissa (174cc5)

  39. The texts are written in Hebrew.
    They are mistranslated in another language.

    –shooter discussing biblical innacuracy at ATS

    the imperfection of the Bible seems self-evident to me. It contradicts itself many times.

    Sullivan, That Bible Question and Mormonism01 Dec 2007 04:06 pm

    carlitos (a3d259)

  40. The only challenge I can see Andrew Sullivan ever really seriously making involves lots of K-Y and lots of anal pain … so no thanks.

    Torquemada (2a42d3)

  41. Andrew Sullivan, Sept. 26, 2006, under a post called: “Legalizing Tyranny”:

    “It [the US] is a thinly-veiled military dictatorship, subject to only one control: the will of the Great Decider.”

    The rest here: “Sullivan and the US as a dictatorship”.

    My guess is that you could find Loughner calling the US a “military dictatorship.”

    Ergo, Sullivan influence Loughner.

    SteveMG (6f6dc7)

  42. These guys are like yapping chihuahuas bihind a chain link fence. It is best to keep walking and ignore their sound and fury.

    dunce (b89258)

  43. Under a post: “The Next Gulag”, Sullivan quotes someone calling the Bagram prison a new “gulag.”

    There are a number of places where Sullivan called Guantanamo “Bush’s Gulag” or a “gulag”.

    Gulag was, of course, the acronymn for the Soviet forced labor prisons that held upwards to 20 million Soviets.

    http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/04/the-next-gulag.html

    SteveMG (6f6dc7)

  44. The Tucson shooter was a pothead who even wanted to make it our currency.

    Sullivan has been arrested for pot possession.

    Case closed.

    J.

    Jay Tea (6d57d7)

  45. I’d hate to see what you did to Charles Johnson anus (metaphorically) after you beheaded him (methaphorically). Please dispose of the condoms safely so that no little kids are infected (metaphorically)

    Jim Shay (f268e5)

  46. Don’t forget the red thong, Jay Tea.

    Topsecretk9 (ab69ad)

  47. A.W. – You could call a post about the results “Fists of Fury,” but not in a good way, IYKWIMAITTYD.

    daleyrocks (e7bc4f)

  48. something tell Colonel
    that real “Sullivan Challenge”
    involve goat rope lube

    ColonelHaiku (f8a47b)

  49. daleyrocks – is that “Fists of Fury” ? Or “Fists of Furry” ?

    Alasdair (e7cb73)

  50. Watch out – Charles Johnson is now vewy, vewy angwy. LOL.

    Mork (c3ac61)

  51. Alasdair – I suppose you could go both ways with that. Whatever flips your minnow.

    daleyrocks (e7bc4f)

  52. Señor Sullivan
    became Señor Wences when
    receive fist y cuffs

    ColonelHaiku (f8a47b)

  53. s’awright?

    ColonelHaiku (f8a47b)

  54. Ah, this is the reason the internet was invented… To tear other people down.

    Abe Froman (495a23)

  55. Ah, this is the reason the internet was invented… To tear other people down

    I assume that’s directed to Andrew Sullivan? He’s the one making the claim that a mass murderer was influenced by writings from the political right.

    The question on the table is whether, as Megan McArdle argues, that one can find some language used by the insane Loughner that resembles or is similar to language employed by Sullivan.

    The point is, of course, that insanse people are driven to act by all sorts of ideas that they’re exposed to. And saying idea “A” is directly or even indirectly responsible for murderous act “B” when dealing with such people is foolish.

    SteveMG (6f6dc7)

  56. SteveMG.

    You some sort of faggot or something?

    Jim Shay (f268e5)

  57. The weird trolls show up with the dog whistle.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  58. Seriously, Charles Johnson and his sycophants are going nuts. They want you fired now.

    Sample:

    “The problem is that these nuts are pretty dangerous. And when LA lowers the hammer on Frey, as they surely must, the wingnuts will get even more crazed. The question is whether this stays on the net or if it spills over onto Fox News. Because the latter would be big trouble.”

    Mork (c3ac61)

  59. You some sort of faggot or something?
    Are you this classy 24/7 or did you make an exception just for me?

    If so, I’m not impressed.

    SteveMG (6f6dc7)

  60. Loughner: “Secondly, my hope – is for you to be literate! If you’re literate in English grammar, then you comprehend English grammar. The majority of poeple, who reside in District 8, are illiterate — hilarious. I don’t control your English grammar structure, but you control your English grammar structure.”

    Sullivan: “Didn’t I know the rules of grammar, she asked? I went through each of her questions, citing each relevant grammar rule, and noting, if I had broken it, why I’d broken it. ‘I know the rules,’ I explained to her at the end. ‘Sometimes I choose to break them.'”

