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It’s Not Just the Deep South
Let’s say you have a baby in a stroller but you find a deal on a used appliance that you just can’t pass up. What to do? Fresh from the camera, another of those scenes that makes you ask, What the Heck? When you see images like this, they are often accompanied by stories about rednecks, trailers, and something south of the Mason-Dixon line. Except this one is an original, taken today, and it’s from New York. (If you decide to use this image, make sure to credit The Moderate Voice.)
Ladies and Gentlemen… Baby Buggy Appliance Mover. (Click for full size. You won’t believe it.)
35 Responses to “It’s Not Just the Deep South”
Insane and dangerous. WOW!
Wonder if that baby stands a chance
Jazz,
It may just be something in the air today, but how is it that you can take a picture of a New York woman and turn it into an insult obviously directed at Southern Republicans?
I know this wasn’t something deliberate, but it echoes Pete Abel’s (and other TMV authors’) unconscious denigration of all things conservative. Could it be that the overwhelming predilection towards liberalism on this site invades every article because of the lack of diversity among its authors?
You know something is wrong if you can insult entire populations without even knowing it.
(Great picture, by the way.)
jwest, methinks thou dost protest too much. I was making the point that the stereotype of all those jokes seem to revolve around the South. (And there are Democrats and liberals in the South, by the way.) But this one was taken in New York so dumb crap happens everywhere. Take a deep breath. Not everything is an insult directed at you.
Jazz,
You’re probably right, I’m just a little over-sensitive today.
Sometimes I feel like I’m playing “Whack-A-Mole” here being outnumbered 50 to 1. If I could just learn to accept that all conservatives were racists, Southerners are stupid, redneck racists and rich people are thieving bastards, I could avoid a lot of arguments.
Honestly, I know you didn’t mean anything bad by your article.
jwest, I'm really becoming a bit impatient with this meme — from you as well as others like DaGoat, Austin Roth, and numerous others — that TMV has no “diversity” in terms of political viewpoint, that all the writers here are leftists, and that there is no “moderate voice.”
It's a bunch of crap, jwest. The very writer whose post you are complaining about right now is what I would call a moderate conservative (Jazz can feel free to correct me). Jazz takes liberal positions on some issues, but he's certainly not a liberal overall. Then there is David Adesnik, whom I would call right-wing or if you wish, very conservative (obviously, David can correct me if he wishes as well). Patrick Edaburn will, I am certain, eagerly agree with me that he is conservative, not liberal. Many of our guest voices are deeply conservative. I mean, HELLO? Michael Reagan — the son of the Icon Supreme of all right-wing leaders — just had a guest post here attacking reproductive rights.
I don't know where you and your compadres here get this idea that TMV only allows one point of view, but it's not only mistaken, it's stupid. Yes, really, it is. It really is stupid. Because you have to be stupid — about this subject, at least — to read TMV for any length of time and conclude it has no conservative writing.
I've been fuming about this silently for a long time, so you will forgive the outburst. It's been brewing for a while.
Let it all hang out, Kathy. Good for you
I'm a liberal now?
COOL! One more title on my mantle! WOOOOOOOOOOOO
dear everyone: I think Jazz is clear in his photo point; people of all stripes, in this case, often poor people, take risks in order to 'get things done' …but their way of doing can potentially turn out very badly. I see the woman in this picture is strong enough and seems to be watching in order to tilt that appliance backward far enough. Whether it is a shell of an appliance and therefore very lightweight , or has a motor in it making it heavy, cannot tell. All angels over them all.
I thought the point was, risky behavior, or doing with what power you have, or having no other way, and therby potentially unleashing unintended consequences…. is not geographical or politically fastened to any political party. Which, of course is…. true.
Regarding discussions of who is and who isnt moderate, left, right, up, down. This is just my two cents worth having seen a lot of a lot flow down the TMV river. The discussion rises from time to time at TMV re 'positions of all the writers.'
