June 24, 2006

"And so I know now I'm on a different plane."

Byron York quotes Markos Moulitsas. Mickey Kaus piles on (amusingly). But let's look at the quote:
This week has been a very interesting week for me. And I know I have sort of arrived in a scary way, because now I'm not being attacked for what I've said and done. People are making stuff up about me now. They're inventing things. And so I know now I'm on a different plane.
This does have an awfully strange kooky tone to it. I'm on a different plane... No one I think is in my tree... Amerika hates her crazies.
But this is the world we live in. There are people who have a vested interest in the status quo. There are people who don't want to see things change because they're not used to things changing. They know the world. It's comfortable. It's cozy. If they read the media, the media's not going to tell them what we're all about. Howard Dean thought we were all young. I'm not sure where he got that, because he should have known better. Hillary Clinton came up and she quoted the netroots based on something a conservative said. They need to live it for themselves. They need to become part of it, because this is an integral part of American politics now, and that's not going to change.
We are forces of chaos and anarchy/Everything they say we are we are/And we are very/Proud of ourselves....
And the beauty of it is at the end of the day, they can take me down. They can take Jerome Armstrong down. They can take down Atrios. They can take down any of the so-called leaders in the movement and it doesn't matter, because this is not a leaderless movement. I used to say this was a leaderless movement, and I was wrong. It's not a leaderless movement; it's a everybody-who's-part-of-it-is-a-leader. And so you can take any single individual down, and it will continue to live on.
A fellow ain't got a soul of his own, just little piece of a big soul, the one big soul that belongs to everybody, then... Then it don't matter. I'll be all around in the dark - I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look - wherever there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build - I'll be there, too.
I write in our book, I write, basically, the establishment Democrats have three choices. One, they can join us, and a lot of people have, people like Simon Rosenberg. They can get out of the way. Or we're going to roll them. Because quite frankly we're tired of losing, and we're not going to do that anymore. And so there is a lot of energy, there's a lot of passion out in the rest of the country and we're going to be working hard with those who want to work with us to take this country forward to what it really needs to be, not what it has become.
Come senators, congressmen/Please heed the call/Don't stand in the doorway/Don't block up the hall/For he that gets hurt/Will be he who has stalled/There's a battle outside/And it is ragin'.

IN THE COMMENTS: Lots of stuff, but my LOL favorite is -- re "And so I know now I'm on a different plane":
Are there any motherf***ing snakes on that plane?
AND ELSEWHERE: Rand Simberg felt a similar vibe.

48 comments:

Bissage said...

I've never been there, myself. But on that "different plane" where the important people dwell, isn't it generally considered bad form to be so candid about one's vanity?

I guess that's yet another convention that will have to yield to his advance.

Simon Kenton said...

Brilliant post, Ms Althouse.

Derve Swanson said...

Things are different today,
I hear ev'ry mother say...

What a drag it is getting old.


Indeed.

Anonymous said...

First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win. attributed to Gandhi. (*)

Professor Althouse is in stage two with Kos, but pissed off that the blogosphere is at stage zero with Althouse.

(*) Was this Gandhi? Google can't give me any really authoritative sources that it was Gandhi that first said this. Perhaps the precogs at the Althouse Precrime Project can help us out.

Ann Althouse said...

TWM uses the Justice Scalia/Cole Porter spelling of Gandhi.

Ann Althouse said...

Jacques: Don't you think that's the crazy's favorite quote?

Ann Althouse said...

Mary: You don't get the lyric you're quoting. Unless you mean to promote drug use.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it often is.

(But you're sampling on the dependent variable again.)

Randy said...

Great selections, Ann. I still like the lyrics to "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who as a reasonably accurate description of the ultimate arc of his fame and influence.

Ann Althouse said...

CB: LOL.

Ron said...

Just because they're tired of losing doesn't mean they won't keep losing. It just means they'll be more tired!

bill said...

I'm partial to Destroyer, by the Kinks:

She said, man, theres really something wrong with you.
One day youre gonna self-destruct.
Youre up, youre down, I cant work you out
You get a good thing goin then you blow yourself out.

Silly boy ya self-destroyer. silly boy ya self-destroyer

reader_iam said...

First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win. attributed to Gandhi. (*)

Jacques: Don't you think that's the crazy's favorite quote?

Yeah, it often is.

(But you're sampling on the dependent variable again.)


I'm not sure if either or both of you know this, or if readers here do, but that exact quote (yes, attributed to Gandhit) appears alone on the page before the table of contents in "Crashing The Gate."

And it's an interesting experience to be reading that book just now, as this blogofuffle keeps percolating. The Foreword and the Preface alone take on different meanings, in some places, than they would have just four days ago.

vh: xdanz

Unknown said...

