“Oh, yes, yes, yessssssss, we can!” I whimpered, as his smoldering eyes bored deep into the very core of my being and our souls met and I knew he was the only man who would ever win my heart, a heart beating so fast and loud I could barely hear what he was saying—something about executive orders, I think. “Oh, yes, give me one right now!” I cried, as my palpitating bosom burst the ties of my bodice causing my leg to vibrate so much my bustle fell off.
“Aye, you’re a comely lass,” said Squire Barack, as my tresses tumbled over my stays and his riding crop fluttered teasingly up my thigh. “But I don’t need to go a-wenchin’ in the White House Press Room.”
“No, please, good sir,” I begged, as he glided past me and gave a saucy wink to the chamber maid from the Washington Post.
Mark Steyn has a very, very strange approach to political matters. It begins and ends behind his zipper. For him, it's all about the penis, and lest you think I exaggerate or am merely using a metaphor, just read on--.
Here’s my favourite example [of global instability] from the last couple of years: in 2003, mass hysteria swept Khartoum after reports that foreigners were shaking hands with Sudanese men, causing their penises to vanish. According to the London paper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, this guy came into some fabric merchant’s shop and ‘shook the store owner’s hand powerfully until the owner felt his penis melt into his body’. He was taken to hospital. Announcing a special investigative committee, the ‘Chief Criminal Attorney-General’ told the local press that ‘the rumour broke out when one merchant went to another merchant to buy some Karkady [a popular Sudanese beverage]. Suddenly the seller felt his penis shrivelling.’ Also, don’t accept any combs from infidels: according to another victim, ‘At the market, a man approached him, gave him a comb, and asked him to comb his hair. When he did so, within seconds, he said, he felt a strange sensation and discovered that he had lost his penis.’[bolding is mine]
The detail that caught my eye in the vanishing-penis hysteria is this: it was spread by text messaging. You can own a cellphone yet still believe that shaking hands with an infidel will cause you to lose your penis. That’s a state-of-the-art primitive. Sudan is an economic basket-case with a 27 per cent literacy rate that nevertheless has half a billion dollars’ worth of top Chinese weaponry imported via Iran. What if it started importing other kinds of technology from Iran? Or North Korea? What happens when the infidel-handshake-fearing chap is given not just a cellphone but a suitcase nuke?
But these days we’re the ones who’ve lost our penises. The wise old foreign-policy birds insist that nothing can be done — Islam and democracy are completely incompatible, old man; everybody knows that, except these naive, blundering Yanks who just don’t have our experience, frankly. If that’s true, it’s a problem not for Iraq this weekend but, given current demographic trends, for France and Belgium and Holland and the United Kingdom a year or two down the line. But, as it happens, it’s not true. The Afghan election worked so well that, there being insufficient bad news out of it, the doom-mongers in the Western media pretended it never happened. The Iraqi election will be imperfect but more than good enough. OK, that’s a bit vague by the standards of my usual psephological predictions, so how about this? Turnout in the Kurdish north and Shia south will be higher than in the 2001 UK elections.
But, beyond the numbers, when you look at the behaviour of the Shia and Kurdish parties, they’ve been remarkably shrewd, restrained and responsible; they don’t want to blow their big rendezvous with history and rejoin the rest of the Middle East in the fetid swamp of stable despotism. The Shiites, for example, have adopted a moderate secular pitch entirely different from their co-religionist mullahs over the border. In fact, they sound a lot less loopy than, say, Senator Barbara Boxer of California did accusing Condi Rice of being a liar last week and then going all weepy and a-waily and claiming victim status because Condi declined to agree with her.
Steyn has made a career of attempting to whip up hysteria over the number of Muslim births. He seems to take it very, very personally. Notice how he begs for mercy before the masterful Brown Penis, yet cannot fight back. Could this man really be nothing but a pathetic, vicious creature who is ashamed of the size and performance of his penis? Is it really so small that he obsesses, indeed, makes his life's work, fear of the size and fecundity of the penis of the dark-skinned man?
And so is history made. Poppy was disappointed in Bush, and Bush wanted to prove him wrong. Cheney's ill health pushed caution to paranoia. The American people wanted to cling to their self-appointed exceptionalism. Steyn perhaps has a small penis. And people--other people, of course, usually browner people--die.
