Clicking on an Althouse link? That's a non-starter.

"Citizens United Not Timid" -- a public interest group to campaign against Hilary Clinton

Althouse is fucking crazy, which is not exactly news.

Althouse certainly the kind of person intended to be a member of "Citizens United Not Timid". Why not ask her?

I hesitate to defend Althouse but isn't it possible that NIG could be a subliminal message?

It is utterly impossible that any candidate of the Democratic party would stoop so low as to use a subliminal message, especially one as nasty as the one insinuated Anne Althouse. Impossible.

OMG. The rest of the word is there too. It's just upside down and in pieces. I was wondering why the ad made me want to cross the street and clutch my purse.

Uh, some pajamas say "Nighty night" on them, I believe. N I G hty. Duh.

Althouse is retarded.

Kevin - better start making sure that aren't crop circles in the patterns of Inkplot's fur!!

Kevin: Unbelievable. Just ... unbelievable. Great find.

On another note this woman is a law professor, yes? And she thinks it's "fair use" to quote a full third of the NYT article in her post? Someone should sic the copyright cops on her.

But then again, she's clearly a real fucking dumbass, so I don't expect her to be very aware of the world around her.

What if, say George Allen, just "happened" to do the same thing?

I'd say the right wingers are scared shitless of Hillary. I will vote for her because I think she is less likely to disappoint/betray liberals than Obama (although both of them are very likely to do so - I'll give hillary a 80% probability versus Obama's 90%). But the irational fears she seems to provoke in wingnuts makes me wonder if there is something I should really like about her.

In any case, her effect on the wingnuts gives her the edge over Obama just for the entertainment value alone.

Her post has to be a joke. It's a satirical comment on the RATS ad she discusses and, probably, the bookshelf cross ad that Huckabee did.

Read as satire, it's actually a pretty good post. If she really means it, well, she's f*cking batshit crazy. But we already knew that.

Almost as inexplicable is why Kevin would bother linking to this.

Augustus, exactly.

It's not satire, it's not a joke, this is the way the woman is all the time. Watch her on bloggingheads.tv and take in the way she manipulates and bullies the ***truly*** liberal, younger woman she's put up against. She's just a ringer, her purpose is to show people an example of a "liberal" who is "clear headed"- or whatever- to call out liberals on all our supposed flaws- which are really just the content of Republican talking-points and electoral "psy-war" against-the-American-people themes.

It probably doesn't help in this instance for you to give her a link, Kevin.

How could it possibly be accidental? It's despicable. The Hillary campaign said they're throwing the whole kitchen sink at Obama, of course so many staffers work for the Clinton's they couldn't possibly control what everyone's doing.

You all are a bunch of meanies.

Actually, they are saying "Good night, and good luck" to Obama. Pretty darn sweet of them, isn't it?

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Althouse is a perfect example of why I say "Any idiot can pass the Bar exam. Many idiots already have." And you can substitute "teach law" for "pass the bar exam".

Note: I have passed the California Bar Exam, and seen man a "professor" of law, so I know whereof I speak.

leo, please. Get a grip.

it's reaalllly hard to tell that last letter's a G. you can kindof see the part of the G that makes it not a C, but it's not obvious. and how you get from "N.I.C." to "now wait that's N.I.G.!!" in the fraction of a second it's on ... ?

oh, and Kevin, Ann's called you out on you lack of substantive argument. fight! fight! fight!

"Her post has to be a joke."

Sadly, it's not. Now she, on the other hand....

The pajamas say 'Good Night', fer crissakes. There's enough legitimate reasons to not like Hillary Clinton without inventing crap like this.

Althouse should stick with American Idol reviews and pictures of flowers she finds pretty. Sheesh.

In the updated version of her post, she asserts that Kevin Drum called her a glue-sniffer.

Sometimes it's just hard to know what to say.

Subliminal advertising is not a myth. We are inundated with it.

The upside down G is clearly seen. Whether the maker of the ad deliberately manipulated that scene so that those letters were briefly on the image is debatable. I think it was. Advertising practitioners leave very little to chance in their work.

Wow--she's even faster on the self-pity button than Jonah Goldberg!

I'm almost moved to send her my VHS copy of "Airplane!"

Kevin

Note that she says in an update that you called HER hairbrained (and not her post). You should go onto comments on her site and demand a correction and apology. That's my favorite MO of hers.

