Normalcy Promised
It’s a tall order. It’s Andrew Sullivan, coming down off his Palin-induced state of brain implosion, or whatever that was:
To Our Readers, An Update
This Dish will resume as normal tomorrow morning. We apologize for the lacuna.[*] And I suppose some will say we’ve gotten this book and the issues it raises out of perspective. But since the last campaign, we have raised many questions about Palin to which we have been given no incontestable answers (and still haven’t) and the only real evidence we have are news stories, interviews and now, critically this book.
In his hagiography of Palin, Matt Continetti accuses yours truly of earnestness about all this. I am grateful for his not accusing me of cynicism. I remain earnest in both suspecting every word she says but also in trying to find out the truth as best we can. It’s not that Palin cannot tell the truth; it is that it is so mixed up with lies and delusions that separating them all out is not a quick or easy task. The Dish, meanwhile, has aired a whole range of views about her various 33 and counting verified lies, and the Dish’s own Patrick Appel has weighed in independently on the whole, bizarre pregnancy/labor story, which has mystified me from Day One. So I feel obliged to do the homework properly – to be fair to Palin and to our readers as much as anything else.
Anyway, we’re done now. And I hope to be up half the night trying to write a post on the great mystery of the stories about Trig, stories that have bedeviled the blogosphere and many others for months. There is no proof here of anything, but there is a much more nuanced and detailed narrative of the events (especially now we have Palin’s first considered version of the events since the campaign) that when taken together has definitely helped illuminate what was once obscure and, well, bizarre. Believe it or not, it makes a little more sense now.
Stay tuned. And then the Dish will return to its normal programming.
With its feverishness, weird syntax and promise to be “up half the night” obsessing … I’m guessing he goes deeper into the wee hours of the cuckoo clock than that … this is a masterful depiction of a mental breakdown in progress.
I am really starting to develop a deep appreciation for what Andrew Sullivan does. That guy needs a special Blog Award category to accommodate the hefty blogging girth he’s been swinging around this year. “Most Bat-Shit.” ”Best Crazytown Blog.” “Lifetime Wack-Achievement Award.” Something like that. “Best Unhinged Fantasist Palin Conspiracy Theorist Blog” is more focused and probably worth considering, though people might think that was rigged a little too far in Sullivan’s favor.
Here’s just a sample of scholarship on Sullivan’s body of work in Crazytown, which of course includes other avenues than just his long, dark Palin alley:
Why Palin Matters (To Andrew Sullivan)
Uh oh, scary thought … do I have a weird Sullivan-like Sullivan obsession? Well, if so, I’m in good company. Hey, it wasn’t my idea for Sullivan to wreck his crazy Palin train all over the Internet.
(Honorable mention in any of the above “Best Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Blog” categories would have to go to Sullivan’s admiring acolyte, TBogg, BTW.)
* For anyone who’s wondering, a “lacuna” is a gap in a manuscript or, anatomically, in tissue such as bone. I know it sounds like a place in Maui where you relax with tropical drinks, but it isn’t. In Sullivan’s case, the lacuna would appear to specifically refer to his latest gap in rationality, though that’s probably better described as more of a sharp dip in a cavernous trough.
RSMcCain, also noting the pompous verbiage, remarks hurtfully:“wankathon” is a bit too specific, so “lacuna” it is! And he calls for the Brit scribbler’s deportation. I’ll admit, between the pot bust and this evidence of mental illness, I’m concerned immigration authorities might be tempted to remove this bottomless source of entertainment from our shores.
Riehl notes the Brits probably wouldn’t have him, but I like the idea of Sullivan blogging his Rio Grande swim back in.
Sister Toldjah meanwhile bemoans the false promise to “go silent.”
Iowahawk eloquently captures the bat shit. In a manly, two-fisted Dashiell Batshit kind of way. You might say it’s Bat-Shit Noire.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Sarah Palin’s uterus speaks! It’s got a problem with my Sullivan bashing. I think its the maternal instincts.
Meanwhile, here’s the book that drove Andrew Sullivan crazy: Going Rogue: An American Life.
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Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:51 am Comments (13) on Thursday, November 19, 2009
13 Responses to “Normalcy Promised”
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November 19th, 2009 at 10:13 am
[...] Crittenden sums up: With its feverishness, weird syntax and promise to be “up half the night” obsessing, this is a [...]
November 19th, 2009 at 10:31 am
[...] On Deck and Sarah Palin Unleashed; Socialist Party and Media scared and desperate Jules Crittenden: Normalcy Promised and Why Palin Matters Flopping Aces: Reagan Would Be Proud Caffeinated Thoughts: The Final Word on [...]
November 19th, 2009 at 10:44 am
[...] says he’s hit a lacuna, and Jules Crittenden looks into it with the dignity and reserve it calls for, For anyone who’s wondering, a [...]
November 19th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Don’t worry about the lapse ending. It’ll recur soon enough. As the warthog said, “lacuna matata.” Or something like that.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:56 am
[...] Jules Crittenden provides a road map to Crazytown. [...]
November 19th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
LOL You do not have an obsession. You just have a talent for finding the humor in a meltdown.
November 19th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
[...] TNR, Damon Linker tries to make him see the virtue of shutting up, and Jules Crittenden provides a good roundup of other posts that collectively wonder what the heck has happened to Sullivan. [...]
November 19th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
…stories that have bedeviled the blogosphere and many others for months.
Yes. Bedeviled. Through the prism of Andrew Sullivan’s unrelenting Palinophrenia.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
“Uh oh, scary thought … do I have a weird Sullivan-like Sullivan obsession?”
I know how you feel. One feels compelled to watch another man’s self-abasement, degradation and debasement. It feels like the compulsion to rubberneck at accidents, or to glance inside hospital rooms as one walks down the halls. One knows it’s really tasteless and that one is losing dignity but it’s hard to stop.
I am here to tell you that I have conquered my own version of “Sullivan-like Sullivan obsession.” For example, I have not clicked on any of your links to him at all. It takes some effort, but not all that much: I try to catch my reflection on the computer screen and ask, “why are you here? Are you a human being?” That will generate sufficient self-awareness for me to pass the links by and just forget about them forever.
I’m not saying that the above will work for you. You’ll have to find your own technique. But you should know that I’m here for you. When you feel the need to look at Sullivan’s blog, write or call and I’ll try and talk you down. I expect that after a while, you’ll feel confident enough in yourself to go it alone and maybe help others as well. You need it. Humanity needs it. And most of all, the Atlantic needs it because the only real solution is that nobody reads his drivel anymore and he’s driven out of the magazine. Then maybe I’ll renew my subscription. Not before.
November 19th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
[...] if Bush (or Palin) talked like this Melissa Clouthier: Mental illness… Jules Crittenden: Nuts Comments [...]
November 19th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Sully needs time to restore his precious bodily fluids after his most recent bout of deranged frothing.
November 20th, 2009 at 7:12 am
Shorter Sullivan Throughout History:
“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For no girls allowed!”
“You shall not crucify mankind upon a vi-jay-jay of gold!”
“From Russia in the Front Yard to Wasilla in the Arctic an Iron Vagina has descended across the Continent.”
“The Lady’s ladybits are not for turning.”
“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down these wonder walls!”
November 20th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
[...] Jules Crittenden wades through Bedlam to read Greenwald and Sullivan–but he’s braver than me. [...]