And so it begins. Honey, if I were you I'd be asking myself why I'm defending Steyn. What's in it for you? Why do you identify with him and defend him?
ReplyDeleteI know you guys are more the read-and-piss-pants-in-fear types than the read-and-think types, but try anyway.
Dude, Steyn's writing sex scenes with Obama. Think about it.
ReplyDeleteDudette,
ReplyDeleteI watched the video of Obama's first meet and greet in the White House press room and I'm pretty sure Steyn was giving a bystander eye witness account.
Steyn has fathered a couple of kids and thus, by his lights, has already done his demographic duty. I don't think he's worried, intimidated, or otherwise driven by personal genital angst.
ReplyDeleteLol. You guys will never learn. We don't debate children or fools.
ReplyDeleteB Clarkson, I hope Steyn escaped with his virtue intact.
You have been linked to on Steynonline, I think you are about to be very roughly handled by a bunch of people who are far more clever, insightful, and well spoken than you are.
ReplyDeleteAnon, thanks for the penis information; it's a good thing Steyn has you guys following such things and spreading the news.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget to thank Steyn and Kathy Shaidle for the massive bump in traffic you are about to get.
ReplyDeleteI usually don't acknowledge such things, being shy, but I do appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe not, you really don't have anything intersting to say. If I want to hear penis jokes, I can always hang out at an elementary school. PLEASE, this is getting boring! Specifically and without resorting to name calling, in what way do you disagree with Steyn's position?
ReplyDeleteHi -- I found you from a link from Kathy Shaidle.
ReplyDeleteI think what you said is pretty funny -- a media based psychoanalysis fo political figures.
However from the comments I don't think that you meant to be funny, unlike Steyn in his writings. I believe his juvenile references are meant to be funny and lead into serious topics. Unlike your comments which were funny and went nowhere, except the age-old comeback of "you small penis."
I think you had a rather interesting, and funny, take on Steyn's writing that could have led to interesting, and funny, dialog. However you do take yourself way too seriously for that.
What a shame.
I think you're suffering from what the DSM4 called 'Loose Pussy Syndrome.' The text (and I quote) reads, 'Loose Pussy Syndrome is naturally exclusive to women. A diagnosis may be made that a woman is suffering from LPS if they exhibit the following symptom:
ReplyDelete"1. Jealousy that any man would prefer to fuck another man rather than fuck her."
And her face.... was shut. Goodbye all, I'm off to seek the company of grown ups.
ReplyDeleteLighten up, Susan, Steyn is hilarious. Your earnest little efforts are heavy as lead.
ReplyDeleteSteyn's sexualized comments about Barack are a slam on the attitude of the "unbiased" reporters at large. especially the men, such as Chris Matthews who make statements about tingles running up their leg ... in all seriousness.
ReplyDeletethat fact that you are incapable of seeing this for what it is does not speak well for your own intelligence.
maybe you would have been better served to have dropped out of school?
People are dropping out already? But you guys just got here!
ReplyDeleteOh, well, maybe even more people can show up with The 70s guide To Fighting Feminists in their sweaty hands.
>> Is it really so small that he obsesses, indeed, makes his life's work, fear of the size and fecundity of the penis of the dark-skinned man?
ReplyDeleteIt never ceases to amaze me how quickly and easily people like you miss the point.
Surely if Steyn was so scared of the "fecundity of the penis of the dark-skinned man" he would make India the target of his critique, or China (although I don't know if the Chinese qualify as "dark-skinned", you'll have to enlighten me as you're clearly the expert).
But no, it's Islam that draws the critique. And you'll have to forgive me for pointing out that Islam is an ideology, having exactly nothing to do with skin color or race. It is a supremacist ideology that subjugates unbelievers, women, homosexuals, and pretty much anyone who doesn't toe the line.
One might think that a demographic explosion of people all adhering to such an ideology - an ideology basically at odds with everything we stand for - might be of interest. One might think the consequences at least worthy of reasoned debate and discussion.
But no, it's all about dark man penis envy.
But these days we’re the ones who’ve lost our penises. The wise old foreign-policy birds insist that nothing can be done — Islam and democracy are completely incompatible, old man; everybody knows that, except these naive, blundering Yanks who just don’t have our experience, frankly.