Yes, KOs, you are on a different plane--actually, another planet, where it's always 1965 and you're still mad at your bad Dad and like you've never been so passionate about anything before and you're really gonna make a difference and you don't need a weatherman to see which way the wind is blowing and 'screw them' if they don't dig it.

You got the '60s fetishization perfectly, Ann.

reader_iam said...

I point this out because it makes the exchange I highlighted--well, it simply makes it.

Michael: Yep, I actually bought it, in a batch of contradictory things.

Randy said...

Reader_iam wrote:

And it's an interesting experience to be reading that book just now...

I admire your intellectual curiosity! (Some might say it is a manifestation of masochistic tendencies not curiosity, but I won't. No, not me. Wouldn't want to spread any rumors around the internet like "the poster of 10,000 links" ;-)

Can I borrow the book when you are done? I wouldn't mind reading it as long as I'm not contributing to his bottom line. Let me know if you offer it up on amazon resale or something.

X said...

People out on the streets, they don't know who I am
I watch them from my room, they are just passin' by
But I'm not just anyone Said I'm not just anyone

I got my time machine, got my 'lectronic dream
Sonic reducer, ain't no loser
Got my sonic reducer, ain't no loser

I'll be a pharaoh soon, rule from some golden tomb
Things will be different then, the sun will rise for me
Then I'll be ten feet tall, and you'll be nothing at all

I got my time machine, got my 'lectronic dream
Sonic reducer, ain't no loser
Got my sonic reducer,I ain't no loser


I guess 'electronic reducer' would be more appropriate (or maybe 'net reducer of the long-term prospects of the Democratic party' but that sure as hell doesn't scan), but I don't think Stiv Bators anticipated the rise of the netroots. And now he's dead, come to think of it. KOS IS VINDICATED YET AGAIN!

Sissy Willis said...

A beautiful post . . . Sheer poetry.

Gresham's law notwithstanding, Kos=Hitler suggests itself in the young cult leader's megalomania:

"They can get out of the way. Or we're going to roll them. Because quite frankly we're tired of losing, and we're not going to do that anymore."

The totalitarian impulse runs dark and deep in our species

Sissy Willis said...

Egad . . . I mean Godwin's Law (washes paw).

Unknown said...

I never heard of that one, Sissy. Good one.

I also like In the future . . .

Unknown said...

Ann, given the genuine enjoyment you're having watching this pillowfight, I'm surprised that you haven't commented on the revelations that Jerome Armstrong is/was an astrologer, and used some pretty whacked-out astrological analysis to make both stock market and political predictions as late as the 2002 mid-terms...

Here is a good place to start to learn more.

Steven said...

Because quite frankly we're tired of losing, and we're not going to do that anymore.

Never mind that every plurality-winning Democratic presidential ticket since the founding of the DLC has had a DLC man in both slots on the ticket. Never mind that no anti-war presidential candidate has ever won an election when America was fighting a war in all of American history.

And, on the subject of laughter . . .

They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown. -- Carl Sagan

Icepick said...

Professor Althouse is in stage two with Kos, but pissed off that the blogosphere is at stage zero with Althouse.

And yet you've set up a whole blog devoted to nothing but your comments on Ann's blog! If Ann's at Level Zero, how desperate and miserable does that make you that your main contribution is a fan site for your own comments on her blog? Your narcissism is exceeded only by your gross stupidity.

God, you're even worthless by your own standards....

buddy larsen said...

Oh, jeez, icepick, thanks for the guffaw, that last line made me actually LOL for real--

Poor ole j'accuse or Lee Etad Cyst Moi, or whoever that was.

buddy larsen said...

How about "Hank Evans", as in "Hank Evans for Little Girls"?

Ann Althouse said...

Cool! The return of Buddy Larsen! I remember you from here.

Gordon Freece said...

Townleybomb, there's not a lot to be said in favor of the wit, wisdom, and political philosophy of Stiv Bators, but even so, comparing him to Markos is over the line.

buddy larsen said...

Miz Althouse, your memory is a steel trap!

Anonymous said...

Oh Icepick, you know better than that. I don't have a blog, I have a message store because for whatever reason, Ann likes to delete my comments.

You guys used to whine when I didn't have any sort of a blog. Then you (in particular) whined when I had a blog because there was only post on it. Now I filled it out a bit (it is a bit behind schedule) and you are still whining.

Icepick, are you upset that even though I have a loser message store that accepts no advertising, that only posts on one topic, that still three times as many people have visited my profile as yours (and you apparently have a full-featured blog.)

As for Ann, we have seen her whine repeatedly in the past that no one in the left blogosphere pays enough attention to her. Me, I have all the traffic I can handle from the left blogosphere. You won't believe the numbers of emails I go through each day....

buddy larsen said...

Jacques, re the unbelievable numbers of emails you "go through every day", does anyone ever reply to them?

buddy larsen said...