Hmmmm...too much time on her hands..... one would like to know of her community work, volunteerism and general do-good involvement. Absent, no doubt.

Maybe this is paid journalism from the Bush administration's supportive chorus.
What a goofy spin.

Hey, she called you a "usually serious blogger." It's like a pat on the head, a cookie, and a warm cup of milk. Credibility!

Yes, leo,

It makes perfect sense that Hillary is trying to use the N word to subliminally offend a big part of her constituency, thus causing them to vote for her. Or is she doing it to attract racists to vote in the Democratic primary? Even if you grant that there is some subliminal message here, please explain to me how it was intended to help he win.

One million more Republicans have voted in Dem primaries for Obama than for Hillary. Are we really supposed to believe that deep down liberals like Hillary better just because she is white and there can be no other explanation? And that Republicans like Obama better because Hillary is such a racist, and for no other reason?

What's amazing is that Althouse even has a job, what with her publicly promoting videos of her inebriation and batshit crazy rantings.

Forget Instapundit and Matthews, Josh Marshall and Kos will be all over it!

Here's a somewhat better topic for discussion: an article by Dick Morris on Hillary Clinton entitled Hillary Unmasked.

The opening lines:

The real Hillary Clinton stood up at the Democratic presidential debate this week: angry, sarcastic, stubborn, secretive, arrogant, mired in the past, victim of the media, and still firmly convinced that she is uniquely entitled to the Democratic Party nomination and the presidency.

That Hillary hasn’t really been on display much since the debacle of her disastrous health care plan and the end of Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial, when she haughtily flaunted her combative personality.

But make no mistake about it — that’s the Hillary Clinton that we’ll see if she somehow manages to steal the Democratic nomination.

I don't like Dick Morris and he seems to have an ax to grind, but this write-up seems on target.

During the debate, Hillary suggested that she’d release the returns “soon,” but her staff quickly backtracked. She implied that she’s been too busy to deal with releasing the returns. Does she really think anyone believes that it will take more than simply making a copy of the return? She’s stalling and there’s a reason for that.

Most likely, the return will show how much Bill has been making from his partnership with the Sheik of Dubai and his other business ventures. Should the spouse of a presidential candidate be in business with a foreign leader who needs favors from the U.S. government? Definitely not. That’s why we’ll never see those returns.

Discuss :)

Last line from the outhouse's updated post:

The vicious attack on the messenger bespeaks fear of the message and lack of a substantive argument against it.

What a silly woman. And I really don't get her point: if Team Clinton wanted to subliminally whisper the word 'nig', why would they put it on the rear-end of one of the kids she's baby-sitting when the 3 am call comes? To suggest that she'll save the black ones, too? Makes no freaking sense, but then I knew that when I saw the URL of the post.

What if, say George Allen, just "happened" to do the same thing?

The George Allen who embraced the Confederate Flag, displayed a noose in his law office, voted against MLK Day, put a severed deer head in a black family's mailbox, kept calling some dark guy "macaca," and freely used the actual word "nigger" in reference to black people? Yeah, if he had done it, then it might not be the one of the most harebrained posts Kevin has ever read. But he didn't, so it is.

What if, say George Allen, just "happened" to do the same thing?

I don't know. What if, say, Hitler did it?!?! Or Osama bin Laden? Guess we'd all look pretty stupid then, huh?

Dear God, Althouse is insane. What a sad, crazy woman.

Yellowcake from ...

>>Posted by: carl on March 1, 2008 at 2:35 PM |

Carol thank you for pointing that out. Fair use is real.

i too refused to click the link after seeing it was AA. She's a publicity whore and does it badly- yet still gets tons of traffic for stupidity . And that's all she wants. It's a small world.

-temple

Love the ad hominem attacks on Althouse. Must feel good!

Wish I could partake, but I think she might have a point. In a 30-second spot, there are no accidents.

But, yes, of course, Democrats would never do that. They're much more enlightened than, well, anybody, ever.

Except, have you all forgotten Bill Clinton's less-subtle race-baiting earlier in the campaign? Or Mark Penn's inability to say anything but "cocaine" for about a week in January?

Nah, no way Althouse is right.