But having written here (survived here? lol) for 2.5 years now, I'd say that our commenters are valued highly for their often very broad opinions and teachings… and I think Jwest's response to Jazz there at the last was a class act. Again, this is my two cents worth. AustinRoth and DaGoat and Jwest et al, dont need my wing over them (just the opposite… along with Kathy and Jazz and others, I want them in my lifeboat if we have to start life over after Army-get-in, bec they each have notable strenghts and insights… and skills) but I understand too what Kathy is saying, and poignantly so.
For me, the discussion bogs down when being 'moderate' is thought to be a specific fastening point. For me, it isnt. It's looking at each thing, trying to be fair, and having a point of view that might be for/against, but far more often, supportive of one over the other. And keeping in mind there arse more than two sides to most things.
Most of us who write at tmv are willing to hear what any commenter says, and want to. As you can see, so many of our commenters also teach, provide useful links, and often are funny and make me laugh right out loud. Sometimes they tell us stories from their own lives, which I cherish…. and the only caveat re tmv are the rules of conduct to hold to in commentary… so we can have civil discussions where we have a chance to hear one another, and learn. And for some, to debate. That too, often being a teaching.
Some of our writers engage with commenters, Kathy Jazz, Jill, Dorian, Joe W., myself and others. Some of our writers do not. As far as can tell, the writers at TMV are astute each in their own ways, and were invited by the Gandy-man for those reasons… for having a different point of view. (although in my case, Joe brought me in even though I can barely spell, so I'm probably on probation or something…lol)
Most of the time, the writers here (often know one another and like one another's work) write for lots of different reasons. Some of us write because we must. Robert Stein is a case in point, after a lifetime of huge and high appointment (as chief of Conde Nast), he still, at over age 80, must write. I understand the genetics.
Each writer here, and elsewhere writes for lots of different reasons. I have and other writers here at TMV have sometimes thought of just quitting blogging. Ron Beasley one of the good minds, took a break for a while, as did Baldilocks, a great conservative woman military vet blogger who linked to my work the very first time I ever blogged at TMV, and … I back to her also as time goes on. Ron and Baldilocks are both tough guys, but/ and too much can be, after a time, of little return to one's energy. Unless one thrives on dirt-scuffles daily that in time, go nowhere. Some do solicit and elicit such. But, there are lots of reasons why writers write.
There's no pay here as you know. And sometimes you meant to just say the story as you see it, but got slashed and left for dead for saying your piece. Regardless, we go on. Some might blog out there in the blogosphere to feed the ego. But most of the writers I know, write to keep a promise made long long ago.
again just my humble two cents worth.
dr.e
Anyway, just my thoughts…
Those are wise and timely words, dr. e
Especially,
“… so we can have civil discussions where we have a chance to hear one another, and learn.”
If I may add Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's wrods:
“Civility costs nothing, and buys everything.”
Dr e, I love the way you write. So poetic. Lyrical.
Kathy,
Reflecting on your point about the diversity of thought here, I guess I’ll have to admit that the TMV authors cover the full range – from those who enthusiastically support Obama to those who show some trepidation in their support of Obama.
Of course, the collective opinion of Sarah Palin is universal.
Hell, we’ve got white liberals, black liberals, Jewish liberals, gay liberals, Hispanic liberals, just about any kind of liberal you can name. We’ve even got some Republican and libertarian liberals. You just can’t get more diverse than that.
Have you ever wondered why we end up with a dozen articles on the same subject, each taking a different liberal viewpoint? Has it occurred to you that when a national story comes up that is detrimental to the liberal point of view it rarely if ever finds it’s way into the lineup of TMV articles?
God, diversity is wonderful.
D. E.Rodriguez–
Stink Bombs come to mind Mr.Rodriquez. Along with other of your accusations.
D. E.Rodriguez–
Stink Bombs come to mind Mr.Rodriquez. Along with other of your accusations.
Says something about the technical understanding of this woman. Like gravity.
fatherT, not sure what you're referring to re Mr. Rodriguez's comment above. Yours doesnt track with what he said.
