In Which Links Enrich The Future We Have With Each Other

 

Sunday Links: The Long-Term View

by Barclay Memphis

Camille Paglia:

A swarm of biographers in miners’ gear has tried to plumb the inky depths of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s warren-riddled psyche. My metaphor is drawn (as Oscar Wilde’s prim Miss Prism would say) from the Scranton coalfields, to which came the Welsh family that produced Hillary’s harsh, domineering father.

It’s about power, stupid.

Hillary’s feckless, loutish brothers (who are kept at arm’s length by her operation) took the brunt of Hugh Rodham’s abuse in their genteel but claustrophobic home. Hillary is the barracuda who fought for dominance at their expense. Flashes of that ruthless old family drama have come out repeatedly in this campaign, as when Hillary could barely conceal her sneers at her fellow debaters onstage – the wimpy, cringing brothers at the dinner table.

this new york post graphic is hilarious

Hillary’s willingness to tolerate Bill’s compulsive philandering is a function of her general contempt for men. She distrusts them and feels morally superior to them. Following the pattern of her long-suffering mother, she thinks it is her mission to endure every insult and personal degradation for a higher cause — which, unlike her self-sacrificing mother, she identifies with her near-messianic personal ambition.

[snip]

perhaps unsuprisingly, hillary hates cats

Hillary’s disdain for masculinity fits right into the classic feminazi package, which is why Hillary acts on Gloria Steinem like catnip. Steinem’s fawning, gaseous New York Times op-ed about her pal Hillary this week speaks volumes about the snobby clubbiness and reactionary sentimentality of the fossilized feminist establishment, which has blessedly fallen off the cultural map in the 21st century. History will judge Steinem and company very severely for their ethically obtuse indifference to the stream of working-class women and female subordinates whom Bill Clinton sexually harassed and abused, enabled by look-the-other-way and trash-the-victims Hillary.

Clinton victim Juanita Broaddrick

kathleen willey, groped in the oval office

How does all this affect the prospect of a Hillary presidency? With her eyes on the White House, Hillary as senator has made concerted and generally successful efforts to improve her knowledge of and relationship to the military — crucial for any commander-in-chief but especially for the first female one. However, I remain concerned about her future conduct of high-level diplomacy. Contemptuous condescension seems to be Hillary’s default mode with any male who criticizes her or stands in her way. It’s a Nixonian reflex steeped in toxic gender bias. How will that play in the Muslim world?

the sisterhood versus the brotherhood

The Clintons live to campaign. It’s what holds them together and gives them a glowing sense of meaning and value. Their actual political accomplishments are fairly slight. The obsessive need to keep campaigning may mean a president Hillary would go right on spewing the bitterly partisan rhetoric that has already paralyzed Washington. Even if Hillary could be elected (which I’m skeptical about), how in tarnation could she ever govern?

[snip]

Dahlia Lithwick wishing for a better Hillary.

But Hillary herself, with her thin, spotty record, tangled psychological baggage, and maundering blowhard of a husband, is also a mighty big roll of the dice. She is a brittle, relentless manipulator with few stable core values who shuffles through useful personalities like a card shark (“Cue the tears!”). Forget all her little gold crosses: Hillary’s real god is political expediency. Do Americans truly want this hard-bitten Machiavellian back in the White House? Day one will just be more of the same.

 

Clinton has a problem being a woman.

Celebrities without makeup. Bruce, R.E.M. and Fleetwood covers, respectively:

“Thunder Road” – Badly Drawn Boy (mp3)

“The Great Beyond” – The Fray (mp3)

“Edge of Seventeen” – Lindsay Lohan (mp3)

Arthur C. Clarke.

The era of Bad TV is upon us.

Last Year in Marienbad returns to New York. 

Timothy Noah on the neocons.

Carl Jr. Is Dead

The Mexican music scene. (Get Weird Turn Pro)

Driven by Boredom’s Vegas Trip.

Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan together at last.

Pickup lines from Tracy:

“He zeroed in on a woman in her 20s. “You look like a young Whitney Houston,” he said. “Before Bobby.” And: “You won’t catch me on ‘To Catch a Predator.’ I like grown women.” She would not look up, and he inquired if she, too, would bear his next child, even ordering one to spec: “You know our daughter. Ten pounds, 8 ounces, and she’s going to your house when she starts crying.” He told her: “Why don’t you give me some love? You treat me like Space Ghost.” Finally, she laughed.

Feminism won’t have him over a barrel. 

My NBA All-Star Ballot:

West:

G Chris Paul

G Kobe Bryant

F Tim Duncan

F Carlos Boozer

C Yao Ming

East:

G Chauncey Billups

G Dwayne Wade

F Paul Pierce

F Kevin Garnett

C Dwight Howard 

Todd Stottlemyre pops off. 

J.A. Adande chat. 

Ned Colletti is a dumbass.

Travel to Amsterdam.

Leonard Cohen’s future.

9 Best Books on the Future.

The Future of the Left.

Living better cinemagically.

Men will ruin Craigslist.

Sweet Aesop Rock.

Morrissey’s forthcoming greatest hits compilation.

Denzel loves Italian people.

Quatrains will show us the way.

Barclay Memphis is the inaugural This Recording intern. He lives in Gramercy Park.

PREVIOUSLY ON THIS RECORDING

The villainy of Steve Coogan.

W.S. Merwin. John Berryman. Timbaland.

Molly generally knows her audience.