ReplyDeleteIf he can name a wise old foreign policy bird who insists that "nothing can be done" I'll be impressed.
I like the way his imaginary source speaks like a character out of PG Woodhouse. The Cornerites love to do that too.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, it's a troll infestation.
ReplyDeleteLet us note: Steyn's an ass and Shaidle's an obvious nut. What you want to say after that is fine, but nobody with sense takes those two seriously.
Too true.
ReplyDeleteTheyll get tired after a while and go home. This has happened before.
Can someone please explain what this column is supposed to be about?
ReplyDeleteWow Susan, I know I wrote that I was not going to contribute to this thread, but like Beavis and Butthead reruns, this blog is a bit of a guilty pleasure (and about as informative as well!) You noted that you had crossed swords with Steyn's readers in the past. I followed the link and read the discussion, looks like you got your arse felt then too! I wonder if you are a closet conservative and are just lobbing floating potatoes so you can feel a delicious frisson when we rightwingers smack them out of the park.
ReplyDeleteI'm still waiting for an explanation of Steyn's sexual fantasies.
ReplyDeleteI quote from an earlier post:
ReplyDelete"Steyn's sexualized comments about Barack are a slam on the attitude of the "unbiased" reporters at large. especially the men, such as Chris Matthews who make statements about tingles running up their leg ... in all seriousness."
It is commonly referred to as "wit", perhaps if you read some more of Steyn's work you may pick some of it by osmosis. You know, monkey see, monkey do. Question for you, did you go to university? I have a pet theory that modern universities have ceased to be centres of thought and learning and instead have become daycare facilities where left wing high school teachers send their most pliable, least inquisitive, and dullest students to be indoctrinated in "The True Way". I was hoping I could direct people who disagree with me to your site for illustrative purposes.
Your world view is challenged and that's how you respond - with crude remarks? Well I'm not convinced.
ReplyDeleteYour clipping of the commentary from the article leaves out a lot... lets start with the last sentence of the paragraph above:
ReplyDeleteWhat sort of community should we be? Surveying the “rapt eyes” of the congregation, Ethan Baron, writing in the Vancouver Province, said he hadn’t seen anything like it “since a guy I used to work with brought me to visit his weird sex cult in California.” And he meant it as a compliment.
Now you have to go find the article he is talking about in the Vancouver Province, that would be a newspaper in Canada, try this link:
http://www.theprovince.com/news/power+love+force+change/1201049/story.html
And here is a taste:
Rapt eyes shone as Obama spoke with stunning eloquence of re-building America. When the president delivered perhaps his most impressive rhetorical offering, telling the world's tyrants, "We will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist," many in the audience gasped audibly at the sheer power of his language.
I haven't seen a group of people wearing their fervour so completely, and so uniformly, since a guy I used to work with brought me to visit his weird sex cult in California.
But maybe Obama, unlike the cult leader in the purple house, really deserves this worship.
So, in context he really would be making fun of the MSM reaction to "The Big O" ... a sad commentary on news organizations that have no shame at showing their bias now that Bush is gone.
But maybe Obama, unlike the cult leader in the purple house, really deserves this worship.
ReplyDeleteYou should enjoy this column about how George W. Bush is just like a super-cool magic lion who is also Jesus.
On more than one occasion, Mark Steyn wrote - in his mocking fashion, of course - about breast implants.
ReplyDeleteAre you among the insufficiently endowed ones who opted for a bit of augmentation, and is this your way of trying to get back at Steyn for making you feel insecure?
Oh, that Narnia post was hysterical. And Fred Barnes' book, the one with Bush's zipper on the cover. Or Hugh Hewitt's tonguebaths. And those Powerline folks' worshipful prose. Not to mention Kathryn Jean Lopez comparing Bush to St. Joseph, the human father of Jesus.
ReplyDeleteOn more than one occasion, Mark Steyn wrote - in his mocking fashion, of course - about breast implants.
ReplyDeleteAre you among the insufficiently endowed ones who opted for a bit of augmentation, and is this your way of trying to get back at Steyn for making you feel insecure?
That is the largest amount of syllables I've ever seen used to call someone flat. You might want to get in touch with Christopher for his research on education.
