Destructive Appearances

And then, every so often, I catch a glimmer of daylight:

  Millennials Hate Bruce Springsteen

Which, of course, needs to be stamped out - that's the purpose of the article. The writer, being a fan of the adulterous and multi-married Springsteen, he probably thinks, or thought, like this:

Some years ago, the man I am married to told me he had always had a mad desire to go to an orgy. Why on earth, I asked. Why not, he said.

And he'd later be divorced by that woman, who'd become admired for it, because she thinks, or thought, like this:

It would be just like the dances at the YMCA I went to in the seventh grade—only instead of people walking past me and rejecting me, they would be stepping over my naked body and rejecting me.

These are misshapen trolls, presented as our cultural heroes.

Thank goodness, not everyone's following their lead,...

 

Arianna Huffinton & AOL: Ride A Painted Pony

If anyone ever wanted proof NewAgers have no values, they need look no further than Arianna Huffington:

Although Arianna Huffington has achieved worldwide fame as an internet pioneer, her comfort with self-publicity turning her into the face of what may be the future of news websites, she also nurses a lifelong love for therapies that she calls "natural" and others call something else. Fire walking, homeopathy, infrared saunas – Huffington has tried them all over the years, never struggling to balance what some might see as two contrary schools of thought in her head: the hard cutting edge of new media and the fluffy airy-fairiness of New Age.

In her private office – which is almost as glossy as she is, filled with plush armchairs and an intricately carved desk – books by Andrew Weil (an advocate for vitamin supplements who has written numerous books on self healing through breathing, "energy food" and "vibrational sound") sit happily alongside David Remnick's tub thumper tome, The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama. On her desk, bottles of tinctures are placed in front of a photo of her with Queen Rania of Jordan and a handwritten note inviting her to brunch, signed Russell Simmons (whose book Super Rich: A Guide to Having it All is also on Huffington's bookcase, as though she needs any advice on that score.) Even though Christmas was two months ago, particular holiday cards linger on her window sill, including one from Joe Biden and another from a couple whose photo on the front is jarringly familiar: "Seasons greetings," it reads inside. "Tony, Cherie and family."

In short, it is all a testament to how much Huffington's eponymous website – on which features espousing holistic therapies run alongside political pieces about, say, John McCain or Egypt and columns by her celebrity friends, such as Nora Ephron – reflects the personality of its founder. But it's a personality that has puzzled some by its fluidity, "a mind as flexible as her body is unwieldy", as a 2008 profile of Huffington in the New Yorker magazine put it. Huffington has been, at various times, a self-help writer, a political pundit, an antagonist of feminists, a champion of women's causes, a follower of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, the champion of new media, a supporter of Newt Gingrich, a fan of President Obama, a Republican and a Democrat.

So let's get a look at this list of denialists:

Andrew Weil - the original acid head betrayer and NewAge quack doctor.

Barack Obama - brought to the public by Oprah Winfrey, the NewAge TV host.

Russell Simmons - Hip-Hop mogul turned self-help writing Buddhist.

Joe Biden - Joe Biden.

Cherie Blair - wife of Tony and NewAge loon.

Holistic therapies - AKA quackery.

Nora Ephron - a disgusting human being.

'Denialists' are those who reject the substantive technological benefits of modern science—medicines and vaccines to treat and prevent illnesses, or techniques to enhance the quality and quantity of agricultural yields. At the same time, they cling to an unsubstantiated faith in the advantages of 'natural' alternatives such as vitamins, supplements, and organic foods. The term encompasses a diverse array of quacks and crackpots, ranging from New Age celebrities like Andrew Weil to reactionary patricians like Charles, Prince of Wales. What unites them is a hostility to reason that, when amplified in society, threatens the ability of scientists to pursue real solutions to such problems as disease, hunger, and malnutrition."

And before anyone says, "Well, look, Arianna's so successful!" we'll remind you she's only successful because A) she divorced her husband and took his money, and B) the rest of you have so bought into the bogus concept of being "non-judgmental" that no one has seriously questioned what lies she's told and what harm she's committed.

To show you how pathetic it all is, the self-titled "Greek Goddess" is openly flaunting a belief system that was a laughing stock by the 80s and killed many people since - NewAge - but not one journalist has directly asked her "NewAge? Really? Astrology and homeopathy? Come on. Why should we take anything you say seriously?" Let a politician make a gaffe and he might lose his job, let Arianna Huffington make a series of them (while peddling NewAge quackery that's killed kids) and she gets a raise.

That's why she's successful. Mark our words:

Arianna Huffington's role in American life will eventually go down as a shame of the nation.

It's Really Too Bad (We've Already Left Them)

"I'm a Born Again Christian" - who married a rich gay guy before the two of us attempted to deceive California voters into thinking we were a normal couple who deserved to be put in power.

Riiiight.

Now, the very Left-wing, and very-divorced - but definitely NOT "Born Again" - Arianna Huffington is using her online cult hang out, The Puffington Host, to start a divorce section. Needless to say, there are few things on the planet that make more sense than this, especially after you discover she's doing it with Nora Ephron.

Our take:

NewAge cultists are experts at lying and attempting to destroy (cliche alert:) "the love of their lives", so these bitches ought to do quite well with their chosen demographic.

"Big Up" to CJ for the lead on the video, and a very-low bow and a Hat Tip to the Althouse.

But Do We All Know You're Crazy? (We Do Now)

"White men cannot be relied on, as all of us know who have spent a lifetime dating them."

-- Nora Ephron, crazy racist feminist, writing on The Huffington Post

Man, that Hillary: she's got some great supporters,...

Victimless Crimes: When It's Not About You

"When the story of Bill Clinton’s liaison with Monica Lewinsky became public, there was plenty of condemnation, but almost nobody talked about hypocrisy: lying, yes; moral turpitude, by all means; but not hypocrisy. That is because hypocrisy is essentially an aristocratic failing. It extols “the best” even if the best is generally unattainable.

This indeed is one reason that hypocrisy, among all the vices, is regarded with particular disdain and horror by egalitarians. A hypocrite publicly upholds noble values and standards of behavior even though he knows he may sometimes fall short of the conduct they require. He does this because he recognizes that those values are worthy of support and commendation even if he cannot always embody them."

- Roger Kimball, judging Elliot Spitzer (negatively) while writing for Pajamas Media

"This is the problem these guys get into: they're so morally rigid and puritanical in real life (and on some level, so responsible for this priggish world we now live in) that when they get caught committing victimless crimes, everyone thinks they should be punished for sheer hypocrisy."

-Feminist writer, Nora Ephron, defending Elliott Spitzer (naturally) in The Huffington Post (naturally)

I always like the "victimless crime" line - I wonder if anyone's used it on Spitzer's wife and three teenage daughters yet? (Just "trying to help") Or the people he busted,...for prostitution? Or the people that voted for him, based on his law-and-order approach, and upright manner?

And - just asking - why isn't Nora Ephron still married to Carl Bernstein any longer? Wasn't there some talk of an affair, back there, somewhere? My, how soon we forget,...or how convenient:

"Situational ethics is individualistic,...The problem is that it gives people an excuse for not obeying the rules when it suits them. If someone wants to do something badly enough, they are likely to be able to justify it to themselves,...whereas humanity is a practical species full of selfishness and other flaws."

Politics: It serves a purpose, people.