*

Here's a somewhat better topic for discussion: an article by Dick Morris on Hillary Clinton…Augustus at 3:37 PM

According to Althouse, she's now a victim of all savage blogger mockery: "The vicious attack on the messenger bespeaks fear of the message and lack of a substantive argument against it."

Substantively, she is laboring to build a molehill out of her imagination.

As someone who works making teevee commercials, I can say that contrary to general opinion, most commercials are not thought out that extensively. That's why many of them end up being offensive or dumb. Like much of what goes on in the 'creative' fields, it's a minor miracle that they get made at all. People change their minds, rewrite at the last minute, get yelled at by clients, etc. etc. The broad strokes are thought out. The "subliminal" details are accidents. If anything, they reflect the unconscious thoughts of the director and editor. Nobody is paying close enough attention to decide, ahead of time, that a pair of pajamas saying "Good NIght" on them must be used and then we must get that shot in there where you can see the "NIG" Can you imagine the scene on set when the client says "make sure we get the NIG shot!" It makes me laugh thinking about it.
I'm sure with this spot there were many, many shots where the "Good Night" was completely clear. I'm sure the pajamas were chosen - during wardrobe fittings where they have a dozen pajama choices - because they said "Good Night" on them are were cute and reassuring. Then they edit and edit and re-edit all night and finally come up with the final copy. And then someone blogs about the NIG, and the editor lets out a big groan.

Althouse is a gem. If you haven't seen the video of her wigging on a blogger named Garance something-or-other you owe it to yourself to google it up. Althouse whines about how bloggers are mean to her, Garance mentions the one instance of this that she seems to know about, namely the Jessica Valenti breast incident. Althouse descends into madness while this poor young woman makes the most exquisite faces you could hope for. Comedy gold.

When her premise is laughingly debunked she calls it killing the messenger. Lady, take a gander at your message!

So the prevailing consensus is that this sort of subliminal message is a honest mistake when a Democrat does it?

Personally, I am sure it is a mistake, but I am also sure that Kevin would be talking about popping champagne rather than sniffing glue if Josh Marshall found this in a McCain ad.

Althouse descends into madness while this poor young woman makes the most exquisite faces you could hope for. Comedy gold.

Absolutely. Whenever I need a good laugh I go look at that. As you say, Garance's faces while Ann rants are priceless.

She's got it all wrong. The pajamas say "Nick Danger."

Mike: It reveals a lot that you claim a foaming-at-mouth anti-Clintonite is a serious ally.

I did nothing of the sort. It probably reveals more that you would fly off the handle and accuse me of this despite the fact that I clearly indicated my distaste for Morris and acknowledged that he is biased (when it is already self-evident). Funny you should follow up your attack on me with "shoot the messenger" reference.

First, Dick Morris's article stands on its own - it questions Hillary's tactics, tone, and secretiveness (hiding documents from public scrutiny, then lying about how and why). Second, whether you believe these criticisms valid or not, they are the kinds of attacks that she would face in a general election. If there's an easy rebuttal, by all means please share them. If there's not, then perhaps you should reconsider your tone in attacking people for simply raising them.

At any rate, Morris's criticisms certainly appear to have more substance than the kinds of attacks Hillary herself is making on Obama (plagiarism, all style no substance, insinuations from her campaign that Obama voters are cult-followers, etc.) not to mention bizarre comments about SNL skits, asking if Barack 'needed a pillow' during the debate, the unfairness of being asked the first question, and so on.

Well, Franke-Ruta could have handled that Bloggingheads thing with Althouse a little more decisively, I thought. But she was clearly stunned by teh crazy (and who among us wouldn't have been?), so there's that.

I have been the VICTIM of a VICIOUS, YES, A VICIOUS [pause, sip] ATTACK in the post of 6:26. I DEMAND an APOLOGY for this [pause, sip, sip, gulp] INVASIVE, DISMISSIVE, DISTORTED {pause, glug] garbage. Also, I love buildings that look like hoo hoos.

Good god, I'm not a Hillary supporter but that is the foulest, most desperate reach for "controversy" I have even had the displeasure to witness.

Ann Althouse owes Hillary Clinton a big apology and should shut her stupid blog down.

Man am I pissed.

If you look real close her head lice are shaped like 666.

What if, say George Allen, just "happened" to do the same thing?

