Comments on: Too Good to Be True? http://xrlq.com/2006/05/31/too-good-to-be-true/ Politische Kommentare mit Snarkenremarken Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:50:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Michelle Malkin » Some unintentional truth at the New York Times http://xrlq.com/2006/05/31/too-good-to-be-true/comment-page-1/#comment-396728 Michelle Malkin » Some unintentional truth at the New York Times Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:04:22 +0000 http://xrlq.com/2006/05/31/too-good-to-be-true/#comment-396728 [...] mainstream America. Rich sounds like another famous New York Times critic, Pauline Kael, who is supposed to have wondered how America elected Nixon in 1972 when she didn’t know a single person who voted for [...] [...] mainstream America. Rich sounds like another famous New York Times critic, Pauline Kael, who is supposed to have wondered how America elected Nixon in 1972 when she didn’t know a single person who voted for [...]

]]> By: Bilwick http://xrlq.com/2006/05/31/too-good-to-be-true/comment-page-1/#comment-69230 Bilwick Fri, 02 Jun 2006 18:48:08 +0000 http://xrlq.com/2006/05/31/too-good-to-be-true/#comment-69230 I'm almost tempted to say that the quote is "fake, but accurate." The quote accurately reflects that kind of insularity one finds in NYC liberals. (I know; I grew up there; I lived in Manhattan, and moved among them, an artist-intellectual type assumed to be a liberal like the rest of them when in reality--nyah-ha-ha!--I was a libertarian.) Whether Kael herself was actually as insular as the quote suggests, or instead self-aware enough to have said it (or something like it) ironically, I leave to her biographers. I’m almost tempted to say that the quote is “fake, but accurate.” The quote accurately reflects that kind of insularity one finds in NYC liberals. (I know; I grew up there; I lived in Manhattan, and moved among them, an artist-intellectual type assumed to be a liberal like the rest of them when in reality–nyah-ha-ha!–I was a libertarian.) Whether Kael herself was actually as insular as the quote suggests, or instead self-aware enough to have said it (or something like it) ironically, I leave to her biographers.

]]> By: nk http://xrlq.com/2006/05/31/too-good-to-be-true/comment-page-1/#comment-68944 nk Fri, 02 Jun 2006 02:47:21 +0000 http://xrlq.com/2006/05/31/too-good-to-be-true/#comment-68944 Actually, I have been ruminating on this since you posted it. It's not all that slanderous and it gives her a place in political mythology. A very small piece of immortality is better than none at all. (Did you know that some historians have concluded that, depite his fearsome reputation, the gunfight at the OK Corral was the first time Doc Holliday had killed anyone?) Actually, I have been ruminating on this since you posted it. It’s not all that slanderous and it gives her a place in political mythology. A very small piece of immortality is better than none at all.

(Did you know that some historians have concluded that, depite his fearsome reputation, the gunfight at the OK Corral was the first time Doc Holliday had killed anyone?)

]]> By: Dean Esmay http://xrlq.com/2006/05/31/too-good-to-be-true/comment-page-1/#comment-68578 Dean Esmay Thu, 01 Jun 2006 01:47:34 +0000 http://xrlq.com/2006/05/31/too-good-to-be-true/#comment-68578 I don't know, I've never been so exclusive I didn't know ANYONE who voted different from me. It would seem pretty insular to me. Although if it was ironic, then it changes the entire complexion of the statement. I don’t know, I’ve never been so exclusive I didn’t know ANYONE who voted different from me. It would seem pretty insular to me.

Although if it was ironic, then it changes the entire complexion of the statement.

]]> By: Xrlq http://xrlq.com/2006/05/31/too-good-to-be-true/comment-page-1/#comment-68569 Xrlq Thu, 01 Jun 2006 01:20:41 +0000 http://xrlq.com/2006/05/31/too-good-to-be-true/#comment-68569 Only knowing members of one party is not all that remarkable. Lots of people hang out with their own kind; birds of a feather, etc. It's only newsworthy when it causes people to become myopic. The usual Kael quote has her mistaking her circle of friends for a microcosm of America. This version is quite the opposite, implying that despite living in a one-party world, she was at least sensible enough to realize that there is a whole 'nuther world out there. More importantly, perhaps, the Wikipedia entry does not necessarily say that this version of the quote is legit, either. It's only one of several other versions of the quote floating out there, not all of which connote insularity (one has her saying it as an ironic reaction to Nixon's horrendous polls during Watergate), and not all of which even attribute the quote to Kael. All this begs the question of what Kael actually said about Nixon, if anything. Only knowing members of one party is not all that remarkable. Lots of people hang out with their own kind; birds of a feather, etc. It’s only newsworthy when it causes people to become myopic. The usual Kael quote has her mistaking her circle of friends for a microcosm of America. This version is quite the opposite, implying that despite living in a one-party world, she was at least sensible enough to realize that there is a whole ‘nuther world out there.

More importantly, perhaps, the Wikipedia entry does not necessarily say that this version of the quote is legit, either. It’s only one of several other versions of the quote floating out there, not all of which connote insularity (one has her saying it as an ironic reaction to Nixon’s horrendous polls during Watergate), and not all of which even attribute the quote to Kael. All this begs the question of what Kael actually said about Nixon, if anything.

]]> By: See-Dubya http://xrlq.com/2006/05/31/too-good-to-be-true/comment-page-1/#comment-68354 See-Dubya Wed, 31 May 2006 20:24:00 +0000 http://xrlq.com/2006/05/31/too-good-to-be-true/#comment-68354 Except that it's not entirely apocryphal. From that same Wikipedia entry: "The origin of the meme is unclear. Some have claimed that it was a garbled version of quote Kael gave to the Wall Street Journal. Asked to comment on the election, Kael replied that it would be inappropriate for her to comment, as nobody she knew had voted for him. " That's pretty close, wouldn't you say? The only real reason not knowing anyone who voted for Nixon might render inappropriate her comments on the election inappropriate is that she just didn't know how those Nixon voters thought--it was that foreign to her. So her insularity is true and the quote is still useful to demonstrate it. The only fake--or unverified--part of the quote is the notion that she thought her circle of friends was sufficiently representative of the voting public to determine the election's outcome. She wasn't that dumb. Except that it’s not entirely apocryphal. From that same Wikipedia entry:

“The origin of the meme is unclear. Some have claimed that it was a garbled version of quote Kael gave to the Wall Street Journal. Asked to comment on the election, Kael replied that it would be inappropriate for her to comment, as nobody she knew had voted for him. ”

That’s pretty close, wouldn’t you say? The only real reason not knowing anyone who voted for Nixon might render inappropriate her comments on the election inappropriate is that she just didn’t know how those Nixon voters thought–it was that foreign to her.

So her insularity is true and the quote is still useful to demonstrate it. The only fake–or unverified–part of the quote is the notion that she thought her circle of friends was sufficiently representative of the voting public to determine the election’s outcome. She wasn’t that dumb.

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