Also, I ask politely that you please read TMV's rules for commenters. They are clear and straightforward. Click on “Comments Policy” on the masthead.
Thanks,
dr.e
Assistant Editor and Columnist for The Moderate Voice
As I said yesterday, jwest keeps dumping poop, over and over again. Just to clear things up, no one has ever said everyone from the south is a dumb redneck racist. You can find them everywhere, fortunatly there numbers are few; but they do scream the loudest.
“no one has ever said everyone from the south is a dumb redneck racist. “
Does anyone believe that? Come on guy get real.
>>Of course, the collective opinion of Sarah Palin is universal.
You're right – the collective opinion about Palin on this site from hardcore leftists, staunch neocons, middle-of-the-road moderates, left-leaning liberals, right-leaning conservatives, libertarians, reactionaries, and every other political persuasion under the Sun **is** universal.
It is extremely rare when practically everyone across a very broad spectrum of political opinions from the far left to the far right comes to an agreement on an issue or subject — maybe that should tell you something. Hint, hint.
Firstly, if a guy cast his vote for Bob Barr, he's earned the distinction of being pigeonholed a neolibertarian, not a moderate conservative. Moderate conservatives did not go out and publicly protest the Iraq War as did Jazz Shaw.
That said, I give Jazz props as being pretty much an equal opportunity political antagonist here.
Dr e., I believe you aspire to being an accomplished linguist. With all due respect to you, you seem to not pick up on jwest's point. What Jazz did with the caveat about this not being a photo of a Southern redneck, is simply a variation of “damning with faint praise”. He gratuitously besmerched the entirety of the South and expects the South to let him off the hook by merely saying “this time is not about you”.
As you may well know, one of the alltime most effective jury manipulation techniques is the “do not think of this” instruction. “Do not visualize the color blue!”
While I'm not sure I'm going to give Jazz credit for being that deviously intelligent, the fact remains is that is how it came across to those of us trained to have to recognize when it is being used.
@@You're right – the collective opinion about Palin on this site from hardcore leftists, staunch neocons, middle-of-the-road moderates, left-leaning liberals, right-leaning conservatives, libertarians, reactionaries, and every other political persuasion under the Sun **is** universal.@@
Since Jazz set the bar for this to be a thread of sarcastic condescension, allow me to follow suit……
See, the thing to remember about setting out to make zinging gotcha posts, radio, is these only really zing when you present irrefutable facts to the contrary. Unfortunately, my friend, you come up way short on that score.
You see, it is very easy for one to go to the “unrefutable per Joe Gandelman” Gallup polling organization and determine that Sarah Palin is running a favorable/unfavorable ratio of 43/45 in this very month of July. Taking the latest US Census Bureau estimate of 217.8 million adults in the US, that gives us a statistically implied 93,654,000 adults that have a favorable opinion of Sarah Palin.
Now, for your conclusion to hold up under scrutiny, that would mean there are 93,654,000 conservatives a little bit right of leaning right and a little bit left of reactionary.
Here are your choices……….you can admit your tendency to wild-ass hyperbole got the better of you or your liberal political allies are in danger of getting their asses handed to them in the coming elections.
I mean, HELLO? Michael Reagan — the son of the Icon Supreme of all right-wing leaders — just had a guest post here attacking reproductive rights.
I'll stay out of the mudslinging here, but holding up Michael Reagan as some sort of balancing act is laughable. If his posts are meant to bring any kind of balance, then that means that the left represented here is pretty far out there. If I may make a humble request, is it at all possible to replace Michael Reagan's screeds with someone who can actually think and deliver good points that can be discussed, rather than ridiculed?
Jeez I'm getting called out in this thread and I haven't even commented. The picture is funny and it's a stretch to say Jazz's comments are insulting the South.