Well considering his track-record, perhaps. This on the other hand is just a desperate grab for attention by a desperate person- whom Kevin seems to have willfully obliged.

Althouse considers herself to be more "right" relative to how negative the reaction. Thus when she comes up with something totally inane out of the blue, and people get angry, she thinks she must have really "hit on something."

Subliminal advertising is not a myth. We are inundated with it.

Completely wrong. I work in advertising. No one does that sort of thing. And it wouldn't work if they did.

BTW, the Clinton ad is most likely built from stock footage. Stock photo vendors wouldn't put subliminal political messages into their product, not only because such messages don't work, but also because political advertising is a tiny segment of their customer base.

So the prevailing consensus is that this sort of subliminal message is a honest mistake when a Democrat does it?

This is a subliminal message only to those who are wearing tinfoil hats to keep out the transmissions from Mars. The fact that the crazy lady in the apartment next door things I am sending her coded messages when I vacuum does not mean I made a mistake in vacuuming.

So the prevailing consensus is that this sort of subliminal message is a honest mistake when a Democrat does it?

No, the consensus is that the "message" exists only in Prof. Althouse's imagination.

Kevin would be talking about popping champagne rather than sniffing glue if Josh Marshall found this in a McCain ad.

Josh Marshall would not ever assert something so blindingly stupid as what Althouse says here.

Does anyone else see the face of the Virgin Mary in the pajamas just to the left of the N? I think we're talking miracle!

And while it's not her greatest sin, Althouse also apparently wiffs on Kevin's admirable Airplane! reference.

The vicious attack on the messenger bespeaks fear of the message and lack of a substantive argument against it.

What the fuck? Maybe the ditzy broad is sniffing glue. Or maybe the Miss Clairol has eaten all the way through to her brain?

Sometimes, it bespeaks a message that is so fucking ridiculous it does not merit bothering to mount a substantive argument. One does not bother to debate mental illness.

Maybe it is just a GOOD day for Prince Harry to come home from Afghanistan

"a foaming-at-mouth anti-Clintonite"

... who got Bill re-elected ...

I believe the pajamas say "Good Night" and only the NIG in Night is readable. I'm reminded of the cover of the Beatles Abbey Road and the lame speculation that the license plate "28IF" on the white Volkswagen, referred to the fact that Paul McCartney is really dead and might be age 28, if ...something. I forget what the if was supposed to be.

That was lameass then and this sort of garbage is lameass now.

Just think. There was a time when you had to pay a quarter and go into a tent to come in contact with people like that.

the image of an adorable, sleeping black child is cunningly chosen by the Clinton campaign: what could SEEM less fearful than a cute, sleeping child? surely such an image cannot be chosen to play on racist anxieties. but wait! the true racist knows all too well that EVEN WHEN SLEEPING and years from puberty young black children are ALREADY PLOTTING to ravish white women and abduct them from their beds--the VERY BEDS that are depicted in this insidious advertisement that so cleverly appeals to racist fantasies....as soon as this this advertisement concludes, this young black child will no doubt go from bed to bed, committing the most HORRIFIC CRIMES upon the INNOCENT PERSONS of those other adorable racially diverse children depicted in the commercial. how DARE the Clinton campaign so cynically invoke the figure of the cute black rapist child? for SHAME, Clinton campaign--for SHAME!

After hearing the ridiculous 9/11 conspiracy theories out there (apparently the towers were pre-wired with explosives which were detonated after the planes hit.....also a missile, not a plane, hit the Pentagon) no amount of lunacy surprises me anymore.

If you have an imagination and the time, you can read hidden meanings and messages into anything. For instance, how come no one's pointed out that the "mother" who peeks in on her young ones is really some sort of unisex gender-neutral parental figure wearing Communist Worker Party clothes. Obviously Hillary is giving the nod-nod wink-wink to gay Communists.

Was that piece of crap written by a sentient being? Oh, obviously not :-)

Obviously a subliminal invocation of NICOTINE, designed to sensitize the audience to the prospect of white-knuckle nicotine fits as Obama tries to stop smoking and run for President at the same time.

"I guess that means it's bound to get a link from Instapundit, right?"

Instapundit has linked to a Patterico posting which ridicules the whole thing.

Perhaps he did this just to make Kevin look stupid(er). If so, it worked.

