More seriously, Pope Leo really did play a little fast and loose with the Bible in that homily, but I cannot imagine why a <i>politician</i> thought he had any kind of authority to call him out on it.
Because he’s JD Vance. It’s kind of his signature to assume patronizing authority when it’s convenient in a tone like it’s obvious cause he’s the VP of the US
I mean, I get it. We no longer live in a time where terrible hypocrisy or moral failings disqualify public figures like they used to or should.
But pieces like this seem to be laughing at the very idea those things are bad and should matter.
I get they don’t. And no amount of screeching about it is likely to change that. But to me, this reads like “Oh, do you poor simple idiots think immoral hypocrites are bad!? You absolutely rubes!”
And I think that kind of toxic cynicism is, itself, harmful and bad. And, taking it a step too far, part (a small one) of what put us in this position.
It’s only cynicism in the sense that it’s cynical to grow tired of people triumphantly shrieking “ORANGE MAN BAD??!?!?!” For the 10th year in a row and the quadrillionth time, like they just achieved something meaningful.
Yes, OBVIOUSLY JD Vance is a hypocrite. We know this because he called Trump the next hitler, but now he’s working for him. We also know this because literally every human being on the planet is a hypocrite in some form or another; and that strain of hypocrisy is much more present and/or much more exposed in public figures like politicians.
So what? Time and attention and political capital are finite resources. Wasting them just to check that yup, the sky is till up, is stupid. Bordering on negligent. Bordering on actively helping the people they claim to despise.
Well, I guess, I am even slower mentally than I figured I was as a really old person . . . but I have no idea the point of all the japery. Something, no doubt, unfavorable to Mr Vance and then by implication Mr Trump. Same old, same old, just in Elizabethan. Shall we then dredge up instances of past administration hypocrisy to play "but what about"? Or can we just pox both houses of all politicians, lying weasels that they all are? But the Pope (the second in a row, now, of those for whom the old joke about "is the Pope Catholic" has become a serious question) really ought to re-think acting as a hand puppet manipulated by David Axelrod and by extension the Obama regime. Also, more proofreading is in dire need, as in "a nation in which propriety is a distance [sic] memory."
I figured this would happen when the joke is simply "odd writing style" -- I was trying to say that the idea that there would be consequences to the vice president being an obvious hypocrite seems hopelessly quaint.
Egad, Jeff, you have neglected to mention the sordid saga of the portable computer device of the notorious scoundrel, reprobate, and opium fiend Hunter, the dissipate, degenerate heir of former President. Surely, that infamous affair is the moral equivalent in the eyes of man and God of the various creative and corrupt enterprises of Trump, his progeny, and his chums. That these imaginative machinations have generated wealth beyond dreams of avarice to the aforesaid individuals and their kinfolk is of no moment so long as the overarching sacred mission of owning the libs is brought to fruition.
Yes, I know it was hard. I tried it for a class exercise years ago and my will to live suffered.
Interesting about the computer voice. Some of your old posts have different variations. Other Substackers the same. Jesse Singal doesn't have one at all, which upsets me. Why? Ugh.....
Marry, thou hast uttered a truth so plain that the very stones of the road might have spoken it! Thou hast proclaimed the sun doth rise in the east — hold, let us applaud thy great revelation. Verily, forsooth!
Excellent. We need more Frasier Crane guest posts.
All that reading of 100-year-old newspapers has paid off. Let's bring back that writing style. "Mictorate" is new to me!
It’s in The Big Lebowski and that’s how I knew it.
An excellent use of the word, and the same source by which I learned it!
(...my only note would be that it's spelled "micturate" 😬)
The only acceptable source for such knowledge.
More seriously, Pope Leo really did play a little fast and loose with the Bible in that homily, but I cannot imagine why a <i>politician</i> thought he had any kind of authority to call him out on it.
Because he’s JD Vance. It’s kind of his signature to assume patronizing authority when it’s convenient in a tone like it’s obvious cause he’s the VP of the US
I mean, I get it. We no longer live in a time where terrible hypocrisy or moral failings disqualify public figures like they used to or should.