As far as the site goes, most of the regular contributors lean to the left. Some are leaning so much they're practically horizontal. There are some right-leaning contributors that generally seem to make an effort to take a balanced view, like Jazz, Polimom, Adesnik, etc. To me that's the biggest difference – there are no militant conservatives here to offset the militant liberals, but frankly I'm glad militant conservative columnists aren't here because they just make conservatism look bad.
The example of that is Michael Reagan, whose columns here I believe are just reposts of his syndicated columns. He is so slanted I rarely read his stuff.
As far as the site goes, most of the regular contributors lean to the left. Some are leaning so much they're practically horizontal.
What I find amusing (when I'm done feeling incredibly p****d off) is that TMV's many conservative/right-wing regulars obviously find this blog valuable and worth their time to read and engage with — both in concept and delivery. Either they enjoy and value spending as much time on TMV as they do, or they are masochists. Of course, I don't discount the latter possibility, but I don't want to assume it absent compelling evidence.
It seems to me that those of TMV's readers who read and comment on a regular basis, and spend much or all of their time here bitterly criticizing TMV's content and how badly they think it lives up to TMV's concept, are akin to married couples who stay together while picking apart and criticizing the very qualities they once perceived as attractive. If a reader — any generic reader — thought TMV was false advertising and didn't live up to what it said it was about, why would they keep coming here?
>>See, the thing to remember about “this site” is that it is NOT representative of the electorate.
Never said it was. I don't think anyone is making the claim that The Moderate Voice represents the electorate. And if they did, they would be fools.
The columnists and readers of The Moderate Voice (IMHO) generally represent a more intelligent, more reasoned, more thoughtful subset of the overall electorate. For the more knee-jerk, idiot-class politerati, there are other sites for that type of discourse (like Redstate, or Dailykos, or Free Republic).
Therefore, when I am saying that the broad spectrum of liberal and conservative voices you find on The Moderate Voice are in near universal agreement concerning everyone's favorite failed vice presidential candidate, then by inference I am essentially saying that the better-informed, better-reasoned subset of the larger electorate has a near universal agreement on the former beauty queen. Just because you cite a poll showing that the low-info low-education public might have a different opinion does not negate my statement.
Nice try, though. Better luck next time.
PS Some more light reading on Sarah Palin and the Rise of Idiot America: http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/07/16…
Dear Casual Observer, I'd try to respond to what you wrote above, but Casual, I'm not aspiring to be an accomplished linguist, I cant even spell right yet. Working on it, though. lol
I did not realize that to be the tone of what Jazz said…. “He gratuitously besmerched the entirety of the South and expects the South to let him off the hook by merely saying “this time is not about you”.
One of the things I thought when I read Jazz's words, was growing up in the backwoods with a huge amount of people who were not just a stereotype you saw in Deliverance… that the northeast was the nest of the old Italian and Jewish mafia who, too, had limited ways of seeing the world, and little education and big desire to strut and do 'uncooperatives' in… low ed., but cunning as heck. That went through my mind… that low education means nothing about how insightful, crafty, wise, intelligent, loving, kind, dastardly a person might be. Just my two cents worth.
Also on another note Casualobserer, thank you for your service. Especially. I just came across your notation about it yesterday as I was reading comments. Only re-upping in life daily now. Good.
dr.e
why would they keep coming here?
I'd have to echo mhlradio here. By and large you find a higher level of intelligence and thoughtfulness here than the extremist sites on the left and right. In a way that makes the thoughtless extremist stuff you find here more obvious.
And don't take things so seriously that you are incredibly p***ed off, it's just a comment board.
@@If a reader — any generic reader — thought TMV was false advertising and didn't live up to what it said it was about, why would they keep coming here?@@
For one, I keep dreaming that Gandelman might bring back the PoliGazette staff and we actually might regain the balance of viewpoint there once was. You mention Adnesik and Edaburn, but they are not as active in their posts as were van der Galien and Arvack. Plus, they don't even get listed in the editor roll………so only half-credit to TMV for them and zero for guest posts. (By the way, who actually wants guest posts? I'll vote to make an exception for Polimom becasue she participates in her guest posts.)