    Both perceive themselves in grandiose terms as masters of grammatical rules, assigning much significance to their rejection of related societal conventions.

    sierra (121696)

  61. You some sort of faggot or something?

    Comment by Jim Shay — 1/24/2011 @ 5:13 pm

    No doubt one of those tolerant leftists.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  62. Oh, what an uncouth little man this Jim Shay is. How very unfortunate.

    Dana (8ba2fb)

  63. Uncouth is such a very good word.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  64. You some sort of faggot or something?

    Comment by Jim Shay

    I predicted this. LGF fanboys coming here to post bigotry, so they can then point to those words as ‘proof’ their critics are bigots and their arguments can be ignored.

    It’s not like he even has a point. Just wanted to spit out something ugly.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  65. Jim’s comment 45 is particularly weird. He’s thinking of Charles sexually, but the way he does so suggests he’s cleverly referencing a sexual undertone that exists only in his head.

    I guess he’s one of those gay bashers who is still in the closet. No wonder he’s so upset.

    Maybe instead of dreaming of Charles Johnson, he can open his eyes and think about the fact Charles is a liar.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  66. Seems you gay boys spend all your time thinking about Charles Johnson and Andrew Sullivan. Two class AAA homosexuals. Somehow I’m the queer for pointing that out.

    I’m heading back to Red State where they are both smarter and straighter.

    Ciao losers.

    Jim Shay (f268e5)

  67. Right, Red State. You’re not from LGF, obsessed with smearing conservatives with bigoted nonsense.

    Homosexuality is not relevant to this topic, except you have brought it up three or four times. I’ve seen this before. You need a therapist.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  68. Somehow I’m the queer for pointing that out.

    No, just uncouth and very small.

    Now, onto more serious matters: Aaron, while I understand the point of this post and the delicious desire to dish it out to Sullivan, I must say I am so immensely repulsed, reviled, and disgusted with this slithering little creature and his obscene obsession with Mrs. Palin’s reproductive life, that I decline to participate.

    While it is pathetically easy to make his day, it would cause me to waste precious time thinking about him and that’s precious time I can never get back – plus it would require a serious mind scrub. He simply is not worth it.

    Dana (8ba2fb)

  69. That is precisely the type of douchebaggery Kilgore and Willie the racist hilljack used to try. FU, Jim Shay.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  70. Dustin, I don’t know which Jim you are referencing for comment 45, but it wasn’t me. I don’t know who “J” (or Jay Tea) is.

    Jim (8de501)

  71. Thanks for clarifying, Jim.

    It is clear you aren’t the same person as Jim shay, though I did think the abortion threat comments were off topic. At least you have integrity about your comments.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  72. While it is pathetically easy to make his day, it would cause me to waste precious time thinking about him and that’s precious time I can never get back – plus it would require a serious mind scrub. He simply is not worth it.

    Comment by Dana

    You know, it probably just makes Andrew happy to see people dig up his horrible Trig Truther comments. He takes sick pleasure in proving just how crazy he can be about Sarah Palin.

    Though I am really impressed with the scope of comments Carlitos and others found that could practically be interchanged with Jared Loughner’s. I admit, Megan Mcardle’s point still stands. You could practically do this with anybody. It’s again Andrew who was leaping to conclusions that are totally unfair.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  73. Dana

    I guess you only waste your ‘precious time’ on this blog. Dink!

    Jim Shay (f268e5)

  74. Jim Shay, why would you even care if Dana enjoys this blog?

    You are transparently an LGF sycophant. You think you’re at the cool table in junior high, that the kids at the smart blog/table are all gay, and that simply pointing out the blog we’re at is insulting.

    Hint: when someone makes a good argument, laughing that they are spending time to do so is not a valid rebuttal.

    We get it already. You hate gay people. Go back to LGF and tell them all about how gay we all are, ok?

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  75. Jim Shay is a mendoucheous homophobic racist. FU.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  76. Dink!

    Heh. This reminds me of Jimmy Durante warbling the silly Ink-A-Dink-a-Doo:

    Ink-A-Dink-a-Doo, A dink-a dee, A dink-a doo
    Oh, what a tune for croon-ing
    Ink-A Dink-a-Doo, A dink-a dee, A dink-a doo,
    It’s got the whole world spooning
    Eskimo bells up in Iceland are ringing
    They’ve made their own Paradise land
    Singing
    Ink-A Dink-a-Doo, A dink-a dee, A dink-a doo
    Simply means Ink-A dink-A dee A dink-a doo

    Oh. I’m sorry. What were you saying, Jim Shay?

    Dana (8ba2fb)

  77. Why waste our time just to prove Sully has the reading comprehension skills of a third grader?

    Especially since we already know that.

    Rich Horton (3ef32b)


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