"That is the largest amount of syllables I've ever seen used to call someone flat."
ReplyDeleteFunny that an Obama admirer would chastise somebody for using a lot of verbiage to say little.
Funny that an Obama admirer would chastise somebody for using a lot of verbiage to say little.
ReplyDeleteYou can't write for shit. Don't try.
I'm still waiting for an explanation of Steyn's sexual fantasies.
ReplyDeletei'm still waiting for you to find your second brain cell and figure out what i wrote.
i wonder which of us will be waiting longer? probably you, as there is no purpose in looking for a dialogue with someone who is so fixated on the power of brown penises.
oh, and uh, that shriveling penis thing? that wasn't one of "Steyn's fantasies". it's called "reporting". that crowds in 3rd countries have delusions of "penis shriveling" might be of some cultural curiosity when many of them want to come over here and blow up feminists, don't you think?
"You can't write for shit. Don't try."
ReplyDeleteYes I can!!! Yes I can!!!
And besides, I audaciously hope to get even better over time.
oh, and uh, that shriveling penis thing? that wasn't one of "Steyn's fantasies". it's called "reporting".
ReplyDeleteIn the context of that article it's called "pathological".
RB, they're hopeless, aren't they? They don't even understand why they are such strong defenders of Steyn.
ReplyDelete"RB, they're hopeless, aren't they? They don't even understand why they are such strong defenders of Steyn."
ReplyDeleteCould it be that not having their sense of humour hampered by feelings of insecurity about their short penises or flat breasts, they just enjoy a good laugh?
Agnostics: your finest source for certain knowledge of unknown things.
ReplyDeleteActually, agnostic is being very helpful. I don't worry about the size of my body parts becaus I don't pin my self-worth to their size, but seeing the distress of those who do helps me understand the fear and pain Steyn is experiencing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, agnostic.
Clearly, Steyn really got Susan's goat with that one. She’s one of many who comprise the sorriest bunch of sore winners I've seen to date. You'd think she'd be able to brush aside all of our knuckle-dragging comments now that her pusillanimous paper-hanging son-of-a-bitch is in office.
ReplyDelete“I'm still waiting for an explanation of Steyn's sexual fantasies.” It’s obvious who’s fixated on sexual fantasies. The general theme of her post is a perfect example of Freudian Projection. In fact, Susan’s post makes a strong argument for Freudian Penis Envy (a theory that I had dismissed, until now).
Wingnuts are so cute when they try to be intellectual.
ReplyDeleteCPS, I would have to be a guy to be using projection in this situation. Women can simply get implants if they are as traumatized by the size of their private parts as some men are.
It's true; Mark Steyn has a small penis. He screws me with it daily and makes me like it. I also have a small penis, and so does Susan of Texas.
ReplyDeleteHaving settled that, we may now return to politics. If we don't read a writer's works, we can do little but speculate on the size of his penis. To anyone who wants to discuss Mark Steyn's views capably, I recommend one read his book or one of his recent essay collections. Susan of Texas, being a reasonable person herself, will no doubt agree that one must read widely and carefully in an author's works if one is to be sure one understands him.
Susan of Texas also wonders why a man fantasizes about being pressured for sex by Obama [remember that?], and why he is so concerned about the birthin' of Muslim babies that he makes it his life's work.
ReplyDeleteIf he doesn't like the speculation he can find another source of income.
To be sure one understands an author, it's best to read his works, Susan? You haven't raised an objection.
ReplyDelete"I don't worry about the size of my body parts ..."
ReplyDeleteI believe you. No, really. I do.
Susan- what you've written reveals far more about you than it does about Steyn.
ReplyDelete1. You only serve to reinforce the stereotype that Texans aren't intelligent, and don't "get" irony.
2. I suspect from all your obsessing that you're in need of a good, hard shag (large penis optional).
Kate
Damn.
ReplyDeleteI'm jealous.
You have been linked to on Steynonline, I think you are about to be very roughly handled by a bunch of people who are far more clever, insightful, and well spoken than you are.
ReplyDeleteI think you're suffering from what the DSM4 called 'Loose Pussy Syndrome.'
maybe you would have been better served to have dropped out of school?