"Perhaps he did this just to make Kevin look stupid(er)."

LOL... Dear heart, compared to you, Kevin is a positive genius. Of course, compared to you, a jar of mayonnaise is a positive genius, so that's not saying much.

compared to you, a jar of mayonnaise is a positive genius

even one with its cap screwed on wrong.

Ms. Althouse is plainly nuts. This is like Eco's lunatic, finding connections everywhere he looks. Kevin, please consider this aspect before you link to her in future. It's not fair to the poor woman to bring such attention to her deficiencies.

That has to be one of the most paranoid things that I have ever read. Every once in awhile, Althouse seems to go around the bend.

The bloggingheads video of Althouse and Franke-Ruta is really hilarious. It's also a good example of Althouse being completely unreasonable and, well, loony.

While of course Anne Althouse is completely bonkers to suggest that the image is subliminal racism, how is it any more plausible than the erstwhile claim that, when Bill Clinton talked about the "fairy tale" of Obama's Iraq war position, he was really talking about Obama, or Obama's campaign, and saying they were a "fairy tale", and that this was a racist slur?

How many commenters on this very blog screamed to the skies then about how absurd and deranged such an accusation might be, and how it completely discredited anyone who made it, and subjected them to all the ridicule they could muster? Kinda funny how a quasi-official "sanction" of this interpretation by Obama campaign made it seem so much more sensible and acceptable in people's minds.

Just odd how unperceived and unacknowledged bias can affect one's judgments, you know?

Oh My God! Barack Obama is BLACK!

How many commenters on this very blog screamed to the skies then about how absurd and deranged such an accusation might be...

Possibly one or two. (We get all kinds here.) The overwhelming majority of posters absolutely did not include the "fairy tale" reference among potentially race-tinged comments from the Clinton campaign/Clinton supporters.

But good job trying to turn everyone's defense of HRC's innocence in this bizarre charge into a spastic slag of Obama voters. Althouse ain't the only one drinking the crazy juice around here. Now get some rest.

This is just insane. But we live in the Crazies world, now, and it makes only slightly less sense to me than the claim that when Obama used the word "periodically" it was a nasty anti woman slur against Mrs. Clinton ('cause she's a woman, and they have these period thingys you know..)

I'm reminded of the cover of the Beatles Abbey Road and the lame speculation that the license plate "28IF" on the white Volkswagen, referred to the fact that Paul McCartney is really dead and might be age 28, if ...something. I forget what the if was supposed to be.

He would be 28 if he were alive.

Never mind that Paul was 27 at the time -- he was born in June 1942, Abbey Road was released in 1969.

Also never mind that the plate reads "two - eight - one - F", not "two - eight - I - F".

But, that's a conspiracy theory for you.

Why would you even link to this? Why give her the attention that she is seeking with this?

Congratulations for putting it out there so the left Hillary hating blogs can foam at the mouth.

Let me check again...are you a Democrat?

Ok, ok, I read the Althouse blog. It boils down to 'Hillary and Obama need to fight more.' And if this is an example of legal reasoning, I'm an albatross.

"I said, the sheriff's a nig(DONG)!"

Holy crap, she's an idiot.

D

and what does it say about Althouse that she looked at that and saw the n-word? It just popped into her mind? Must be pretty close to the surface all the time...

A. Murph "I said, the sheriff's a nig(DONG)!"

B. The pajamas say "Good Nig _ _"

One thing is read into Murph's example. No one sane could ever read this into the second. Context. A little thing sometimes of some importance. And as has been pointed out upthread that this almost certainly comes from stock footage. So yes, holy crap she's an idiot.

"The vicious attack on the messenger bespeaks fear of the message and lack of a substantive argument against it."

More like it bespeaks to the old adage "ask a foolish question and you get a foolish answer."

'Night' was the first thing that came into my mind.... Funny to compare 'CHANG(E)' to 'NI(.....)'. Who's good at crosswords that only last 1/30th of a second?

These comments have given me way more laughs than the comix today, although this one is pretty good:

http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/pictures/2008/02/29/022908-980x332-badreporter.jpg

....and Joshua reminds me of one of Murphy's Laws:

Never argue with a fool... People might not know the difference.

Joining my brethren and sistren in the ad biz to say subliminal advertising is a big ole paranoid myth. It's all we can do to get a spot produced with the manipulation is right out front.

