Slimes Melania instead: As it turns out, the New York Times' Charles Blow doesn't care about the sex.
Well—he doesn't care about it that much. He tells us this at the start of his new column, unfortunate headline included:
BLOW (3/12/18): Melania KnewLike so many journalists, Blow doesn't care about the (consensual) sex. More accurately, he doesn't care that much about the extramarital sex, although this saga is so lewd and tawdry that he starts by imploring the nation in a puzzling way.
Dear America: Come on, you can’t be serious.
The ongoing saga over a president, a porn star and a payoff is so lewd and tawdry that it can’t simply be added to the ever-expanding list of horrible misbehaviors of a womanizing misogynist.
It’s not even the infidelity that most bothers me. I view that as an issue between spouses and with the other person involved. I contend that we on the outside never really know what understandings may exist in a marriage, unless the two parties within reveal it.
Like so many of his colleagues, Blow says he regards the extramarital sex as none of his business. Indeed, he even says we never know what understandings may obtain between spouses!
Having said we never know, Blow proceeds to imagine or pretend that he actually does! He says he knows what Melania thought, believed and knew—what she knew all along.
Stating the obvious, Blow doesn't know what Melania knew or believed all along. Despite this rather obvious problem, he spends the bulk of his column in the time-honored way—beating up on the woman.
Lovingly, he runs through a novelized version of what "Melania knew." Eventually, he gets around to discussing "the current news)", but not before sliming her for well over half his column.
Nobody knows—and then Blow does! This is the way the children behave when they embark on a sex chase.
These people love a good sex chase, though only if the chase involves a pre-existing target. They love to rush off after the sex, all the while explaining that this isn't what they're doing.
(Blow claims he's hunting misogyny down—as he beats up on the wife!)
They've done this again and again and again, tracking back to Gary Hart in 1987. No one does it dumber than Blow, but almost everyone does it.
They love to drag the children in; they love to slime the wives. Remember when our overtly sexist liberal boys were sliming Jenna and Barbara all over the emerging liberal web? They were 19 years old at the time!
We're so old that we do remember those years. The nature of our tribe's sexual politics became somewhat clear at that point.
Our journalists love a good sex chase, depending on the target. Displaying their one known journalistic skill, they always find a way to insist that this isn't what they're doing.
For extra credit only: If the two spouses had and have an understanding—eventually, Blow says this is "clear"—in what way would extramarital sex by the husband be tawdry or objectionable?
Compare and contrast with previous episodes in which none of the pundits cared a fig about the (consensual) sex.
I would have sex with Trump totally free of charge.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet he would take you up on that.
DeleteI would insist we both wear those red baseball hats.
Delete"This is the way the children behave when they embark on a sex chase"
ReplyDeleteThey are not children, Bob. Children whisper in playgrounds. These are purveyors of goebbelsian propaganda, doing their job.
One should stick to Pravada, Kamerad ?
DeleteYou can denounce all the Charles Blows of the world if you want, but the fact remains that Trump did these things. There are many people (liberal and conservative) who find extramarital sex objectionable, and that is their prerogative to do so. Having extramarital sex with a porn star, paying her hush money and having her sign a non-disclosure agreement adds the description of "tawdry" for many people.
ReplyDeleteIf this is all embarrassing to Trump, or to his supporters, then tough. He did it. He was never shy about publicizing his sexual dalliances before. So let's get them all on the table, and let the chips fall where they may.
Uncle Vova plays another trick.
ReplyDeletehttps://apnews.com/e210edd37ced48c79a238e456cd1abe0/The-Latest:-UK-leader:-Poisoning-part-of-Russian-aggression
It is obvious that Melania knew Trump was a philanderer before she married him. She was one of the people he cheated on his wife with. It is also obvious she didn't care, since she married him despite that behavior. We just don't know whether she gave him permission to cheat on her. I seriously doubt that given her behavior recently toward him.
ReplyDeleteThese facts make her less of a victim than Hillary was, for example. She was complicit and she is responsible for her own actions, marrying the guy despite his proven lack of character.
Somerby thinks it is just about the sex. It isn't. It is about the money. Melania is in this for the money too.