But pieces like this seem to be laughing at the very idea those things are bad and should matter.
I get they don’t. And no amount of screeching about it is likely to change that. But to me, this reads like “Oh, do you poor simple idiots think immoral hypocrites are bad!? You absolutely rubes!”
And I think that kind of toxic cynicism is, itself, harmful and bad. And, taking it a step too far, part (a small one) of what put us in this position.
I don't feel that "we shouldn't care about hypocrisy" is in here, but if there's any confusion: I think we should care about hypocrisy.
It’s only cynicism in the sense that it’s cynical to grow tired of people triumphantly shrieking “ORANGE MAN BAD??!?!?!” For the 10th year in a row and the quadrillionth time, like they just achieved something meaningful.
Yes, OBVIOUSLY JD Vance is a hypocrite. We know this because he called Trump the next hitler, but now he’s working for him. We also know this because literally every human being on the planet is a hypocrite in some form or another; and that strain of hypocrisy is much more present and/or much more exposed in public figures like politicians.
So what? Time and attention and political capital are finite resources. Wasting them just to check that yup, the sky is till up, is stupid. Bordering on negligent. Bordering on actively helping the people they claim to despise.
Well, I guess, I am even slower mentally than I figured I was as a really old person . . . but I have no idea the point of all the japery. Something, no doubt, unfavorable to Mr Vance and then by implication Mr Trump. Same old, same old, just in Elizabethan. Shall we then dredge up instances of past administration hypocrisy to play "but what about"? Or can we just pox both houses of all politicians, lying weasels that they all are? But the Pope (the second in a row, now, of those for whom the old joke about "is the Pope Catholic" has become a serious question) really ought to re-think acting as a hand puppet manipulated by David Axelrod and by extension the Obama regime. Also, more proofreading is in dire need, as in "a nation in which propriety is a distance [sic] memory."
I figured this would happen when the joke is simply "odd writing style" -- I was trying to say that the idea that there would be consequences to the vice president being an obvious hypocrite seems hopelessly quaint.
Ah, what light through yonder window breaks now that all has been explained.
Egad, Jeff, you have neglected to mention the sordid saga of the portable computer device of the notorious scoundrel, reprobate, and opium fiend Hunter, the dissipate, degenerate heir of former President. Surely, that infamous affair is the moral equivalent in the eyes of man and God of the various creative and corrupt enterprises of Trump, his progeny, and his chums. That these imaginative machinations have generated wealth beyond dreams of avarice to the aforesaid individuals and their kinfolk is of no moment so long as the overarching sacred mission of owning the libs is brought to fruition.
this is like a subtweet but for substack
i wish i knew the original offenders who remarked that jd vance is kind of a liar. Like recently, like who is this in response to?
Fabulists and scoundrels? Strong words.
Hear, hear, my good man! Let us dispatch this rapscallion from his post forthwith!
This was hard to read. I had to translate most of the words into normal English. This one long running joke left me out of breath.....
Try writing it!
(By the way, I can’t figure out how to change the auto-reader voice. Maybe Substack doesn’t let me do that anymore.)
Yes, I know it was hard. I tried it for a class exercise years ago and my will to live suffered.
Interesting about the computer voice. Some of your old posts have different variations. Other Substackers the same. Jesse Singal doesn't have one at all, which upsets me. Why? Ugh.....
Allusions to Shakespeare came to my mind, but Frasier Crane, 19th century newspeak, and Big Lebowski all work too.
Kudos to you, Jeff, for stretching the brain to write this way. There's a satisfying challenge to doing so.
Don't read this in public! This line almost outed me as a loon while in the auto repair waiting room as I stifled a snorting chortle:
"Situated his pickle betwixt the spinning wheel"
Marry, thou hast uttered a truth so plain that the very stones of the road might have spoken it! Thou hast proclaimed the sun doth rise in the east — hold, let us applaud thy great revelation. Verily, forsooth!
Vance is a politician, you fool! What do you expect?? In fact, he is a mortal man. Can even one of them be throwing stones?? LOL
Vance is a politician, you fool! What do you expect?? In fact, he is a mortal man. Can even one of them be throwing stones?? LOL