Stay Classy, Ace

I had forgotten how unpleasant blogger Ace from Ace of Spades was. Link not safe for work in the sense that if someone else sees you reading this tasteless, repulsive mockery of Michelle Obama you'll be embarrassed. It completely fails to be funny, too, so it's not as if you're going to be able to weasel out of it like that. Probably you better just not click the link, and you damn sure better not read the comments if you wish to retain that belief in the essential goodness of your fellow man which you nurtured reading YouTube threads.

Comments

[m. leblanc]

I read the title of the post and chuckled a little. Cause hey, sci-fi jokes! Then I read the rest and was completely, thoroughly, horrified. The lovely fantasies of rape and violence being done to her in the post and comments are just too much to believe. Fucking shit, man.

[Kip Manley]

I love how he can't just sack up and spit out the misogyny of his own volition. He's indulging himself only because we were so mean to Laura Bush and Sarah Palin and I guess maybe Michelle Malkin, too? —He isn't really an asshole! The moonbats made him do it! Suck on that!

[Barry]

A lot of these right-wing A-holes were thoroughly unpleasant when they were riding high; don't expect poor winners to be even grudgingly graceful losers.

[Stephen Myles St. George]

It should be noted that objectively speaking, Michelle Obama isn't exactly the epitome of the graceful chatelaine. She truly isn't one of the Mitford sisters, or even Jacqueline Kennedy, for goodness sakes.

Leaving aside Messrs. Obama and Bush, Laura Bush is really a quite marvelously elegant woman; at least compared to Mrs. Obama, she speaks in a distinctly graceful voice and moves about with a practised elegance of movement. This is in much the same way Queen Elizabeth has chosen to be more graceful than her sister; just a personal thing.

Let us not conflate ardor for the Obamas for any disability to perceive personal characteristics.

[Fred]

I don't think Ace was on point, or useful, or gracious. But I don't think he was out of line. Take a look at this video to see what I mean.

Barack and Michelle were allowed to walk down the street without interference. As you can see, it wasn't always that way.

[Felwith]

I'm sure Michelle Obama's failure to present herself as the epitome of the graceful chatelaine is somehow explained by her elitism, but I'm a little fuzzy on the details.

[The Modesto Kid]

No but you're missing the point, Felwith; the point is, at least if you're Michelle Obama you don't have to deal with protestors trying to impede your carriage down the street. Totally inexplicable that people would not be frustrated and outraged at Michelle Obama like they were at George Bush -- Republicans must just be nicer people than Democrats, is the only way I can see of resolving it. Sound about right, Fred?

[jenniebee]

What is it with these guys that they save their real vitriol for people whose position is really just ceremonial? They're picking up with Michelle Obama right where they left off with Hillary eight years ago - and since she actually got a position of actual power, the criticism of Hills has gotten a lot less personal.

Is this a power thing? Are they uneasy taking pot shots at people with authority but become uninhibited towards people who are relatively vulnerable? It's sick.

And for the record, when exactly was Laura Bush "savaged?" She was such a non-entity. The only thing I can think that even blipped the radar was when she told an elementary school class that women teach elementary school because they're not good enough at math to teach high school. Jenna and not-Jenna made the cover of Vanity Fair in formal gowns and made headlines for underage partying, but nothing else - nobody that I came across thought it'd be a good idea to embarrass themselves by bashing Jenna for being curvy. And Palin, who needed to "savage" Palin? All you had to do to make Palin look like an idiot was to quote her, and if you really wanted to drive the point home, you quoted her in context.

The sooner Ace sinks into depression under the weight of his own irrelevancy, the better. If he doesn't have anything more to offer than the kind of fashion reviews that one usually expects from diva wannabes, perhaps it's time to retire from political commentary.

[David Moles]

Mr. Myles St. George, one man's elegance is another man's pretension, and one man's grace is another man's uppityness. Let us not conflate our own biases with any ability to perceive personal characteristics. (Or to perceive much of anything, really.)

[PG]

What puzzles me is why this guy thinks he's competent to judge fashion. Usually the homophobes don't want to go there.

[Tomas]

So we are dealing with a guy who is sexually frustated (just scroll down and notice the post about women and monkeys), who hates women, who likes torture and who judges fashion.

That is not a closeted gay man, it is something much much worse:

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

[Neon Swan]

The worst abuse I remember being heaped on Laura Bush was that the High Arbiters of Fashion called her dumpy, dowdy, and matronly, and although I questioned her initial judgment in marrying into that family in the first place, I thought the criticism was unfair and that she dressed rather nicely and was kind of pretty, if reserved and somewhat unworldly.

Sarah Palin? The men I know pretty much all said unanimously something like, "I thought she was hot until she opened her mouth." I don't think that betrays misogyny; quite the opposite.

[russell]

It should be noted that objectively speaking, Michelle Obama isn't exactly the epitome of the graceful chatelaine.

Objectively speaking, she's Princeton and Harvard Law, former associate at Sidley Austin, former Assistant to the Mayor of Chicago, former VP at the U Chicago Hospitals.

Great-great-granddaughter of a slave, daughter of a guy who worked at the water plant and woman who was a secretary at Spiegels.

So no, she's really not the graceful chatelaine. She kicks ass instead.

[ajay]

Let us not conflate ardor for the Obamas for any disability to perceive personal characteristics.

Furthermore, let us neither conflate the meanings of the two distinct words "confuse" and "conflate", nor conflate the obvious ownership of a thesaurus with the possession of wit, learning, or humour. I conclude by offering you my most sincere contrafibularities.

[Russell Arben Fox]

I conclude by offering you my most sincere contrafibularities.

Ajay wins.

[Stephen Myles St. George]

"she's Princeton and Harvard Law, former associate at Sidley Austin, former Assistant to the Mayor of Chicago, former VP at the U Chicago Hospitals."

So? Her job is to be the chatelaine and the First Lady. As far as I can see, going to Princeton and Harvard has very little to do with it.

I am rather amused by the American intellectual snobbery, which is sort of hilarious, because it substitutes (badly) for a cultural lack of a sense of social class (and snobbery) in American society. That you bring up educational qualifications for a chatelaine in itself is rather interesting to someone who was brought up to not judge by intellect (a la the British mode).

[Helen]

someone who was brought up to not judge by intellect (a la the British mode).

Well given the Royal family and certain assorted politicians, you wouldn't want to "judge by (according to?) intellect", would you.

[ajay]

someone who was brought up to not judge by intellect

I agree. We shouldn't condemn Stephen Myles St. Hubbins for entering the battle of wits armed only with a Woolworth brain and a well-thumbed copy of Roget. Many a dope is none the less a decent, well-meaning, kind human being.

No, we should condemn him for being pretentious, rude, snobbish and unpleasant.

(Incidentally, unlike the boy Steve, I've actually met the Queen, and although as far as I can tell she is a hard-working and generally kindly person, graceful she is not. Not a fatal criticism - neither was Victoria.)