Rather than a "novelized" tale, Blow presents a factual account of Trump and Melania's first meeting, and their marriage, citing specific dates and interviews, including a link to a lengthy profile of Melania in GQ magazine, which includes quotes from Melania herself, as well as friends and acquaintances. (The profile is not a hit piece).
ReplyDeleteAccording to Somerby: "Blow says he regards the extramarital sex as none of his business. "
That isn't really what Blow is saying. Now that the affair has become public, Blow is reacting to it. He can't pretend it didn't come out. His reaction is that the affair bothers him, but that the larger issue goes to Trump's character and the way he treats women. (Remember the 19 allegations against Trump?)
Which brings us back to the title: "Melania knew." What did she know, according to Blow? He states it himself: "Melania knew exactly the kind of man she was getting."
And in the course of what Somerby calls a "novelized" tale, but which is actually a factual description, Blow refers to interviews in that GQ article that confirm that she "knew of Trump’s reputation." It would be odd anyway for a 30-something woman in her position not to have known or been able to find out about Trump's reputation....everyone in America knew.
Which brings us finally to Blow's "imploring the nation in a puzzling way": "Dear America: Come on, you can’t be serious." He is implying: "America, you knew" what you were getting when you elected this man.
"Remember when our overtly sexist liberal boys were sliming Jenna and Barbara all over the emerging liberal web?"
ReplyDelete"The nature of our tribe's sexual politics became somewhat clear at that point."
Leaving aside the nature of The Other tribe's sexual politics (I seem to remember something about a blue dress and an impeachment, involving the actual possibility of removing a sitting president...politics indeed)...
Where was this so-called sliming of Jenna and Barbara that was all over the web?
And who is "our tribe" that Somerby is referring to here? The press? No, that can't be; he's told us for years that they are pseudoliberal, with a plutocratic bias. Our politicians? Well, I don't see Adam Schiff or Nancy Pelosi calling for impeachment hearings over Trump's sex life.
Is Somerby talking about us, the average liberal voting public? It's the only remaining possibility.
"And through it all, Melania has remained. So, that’s their marriage. They clearly have some sort of understanding, some emotional elasticity — or financial dependency — that is beyond my comprehension."
ReplyDeleteBlow is not mindreading here. Melania's behavior speaks to her "understanding" since it is obvious she knew what Trump was. He told the world what he was. She stayed anyway. Blow says he doesn't know what their arrangement is. Somerby barges ahead and accuses him of claiming to know what he explicitly says he does not know. That is unfair to Blow.
Hillary was hounded by the Beltway political press for years, attacking her and questioning why she never separated from Bill. Now you have the same situation in spades and the silence is deafening from this same beltway scolds. Even during the 2016 campaign this was a continual charge made against her, yet everyone walks on eggshells and averts their eyes when it comes to Melania. Must be more of that liberal bias in the mainstream media.
DeleteBut Blow IS sliming Melania, according to the Howler. The press is doing what it always does, apparently.
DeleteMelania is slimy.
DeleteYes, the press is doing what it always does, apparently.
DeleteLINK
Hedges describes it in a far more wide-ranging way than Bob does, but then again, he used to work for the NYT until they let him go. So he’s got a bit more cred. The question is, why did Blow write this at all? That seems to me the biting question, and one which Bob is answering in a roundabout way.
Leroy
Hedges has some interesting things to say...including that Obama sold us out to the Plutocrats, and also saying liberals shouldn't let identity politics divide them. (Apparently, Obama wasn't a true liberal according to Hedges, thus it was ok to attack him and thus weaken the left THAT way). Hedges comes from a leftist perspective, and seems to care about actual issues. And he hasn't been silent about the right wing's malfeasance, including Trump's.
DeleteSomerby only does half or one quarter of this: he criticizes liberals without supporting any liberal causes in his blog, nor does he much, if ever, criticize the right wing press or the right wing in general.
Also, Somerby stresses how we can't ever know for sure about people's motives, but here we are asserting why Charles Blow writes his column.
hedges = unicorn humper
DeleteNo, we know why Blow wrote his column. It’s what the NYT apparently thinks people want to read. They may have all sorts of algorithms to determine what sells papers, so they go with Blow – not Hedges, or Nader, or Chomsky. Can you imagine that in the MSM?