Ethan Baron, writing in the Vancouver Province, said he hadn’t seen anything like it “since a guy I used to work with brought me to visit his weird sex cult in California.” And he meant it as a compliment.
Mark Steyn fans sure are a nasty, stupid, smug bunch of wannabe bullies. Susan, I think they basically just proved you right.
Brad--you can have 'em.
ReplyDeleteThe Afghan election worked so well that, there being insufficient bad news out of it, the doom-mongers in the Western media pretended it never happened.
ReplyDeleteA seven-year-old foreign occupation, propping up a weak state which has been slowly eroding under the encroachment of the Taliban? Yeah, it all worked so well.
First of all, I though all of the people who reflexively went for the small penis argument had faded out, or transitioned over to some other unprovable vulgar attack.
ReplyDeleteSecond, Steyn - like his work or not- is a prolific writer. Finding a couple of penis references here and there proves very little against the backdrop of everything else that has written.
Also, as someone else correctly pointed out, the piece he wrote about men believing their penises would disappear from shaking hands with foreigners wasn't some weird sexually related fantasy that he made up, but someone else's that he commented on, kind of like you are doing here, except that he had a broader point to make.
Essentially you think Steyn is obsessed with his penis because he talks about demography and used sexual humor in exactly two out of thousands of essays.
Also, the above point about Islam not being a race is a valid counterpoint to your bizarre "brown penis" indictment. Any white guy can become an Islamist, it doesn't matter what color his crank is.
You are more than allowed, of course, not to like Steyn and to not agree with his point of view. Coming up with a better point of view might be a better way to make your point, however.
And, I'll head off the other guy at the pass,.. No I'm not a good writer. It's not how I make my living, or how I aspire to make my living.
Thank you for the pointers. I think you should go back to your blog and remove the posts called "Profiles in Extreme Manliness" and against gay marriage because they're only there to make you feel more manly.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you can't wait to take my advice.
Touché, GSP. It seems that Susan of Texas either wasn't woman enough to take such astute probing or else she didn't quite grasp your main thrust. But surely such an enlightened intellectual would know that Freudian penis envy is primarily something women have for men, not men for men, wouldn't she?
ReplyDeletePrecisely the kind of response I anticipated.
ReplyDeleteSexual.
To anyone who wants to discuss Mark Steyn's views capably
ReplyDeleteMaking fun of him is about all a serious person should do with Steyn.
Also, as someone else correctly pointed out, the piece he wrote about men believing their penises would disappear from shaking hands with foreigners wasn't some weird sexually related fantasy that he made up, but someone else's that he commented on, kind of like you are doing here, except that he had a broader point to make.
This is staring you right in the face: his use of the trope is asinine.
O.k., you don't like his writing style. Fair enough, but that hardly makes the point that he has some unhealthy obsession.
ReplyDeleteThere are many examples of liberals using sexual humor to make a point, and some of them do a damn fine job, too. I don't see people trying to take apart their subconscious over it.
Is it just writers that you agree with who are allowed to use such references, or is anyone allowed to give it a try?
Thanks Susan!
ReplyDeleteAny time, RB.
ReplyDeleteIs it just writers that you agree with who are allowed to use such references, or is anyone allowed to give it a try?
ReplyDeleteGuy, give the article another shot. What does Steyn think the vanishing penis story is an example of? What is it then immediately used for?
It's just a funny story unconnected to the article except that he likes to call people he doesn't name dickless, a funny thing for a guy with tell-tale facial hair and a love for musical theatre to do.
"It's just a funny story unconnected to the article except that he likes to call people he doesn't name dickless,"
ReplyDeleteWhat?
Susan has the entire section in context. I think you need to scroll up and re-read it.
The point he was making was that there are people in this world who are so superstitious and ignorant as to think that foreigners were not only out to take their penises but were able to do so by shaking their hands also had and could potentially have such modern technology at their disposal as to become mass-murderers. How is that unconnected to the point he was trying to make?
I think it illustrates the point rather bluntly.
Both yourself and Susan of Texas show by your commentary that you are not fond of the uneducated. Surely you don't think it a good thing that people this backward should be walking around with a "suitcase nuke."
Surly you don't think that it's his fault that these people think this way. Since they obviously do, I can't imagine why you would need to find other examples to make the point.