...reminds me of the guy complaining that he "had dozens of women beating on his door"-- someone asked "well why dontcha just let 'em out?"

Icepick said...

Q, of course you've had three times as many views, because you've posted under at least three different names. Further, you've become famous as one of the biggest assholes around. "To Quxxo", meaning to neadlessly hi-jack any and all threads with cut-and-paste monster links, has even become a verb in some parts. No way I can or WANT to compete with that.

BTW, what the hell does "not accepting any advertsing" have to do with anything?

You won't believe the numbers of emails I go through each day....

Emails your various identies send to each other don't count: Beta, Quxxo, JC, AJD, etc.

Anonymous said...

You are sensitive about that! That kills me! All that hard work of yours and no one reads it. What a bummer.

Anyway, you're also misinformed as to who the people on this blog are.

So if you can take some constructive criticism, you have to add value to the conversation in order for readers to want to read you. Anyone can just fill up pixels, ask SlipperyCheese. You can do better than that.

Best wishes,

JC (three times as many readers as IcePick since pre-911 days!) (And I don't even care.)

Unknown said...

(And I don't even care.)

Do you expect anyone whatsoever to believe this?

buddy larsen said...

Well, I believe him. He brought it up, and keeps dwelling on it, because he doesn't care about it. This is really impressive, if you ask me, in the anxiously nonchalent, desperately-seeking savoir-faire, devil-may-care anal-retentive, sort of way.

Icepick said...

Quxxo, you are an idiot. I have about six part-time readers. I'm shocked it's that high, given the sporadic nature of my posts. I blog for my own amusement, and sometimes I have longer posts when I think they're too long for other blogs' comment sections. (No doubt that kind of courtesy would never occur to you.)

Unlike semi-professional scolds such as yourself, whose only desire in life is to build yourself up by telling the rest of us how much we've disappointed you, I'm not trying to change the world. I've blogged about pig shit and bad TV shows. What makes you think I'm doing that for any reason other than my own amusement? (Frankly I'm wondering why I gave up on pig shit to trade barbs with you.)

But since you want to make this about stats, let's make this about stats. You claim that you are three times as important as I am because you have ~3 times as many profile views. You claim that Ann is unimportant. Ann has approximately 41 times more profile views than you. So Ann is clearly 41 times more worthy than you are, again by your own estimation of worth.

And as a point of fact, profile views are not the same thing as having readers. Given your poor grasp of reality I'm hardly surprised that you don't know the difference, but please try and keep up.

Icepick said...

This is really impressive, if you ask me, in the anxiously nonchalent, desperately-seeking savoir-faire, devil-may-care anal-retentive, sort of way.

Q does remind me of a bad Saturday Night Live character. You know, the kind that only ever shows up in the last twenty minutes of a show when filler is needed. But Q's endless humorless scolding does remind me of various Phil Hartman characters. Q could well be the Anal Retentive Commenter.

Anonymous said...

Six readers, that's terrific. Does that include mom and dad?

Now I understand why you were so active in blogrolling me. Sorry if I couldn't help you increase your ad revenue.

Anonymous said...

So Ann is clearly 41 times more worthy than you are, again by your own estimation of worth.

That's completely unbelievable. Ann has to have had more than 41 times the views I have had. I mean, she's a tenured professor, she gets interviewed on NPR and TV, she fills in Glenn Reynolds, and I am sure she is some sort of large dangerous animal in the ecosystem.

Ice man, the counter must've rolled over.

buddy larsen said...

Well, icepick, looks like, there goes your 500 ft yacht. Terribly sorry, old chap.

Phil Hartman--haven't thought about him in a long time. What a great comic, how very sad was his end.

Albatross said...

He he. Icepick is funny.

Icepick said...

Q, I don't run any ads, nor do I have any desire to do so.

And my father died 17 years ago of cancer. No doubt you will take great satisfaction in that, you worthless sack of shit.

Anonymous said...

Oh, so it's only mommy to tell you to come up from the basement?

buddy larsen said...

Jacques, I know you're trying to be witty, but trust me, it's not working. You're very young, and you're interested in all this blogosphere stuff, so, why not quit writing for awhile, and go back to the fundamentals? There's "civility" which is a concept you could ponder, and there's essays like this, on the technical &/or performance side.

buddy larsen said...

I'd say just the opposite, John. If it was weird when she did it, why wouldn't it be weird when he did it?

Did she somehow soak up all available derision on such matters, and thus free all like activities from future onus?

Derve Swanson said...

"Mary: You don't get the lyric you're quoting. Unless you mean to promote drug use. "

Not encouraging, just observing the common use. Prescription drugs, you know.
(re: "You don't get the lyric"... How dumb do you think I am?)

buddy larsen said...

...but if they did, you'd vote for her, wouldn't you, John?

buddy larsen said...

Well, the way things become cliches is, they're true.