For two, I feel a loyalty to my longstanding fellow non-liberals, Austin Roth and CStanley…… even the pontificating DLS. You don't desert your unit just because the enemy outnumbers you.
For three, when things start annoying you, I savor it.
As DaGoat says, this is a glorified internet chat group amongst some people who follow the political landscape. We're not here to determine the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize.
For one, I keep dreaming that Gandelman might bring back the PoliGazette staff and we actually might regain the balance of viewpoint there once was.
Well, C.O., although I was not a contributing writer at TMV when Jason and Michael were here, I was a regular reader, and if memory serves me correctly, Jason at least (I'm not sure about Michael) was constantly complaining about the lack of ideological balance. In Jason's view, as I recall it from the time, TMV had an extreme leftist ideological bias. Indeed, he continued to attack TMV for 'only allowing one point of view' for quite some time after he ended his association with this blog.
That is part of why I believe the viewpoint imbalance you speak of exists mostly in the minds of the people who make the accusation.
dear Casual Observer: Readers and commenters are here at TMV for many reasons, only one is to debate the political.
The masthead of TMV states the premises which include but are not limited to politicking. There are literally thousands here daily who do not comment, who may or may not read the comments, but do read across all articles…
Their purposes for reading are diverse. We hear from many who read but never comment, by email. Most of the email is encouragement to continue to cover culture, politics, international and opinion pieces from the points of view of writers here at TMV.
I think the thread here was about 'lack of sense' regarding various people of any political or geographic locale. Sorry to side track.
Still note Jazz can drive and take pix w/camera phone out the window at same time.
Thanks
Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but I recall it as being Arvack complaining the authors were not balanced in their presentation of a discussion item as opposed to Joe not allowing for the conservative view being written. We've long since given up on the expectation of a single author here trying to type out a balanced presentation.
Nonetheless, it's getting late on Sunday and I am trying to finish up my calculation for foreign tax credits….did you know “war profits” qualify for the foreign tax credit? That should set your dander up for the rest of the evening.
Let's agree to disagree.
Hey archangel, what's this nonsense?
@@Most of the email is encouragement to continue to cover culture, politics, international and opinion pieces from the points of view of writers here at TMV.@@
Wait a dang minute, here, moderator. So, you're admitting that you let yourself be swayed by lily-livered emailers who don't have the stones to put their views out into the forum??
I think those of us who put our necks on the line day in and day out publicly should be accorded a more weighted vote. I mean…c'mon….isn't a pseudonym enough protection for the little fearful liberal darlings from us big, bad (fiscal) conservatives? Geez, I hate to see how they'd react if they met me on the same side of the street in real life!
“Wait a dang minute, here, moderator. So, you're admitting that you let yourself be swayed by lily-livered emailers who don't have the stones to put their views out into the forum??”
Dear Casual Observer, No, we're not swayed about what we cover and what we write by people who read and dont comment. I was offering the big picture. Sorry if I didnt state it clearly enough. Many people who read do not comment. Some write to us to say, in general, they like TMV.
Not sure about meeting commenters on the street, but my best hunch is most people would treat others respectfully.
Passed my c-c here in Co, courses taught by a fine nra cert. guy who is sharp war vet and funny as heck; he's also a volunteer to c-c at his church. Maybe peeps will 'set their dander up' for me too now?
I hope that made you smile
For the record, I actually can NOT drive and take pix out the window at the same time. My wife took it.
casualobserver wrote: “You mention Adnesik and Edaburn, but they are not as active in their posts as were van der Galien and Arvack”
I think you mean van der Galien and STECK but you see, they left ONLY because they couldn't censor comments in their favor… c'est la vie.
The dutch boy would really like you to come over and visit his site though… he even seems to be trying to drum up business so I'm sure he'd appreciate your input.
Ah yes… Those were the days.
Jazz, it was a great 'catch'… tell your wife, the rez was great for a c.phone, and blew up with clear detail. She done good.
dr.e