I also have no idea what having a beard has got to do with anything.
"Making fun of him is about all a serious person should do with Steyn." ("Righteous Bubba," Jan. 25, 6:06 PM)
ReplyDelete"Righteous Bubba" claims to know that a serious person should make fun of Mark Steyn, without bothering to read his works and try to understand him. However, Susan of Texas seems to be of "the read-and-think type," based on an earlier comment (Jan. 24, 10:02 AM), so I doubt she really agrees with that view. Certainly I think it's better to read and try to understand, first, and then to make fun. A serious person won't settle for making fun without having first read and tried to understand.
I don't think Bubba meant what he said. He probably really thinks it's better to read and understand an author, instead of just making fun. Right, Bubba?
The point he was making was that there are people in this world who are so superstitious and ignorant as to think that foreigners were not only out to take their penises but were able to do so by shaking their hands also had and could potentially have such modern technology at their disposal as to become mass-murderers. How is that unconnected to the point he was trying to make?
ReplyDeleteWell, that's a summary of the penis story which is unrelated to the rest of the article. Really. If you want to say "this is his point and he makes it" in that small sense okay: I like penis-panic stories as much as the next guy. But in fact it's a perfect example of Steyn's modus operandi: a completely absurd panic. His worries over Muslims are his personal dicklessness and the vanishing penis story is a mirror he can't see himself in because he's fogging it up with all that heavy breathing.
I also have no idea what having a beard has got to do with anything.
Enjoy!
He probably really thinks it's better to read and understand an author, instead of just making fun.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that to make fun of Steyn one has to read some words, but to insist on thorough study is rather like someone meditating deeply on the work of Adam Sandler.
Leftists think they are wittier, nicer and better endowed than they actually are and the maunderings above are a good illustration. The false self esteem movement has much to answer for, teaching the more suggestible that insignificant accomplishments shouldn't prevent them from having a high opinion of themselves.
ReplyDeleteTypically, they take professional wordsmith Steyn's hilarious satire on Chris Matthews and the rest of the Obama journalistic glee club literally and then counter with the small dick trope like some fifth grader.
Back in Swift's day, these plonking literalists would have speculated that his desire to make a meal of children meant he was not just a cannibal but inadequate as a man.
"His worries over Muslims are his personal dicklessness and the vanishing penis story is a mirror he can't see himself in because he's fogging it up with all that heavy breathing."
ReplyDeleteIt could also be that his worries over Muslims (which do not exist outside of the adherents of radical Islam)are actually based on something real, like terrorism. But you're certainly entitled to your opinion.
I could just as easily make the leap that your continual insistence on turning him gay, is a mirror you cannot see yourself in. I'm not making that leap, I'm just saying.
The story was not unrelated to the entire article, as the article was a part of his book. It has a singular theme, which is punctuated by different examples to make the larger point. Almost none of those examples include a reference to anyone's sexual organs.
I guess it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't thing. Those who scrupulously avoid bringing up sex are accused of being repressed homosexuals. Those that do bring it up, are accused of being repressed homosexuals.
Either way, this is the point where I respectfully bow out. We are obviously not going to convince each other of anything, so this is a moot discussion.
Regards.
Obama journalistic glee club literally and then counter with the small dick trope like some fifth grader.
ReplyDeleteYou obviously missed that Steyn did that to himself.
I could just as easily make the leap that your continual insistence on turning him gay, is a mirror you cannot see yourself in.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly could, but, you know, we're cool with that and you guys aren't.
Also feel free to read someone who's bothered to read the book.
ReplyDeleteO.k., I break my word, but will just offer this.
ReplyDeleteBy most liberals own definition, it's prejudiced to make broad, sweeping, generalizations about people such as : "We're cool with that and you guys aren't." This would come as a shock to all of the gay conservatives I have spoken to.
And, no, I'm not particularly cool with being told I'm something that I am not, and no one else really is either. If I were gay, I wouldn't be ashamed of it, and I certainly wouldn't want you speaking on my behalf.
Fact is that Steyn, at least, has a great deal of factual information to back up what he says. You, on the other hand, make reaching, baseless comments just because you don't like the guy.