DeleteIt’s all Trump, all the time, and now we know what a horrible bitch his wife is. Thanks Charles!
Leroy
Doesn't" Hedges answer your biting question in the article you linked to: "Trump’s imbecility, dishonesty, narcissism and incompetence are at once revolting and riveting."?
DeleteFrom the HUAC hearings, to the Watergate hearings, to the OJ trial, and so forth, it's the kabuki theater of it all and not the quest for truth and justice. We live in a country that continues to lavish attention on the Kardashians, for chrissakes!
Like Somerby, you already know the answers to the questions you ask.
Unlike Somerby, you seem sincere in your implicit plea that newspapers (and all media for that matter) have a duty to the common good over that of their respective shareholders.
Of course Blow writes it because it is slop and we are all stupid pigs that lap it up. Of course sex sells. It the easiest trick in the book. Put some tits up there and you are good. Watch tv shows in syndication during sweeps week. It's the three weeks out of the year that determines if they get picked up or not. It's ALL SEX. It's mathematical. Give them sex and they will go to it. It's easy.
Delete3 out of the 7 Most Popular stories on NYT right now? The big titted Stormy Daniels including Blow's slop.
The tax fuck over and the squeeze it puts on poor people - nowhere.
http://www.nytimes.com/most-popular.html
I read Blow's article this morning, before Bob's piece. It really had me scratching my head. Here's the outline:
ReplyDelete0) 3 paragraphs of wind-up
1) 14 paragraphs on Melania, where the theme seems to be that she knew what she was getting.
2) 1 paragraph on Daniels, with brief reference to various legal issues, and following the money. Then:
3) 2 paragraphs: "What matters most to me about this sordid tale is the way it fits into a pattern of behavior and a Trump worldview about women: that they are mere objects and opportunities, a reward owed to men of wealth, and that objections and protestations are invalid.This is about the defamation of, silencing of, and shouting down of women." And,
4) 3 paragraphs of high-minded stuff about #MeToo.
Huh? Are 3) and 4) a non-sequitur, or what? Did he argue that Melania is being defamed, silenced or shouted down? Daniels? I guess Daniels did, apparently of her own free will, sell her silence until she wished she hadn't. Perhaps that constitutes "being silenced". Would someone please silence me that way? Pay me $130k, and I'll stop posting on this blog! Just how do Melania's and Daniels's apparently consensual interactions with Trump relate to #MeToo?
Blow seems to have found almost the only 11 paragraphs he could have written about Trump and women that didn't involve Trump defaming, silencing (without her consent) or shouting down the woman involved.
Maybe he was blotto drunk when he realized he had a column due in the next two hours. I hope so.
"Trump marries Melania in January of 2005. They had signed a prenuptial agreement. Nine months later, in September, “Access Hollywood” records Trump boasting about sexually assaulting women — kissing and groping them without prior consent — and claiming: “When you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything.”
Delete(Paragraph 11, if you're counting)
"But among the men like Trump who deny the accusations, little has been done. Indeed, Trump has made a habit of defending such men, using the forcefulness of their denials as proof of innocence. Trump himself has been accused of sexual misconduct by 19 women."
(Paragraph 22)
Somerby claims Blow slimed Melania when he merely listed the facts of her situation.
Delete@4:44 asks how Melania or Daniels can be considered a victim when they have been so well-paid for having sex with a wealthy and powerful man.
Note the party Melania was attending when Trump approached her. She was an aging model with tenuous immigration status wishing to keep working in the US. How might Trump’s displeasure have affected her if she said No? How bindictive has Trump shown himself to be when embarrassed that way? Stormy is in a similar position.
When a woman sells what she considers her main assets, what kinds of other choices might she have?
I'm not sure I understand your point, Anonymous.
DeleteParagraph 22 is part of the non-sequitur. What does it have to do with Melania's or Daniels's apparently free choices? To be clear...I don't deny the truth of the paragraph, I just don't understand what it has to do with Melania or Daniels.