Joining my brethren and sistren in the ad biz to say subliminal advertising is a big ole paranoid myth. It's all we can do to get a spot produced with the manipulation is right out front.

Well, you would say that if you didn't want us to catch on, wouldn't you, Jean? But we're hip to your game. Don't think we failed to notice the syllable "nip" in your fifth-to-last word--and don't think we don't know it's a way of making us subconsciously think about breasts...and about how people who have them are unfit to lead.

and about how people who have them are unfit to lead

Exactly! And note how 'man' is in front of and even claiming part of the 'nip'

And note how 'man' is in front of and even claiming part of the 'nip'

Good point! 'Twas ever thus!

"I guess that means it's bound to get a link from Instapundit, right?"

I'm afraid that's all too true. Glenn Reynolds doesn't even seem to glance at many of the posts he links anymore. Price of success, I'm sure, but it's insulting to his readers that he cares so little about where he sends them these days. That was just a Godawful post on so MANY levels. I know I'm insulted, and am turning my attention elsewhere for daily posts of interest.

schambreau, don't fucking hijack my handle again, shit for brains...

And please, Dr. Chambreau, shave off that fucking goat hair on your chin. Dork. I do like the tie-die though

yvan eht nioj

The Party Posse!

Jeez Craig, I dunno but I got this sudden urge to do a John Masefield...

This thread's probably dead but it has to be mentioned that this was all over radio this morning. Blathering that it was a liberal "media analyst" that found this!

Yikes. Save me a berth, snicker-snack.

nataS liaH

No, it's "atnaS liaH" oH oH oH!

She writes:
Those of you who think it's an accident: I'm sorry, but I think you are naive. Those of you who think it's an accident and not even a problem: You are dangerously naive.

That's okay, Ann, the reality-based people think you're a flogger of ridiculously convoluted smear jobs. If you actually believe this bizarre notion, then you're merely a dangerous whack-job.

Let me add to the chorus of "I work in Marketing and there's about a .000000000000000000001% chance this is anything other than a figment of Althouse's imagination.

People who say that this was some subliminal message have obviously never written or been on a set of a commercial shoot. I have, including one with a HUGE budget on a touchy subject, and I can assure you that there is nothing to this. At all.

As someone else noted, Althouse needs to stick to American Idol recaps and making herself look like a pathetic, unhinged joke on bloggingheads. Serious analysis is obviously way, way over her widdle head.

Yikes. Save me a berth, snicker-snack.

I dunno; I think it's kind of presumptuous to assume that Canada wants our sorry asses. I think we should ask nicely if they'll accord us refugee status, then show proper gratitude if they say yes.

I'm covered, shortstop. I got relatives up there.
Too bad for the rest of ya.

Well, maybe I'd better start sucking up to you, then, thersites. Can I get you a cup of coffee? Sweet roll? Pillow?

Just roll up some of my herbal medication...

LOL. Then you'll still want the sweet roll and pillow later.

Ann Althouse was recently contacted by phone and told that she is plagiarizing and misrepresenting Arthur J. Graham's original research, critical methodology (the tetranalysis), and the term "SUBLIMINAL RACISM" that he coined from his 1980 UCSD dissertation, "The Manichean Leitmotif."
"Althouse hung up quickly!" Graham said. "I've read hundreds of responses and comments, and, sad to say, I am dismayed by the mass confusion this liar, thief, and dunce Miss 'Ann' and her 'pal' Drew Westen have generated by ripping off my shit!"
Please go to the URL(S) below for all you need to know about the seminal source and meaning of subliminal racism, an idea whose time has come to liberated ALL of us, not to blame and criminalize so-called "white" folks in general.
See Graham on the HRC-BO race card event with Bill Clinton as Mandrake and Magic Johnson as the legendary Lothar:
http://www.subliminalracism.com/G5SubscribersClub-JiveTurkey.html
And see related post at:
http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/comment/reply/15428/27562
See Arthur Graham on youTube interview "The Book Beat" (1994), a "tetranalysis coverage" of the movie "Schindler's List" and its subliminal messages at:
http://www.subliminalracism.com/Archives.html

Now she thinks you're calling HER a glue sniffer. Is there even a word for people who miss an Airplane! reference that obvious?