January 10, 2015

"Sudden Althouse."

I think rhhardin put his finger on something real yesterday, in that "proper focus is the truth" post, where the discussion turned to whether the Daily Caller writer Jim Treacher is "thin-skinned." A commenter named mr said:
Treacher can be witheringly funny, but he is also famously thin-skinned. He simply cannot allow anyone to say anything critical about him in a comment section without jumping in to insult the commenter.
And pm317 immediately added: "Althouse is famously thin-skinned." Then rhhardin — who's been commenting (enigmatically, interestingly, wisely, and weirdly) for at least 10 years — said:
There's also "sudden Althouse."

It's not thin-skinned exactly.

It appears as an out-of-the-blue defense in some thicket where the game is not apparent.
My sudden response to that was "You must enjoy being a spectator at this hard-to-see game, you weirdo." But the truth — to properly focus on the truth — is that he figured something out. I have an instinct — somewhat like the more conventional urge to defend the underdog — to make an out-of-the-blue defense in some thicket where the game is not apparent.

29 comments:

Danno said...

I like rhhardin's new "Sudden Althouse" category, but I can't place exactly where I have I felt your display of this reaction.

Maybe its your comments on "men in shorts".

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Out-of-the-blue would be from out of the sky.

Out-of-some-thicket would be from out of a grouping of dense shrubbery.

The game would be something like quail or deer so I'm going to guess that some comments are weirder than others.

rhhardin said...

There is the response, pointing to the thicket where the game is not apparent.

That response appears, therefore, to be out of the blue.

Whether that's good or bad, if you're a reader and not also a spouse, depends on whether there's something in the thicket or it's imagined, or say a danger from personal history.

If you're a spouse, the thicket is interesting regardless.

But if you're not, you may be baffled.

The latter would deserve a sudden Althouse tag.

chillblaine said...

There's also pique Althouse.

In the sense of being stimulated or aroused, as in, 'you have piqued my curiosity.'

Not to be confused with peak Althouse.

rehajm said...

Bill Belichick is a master of the out of the blue defense in some thicket where the game is not apparent.

James Pawlak said...

"Specialty place" OR "specialty plates"?

Phil 314 said...

I don't think about it much

(Maybe that means I AM a robot)

Laslo Spatula said...

We all have an Althouse that feeds our head, slaps our hand, intrigues, inflames, prickles, nuances, nudges, jobs, fuels our fire, extinguishes our fever, tickles, trickles and ties us in a knot to be untied by thought.

It is the 'So Althouse' Althouse.

I am Laslo.

pm317 said...

to make an out-of-the-blue defense in some thicket where the game is not apparent.

It is not a compliment. It is euphemism for always wanting to have the last word like many social network nutcases. But it is your blog and I will gracefully give you the last word without you fighting for it.

Meade said...

"(Maybe that means I AM a robot)"

A thin-skinned robot would be weird.

Anonymous said...

I was a thin-skinned robot.

Ann Althouse said...

"A thin-skinned robot would be weird."

It would get dented.

F said...

Brings to mind the song "Suddenly Seymour" from Little House of Horrors

Meade said...

"We all have an Althouse that feeds our head, slaps our hand, intrigues, inflames, prickles, nuances, nudges, jobs, fuels our fire, extinguishes our fever, tickles, trickles and ties us in a knot to be untied by thought."

Well, okay. But as rhnietzche (or someone) once said: "You're going to watch soap operas with women? Don't forget your whip! "

Laslo Spatula said...

"Well, okay."

You just like the "tickles" part. Of course you do.

I am Laslo.

dbp said...

rhhardin is on to something with his
"sudden Althouse" thing, but I was much more amused by his selection from Beyond Good And Evil.

Wince said...

"...rhhardin — who's been commenting (enigmatically, interestingly, wisely, and weirdly) for at least 10 years."

Here's a young rh dealing with critical comments in his own way.

Scott said...

Like the Betty Crocker packaged pasta dish,

"Suddenly Salad"

"Sudden" has a deus ex machina quality about it. No reason or motivation. You blink, it's there.

Sudden Althouse

Impulsive Althouse

Reactive Althouse

Delphic Althouse

Althouse impinged

Althouse on a plate

Bob Boyd said...

If a sex robot was thin-skinned that would probably be OK....I mean, as opposed to a thick-skinned sex robot or one with a metal housing. I suppose it depends on what....oh never mind.

Anonymous said...

I did a comment in my sex robot series describing the Althouse Sex Robot, but it got deleted.

Okay, it didn't happen. There.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

"Sudden Althouse" doesn't quite have the proper ring to it.

"Quaker Instant Bitch" is a much more apt description.

Ron said...

Maybe "kneejerk Althouse" would be better?

Maybe that's why I see these defenses as insincere, merely a tactic or a psychological quirk, to be abandoned as the whim fit.

virgil xenophon said...

I see Laslo has switched back to his original betamax3000 persona just to keep the rubes guessing..

Browndog said...

I have an instinct — somewhat like the more conventional urge to defend the underdog — to make an out-of-the-blue defense in some thicket where the game is not apparent.

Which is why I have referred to Althouse as "Although"...privately.

Kind of an inside joke about reading without reading glassed when your eyes are shot, and is fitting for the Mistress Contrarian.

rhhardin said...

A penchant with a strange device.

Phil 314 said...

"A thin-skinned robot would be weird."

It would get dented.


Obviously you are not aware of the miraculous materials used by NASA for their space ships. Very thin, very firm and able to go for long distances.

Surely you've seen them at lift off or in splashdown.

(but reCAPTCHA reassures me once again that I am NOT a robot.)

Anonymous said...

I'll just add that "out-of-the-blue defense in some thicket where the game is not apparent" is one of the most evocative turn of phrase I've read on this or any blog.

Anonymous said...

A thin-skinned robot would be wired.

Leslie Graves said...

Degradé Althouse?