I'll concede that paragraph 11 contains information relevant to the non-sequitur...but it's presented as part of Blow's discussion of "Melania knew". Blow raises Trump's sexual assaults boast to establish the character of Melania Agonistes. If he wanted to recapitulate ('cos, you know, we keep forgetting) Trump's assaults of non-consenting women, why confuse me by making it a small aside in a long discussion of the woman who consented to be his wife?
How many men here would sleep with Trump for $130K? Why do you think Trump seeks out Eastern European women? Americans know they can say no and dial up a shelter if things get too bad. Trump and guys like him hire goons, not just women. Read what he did to Ivana for recommending a painful scalp reduction. His staff are quitting because of his continual petty rages, his angry tirades and tantrums. And you think these women had free will?
DeleteCorrection, how many besides Greg?
DeleteI'm a freebie . I happen to love rolling flaccid flesh and finally manicuredmtoes.
DeleteAnonymous @5:47 seems to be arguing that neither Melania nor Daniels had free choices their dealings with Trump.
DeleteI have not read any serious suggestion that Melania experienced any coercion. Women who are the victims of sex-trafficking don't usually wake up to find themselves married to billionaires. If her circumstances before Trump showed up were distressed, and that influenced her decision to marry Trump, well, people make decisions based on the totality of their circumstances all the time. That doesn't mean that she didn't freely choose the path that she thought best for her at the time.
The reports of Daniels's affair with Trump seem to be that, a decade ago, Daniels had sex with Trump willingly, and for no explicit payment. Ten years later, as Trump ran for president, she and Trump (or their representatives) negotiated the $130k payment for Daniels's silence. Silence, not sex. Who would have the upper hand in that negotiation? The porn star who could generate an enormous amount of publicity (good for her, bad for him), or the man running for President? As evidence of that, who paid whom? Even after paying the agreed upon fee, did that powerful man, now the most powerful man in the free world, actually get the silence for which he paid?
The world may not be fair. It seems likely that there are circumstances in which women are treated less fairly than men, but there really are some circumstances in which women do have some agency.
Let's be clear, Trump is a vile bag of sleaze. His assaults on women are inexcusable. But, I'm not sure that two sordid women willingly entered into two sordid transactions with the sleaze-bag has any relevance to the assaults.
Do you think it is ever an equal negotiation between any woman and Trump (and his bodyguard, fixer, and Russian muscle)?
DeleteAnonymous...I presented evidence that Daniels is in the stronger negotiating position...she got paid, and she still did not deliver the silence that Trump thought he bought. Evidently Trump's bodyguard and fixer were no match for Ms. Daniels's advantages. Nor was the Russian muscle, if there is any. I'm open to persuasion that my arguments are wrong, but to persuade me you would have to do some of the following: point to fallacies in my reasoning, demonstrate errors in the facts I assert or introduce new arguments (evidence and inference) that point in a different direction. But you didn't...you simply asserted that Trump's assets (fixer, bodyguard, Russian muscle) put him in the stronger position. But that flies in the face of the clear result of their negotiations. The fixer, the bodyguard and the alleged Russian muscle were unable to achieve Daniels's silence. Nor was a payment of $130k.
DeleteHow do you hold so fast to opinions that seem to be in plain contradiction to the clear facts of the case?
She hasn’t divulged anything yet. He is paying to suppress details.
DeleteWhen the media hid JFK's extramarital sex, they were also protecting America. Now, we have the examples of three Presidents telling us that regardless of our political leanings, marital fidelity is for failures. That principle is being reinforced daily. I suspect that the result is that fewer Americans will be faithful to their spouses. That's too bad. I think the stodgy, middle class people who have stable families, and who go to work every day, and who pay their taxes are an important backbone of the nation. We can afford a few Donald Trumps and Bill Clintons. But, when everyone starts behaving that way, I think things will deteriorate.
ReplyDelete40% of men report cheating on their wives
DeleteDavid in Trolldom & his strawman:
Delete" ... the stodgy, middle class people who have stable families, and who go to work every day, and who pay their taxes are an important backbone of the nation."
Anyone say they aren't?
SAD!
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