That bit about "the vanishing penis story is a mirror he can't see himself in because he's fogging it up with all that heavy breathing" was actually well crafted but meaningless. As all your responses have been.
You can claim anything you want when it's impossible to back it up with any actual evidence. You might have a career in fiction, but literary ability alone does not make anyone much of a debater.
I read the book, thank you, and I don't need anyone to explain to me what was in it.
Fact is that Steyn, at least, has a great deal of factual information to back up what he says.
ReplyDeleteHe simply does not. Read the review: the numbers are just wrong.
Once again: nobody who is not a right-wing fantasist takes him seriously.
I read the book, thank you, and I don't need anyone to explain to me what was in it.
Obviously you do or you wouldn't be defending it. It's nonsense plus panic, and the weak-minded are easily convinced.
Dude, Steyn's writing sex scenes with Obama. Think about it.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've seen in the past week, every media writer on the planet has been submitting copy that consists of sex scenes with Obama.
It's only Steyn's that are explicitly so and not 100% sincere.
I could just as easily make the leap that your continual insistence on turning him gay, is a mirror you cannot see yourself in. I'm not making that leap, I'm just saying.
ReplyDeleteWe have no insistence on making Steyn anything. We simply respond to the absurdly overt sexual themes which Steyn himself has put into his writing.
It is much as if Steyn were public-speaking while farting up a storm. We are the people standing nearby and saying, "holy moly, this Steyn guy stinks to high heaven". You are the person standing near us who mysteriously cannot smell the farts and who chides us for being obsessed with farts. No, we're not obsessed, it's just that we have a sense of smell, and a person with a sense of smell cannot help but remark on the stench.
It's only Steyn's that are explicitly so and not 100% sincere.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you keep telling yourself that.
every media writer on the planet has been submitting copy that consists of sex scenes with Obama.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what you mean. Media people, of radio, print and video varieties have certainly been writing about Obama, but that's because he's just been inaugurated president! Please provide examples of media copy which consists of sex scenes with Obama.
"... a person with a sense of smell cannot help but remark on the stench."
ReplyDeleteDepends on how educated the sense.
Reminds me of the Japanese traveller who visited Europe a few centuries back. When he returned, among the other backward oddities of the Europeans, he mentioned their disgusting habit of eating stale, rotten, terribly stinking milk. He was referring to roquefort. And I witnessed more than once people complaining about the stink when offered caviar.
If fart is the only olfactory experience one ever had, no wonder that's all s/he knows - or thinks to know ...
So what you're saying is that Steyn's farts smell great to you, being the appreciator of fine farts that you are.
ReplyDeleteWell, enjoy your perch at the end of Steyn's ass, where you can breathe in the fumes he emits in deep, grateful gulps.
These items serve a couple of purposes: The supply a much more reasonable (though not exhaustive)basis for Mark Steyn's worries about demography than is supplied by jokey "Freudian" psychology. They also show by example that the politics of a place can change long before muslims become a majority. They also show that our concerns are not, by any stretch of the imagination, those of "white supremacists." We are, after all, considering in this case the security and wellbeing of Jewish men and women in our own land, as they go about their daily lives.
ReplyDeletehttp://ezralevant.com/2009/01/calgary-court-bans-syed-soharw.html
http://www.steynonline.com/content/view/1701/128/
Reminds me of the Japanese traveller who visited Europe a few centuries back. When he returned, among the other backward oddities of the Europeans, he mentioned their disgusting habit of eating stale, rotten, terribly stinking milk. He was referring to roquefort.
ReplyDeleteAgnostic
I accept that people will have very different subjective experiences of rhetoric. It is just that I felt you were arguing that Susan of Texas was "putting words in his mouth", so to speak, and I was saying that, in fact, her jokes about Steyn's penis obsession seemed more a simple reaction to what she saw in his writing.
atheist
ReplyDeleteFirst of all - how refreshing to encounter a rational response.
Now, rather than putting words in his mouth, I would say she was taking his words way, way out of context. And that way, one can make quite easily a primitive, body-parts obsessed pervert out of Shakespeare, Swift, Voltaire, not to mention Zola, to name just a few from the top of my head.
It's one thing to disagree with, to make fun of and jokes - even unfair ones - about somebody. When done well, it might be a good read, even if you don't agree with the point of view. But hurling school-yard level insults ("... Notice how he begs for mercy before the masterful Brown Penis ...")? That's just pitiful. That's all.
Essentially, what I was trying to do here was to provide her with some feedback, some points to reflect on, an thus an opportunity to grow (up) a little bit.
It's rarely appreciated at the moment - but you never know, a seed might get planted.
Right wing crybabies cry right wing tears.
ReplyDeleteImagine my surprise.
~
If you want to plant seeds grow a garden. Steyn's a racist fear-mongerer whose works are beneath contempt and certainly not worth debating once they've been debunked, which they thoroughly have been.
ReplyDeleteAgain. Why the Obama sex scene? Why the penis obsession? You want to debate demographics, find someone willing to listen to racist fear-mongerers. I'm still waiting for an explanation to my original question. You won't answer because the answer is embarrassing. Steyn uses sexual fear to manipulate people like you. It works quite well, because gullible, fearful people never think, just react.
They also show by example that the politics of a place can change long before muslims become a majority.
ReplyDeleteIt's more a case of showing that right-wingers are scared ninnies.
Now, rather than putting words in his mouth, I would say she was taking his words way, way out of context.
ReplyDeleteFeel free to name one wise old foreign policy bird who insists that nothing can be done and is therefore dickless.
But hurling school-yard level insults ("... Notice how he begs for mercy before the masterful Brown Penis ...")? That's just pitiful.
ReplyDeleteSusan of Texas mocks Steyn's writings by picturing him quaking before brown penises because she believes that Steyn has a racist point of view. From what I've read of Steyn, I agree with this assessment. He seems to have an idée fixe about "western civilization" (the US, Canada, & European countries) being over-run by hordes of Muslims and/or Latins, and, in my opinion, exaggerates immigration in order to cause fear.
I also have no idea what having a beard has got to do with anything.
ReplyDeleteit's a not particularly intelligent literalization of the slang term.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beard_(female_companion)
Feel free to name one wise old foreign policy bird who insists that nothing can be done and is therefore dickless.
how about the entire British police force AND all of the politicians and policy makers who made this possible? there's plenty of dickless wonders to choose from here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97hyDRjdXCE&feature=related
Bob K. Mando offers two spectactular failures. Well done!
ReplyDelete"If you want to plant seeds grow a garden."
ReplyDeleteAs I said, it's rarely appreciated at the moment ...
Do you really think that after twenty plus years of listening to you guys that we wouldn't realize what "culture" means to you? Do you think you are the first person to do this? Do you realize that I have heard excuses my entire life from people who just want someone-anyone-to hate and fear?
ReplyDeleteYour islam schtick isn't' new. It was sex and skin color a while back, and before that it was white non-Anglo immigration and before that it was the heathen Chinee or Savage. And there is a before that, too.
I'm sorry, you're neither original nor likely to fool anyone. Your seeds are the seeds of hate and fear, and I'm not like you. I have better things to do than nurture them in my heart.
" ... Steyn has a racist point of view ..."
ReplyDeleteIf we adopt the recent meaning of the word, i.e. somebody or something you disagree with, you are - from your point of view - certainly correct.
Agnostic
That is a clever riposte, touche. No, I don't mean 'racist' as a synonym for 'something I disagree with'. I can think of plenty of things I disagree with that aren't racist. Rather, I mean 'racist', meaning a person who exhibits attributs of 'racism', as the word is defined by Merriam-Webster. A belief that personal characteristics are primarily determined by racial makeup, and that one race is superior. In particular, it seems to me that Steyn is an advocate of a kind of ethnic nationalism, or a very similar point of view.
Hari:
ReplyDeleteBut number-crunching and mockery are not a sufficient response; it is hard to comment on Steyn's work without noting its raw racism. Throughout his work he uses openly racialized language, albeit with a post-ironic smirk. He talks about "the Yellow Peril" and "gooks". He notes nostalgically that "in the old days, the white man settled the Indian [sic] territory" whereas now the savages are settling us. He describes as "correct" a friend who talks about "beturbanned prophet-monkeys." Of course, Steyn denies this is connected to race, writing, "To agitate about what proportion of the population is "white" is grotesque and inappropriate. But it's not about race; it's about culture."