Life in the Bubble

During the court discussion, US Supreme court justice Elena Kagan acted shocked that people might want to legally carry concealed firearms on the New York City subway or in Times Square. [More]

The Pauline Kael effect... that it presumes to impose insulated provincial ignorance on the rest of us under force of law is intolerable.

Sheltered, Are We?

Newsweek Reporter: Almost Everyone I’ve Ever Heard Of Who Owns An AR-15 Is A Mass Murderer [More]

Channeling our inner Pauline Kael...

"Authorized journalists" drawing on a wealth of experience -- is it any wonder I love them so?

[Via William T]

And the Pauline Kael* Award Goes To...

Judge Judy: America is fractured, but Michael Bloomberg's no-nonsense approach can help us heal [More]

People allow this judgment-impaired ivory tower-dweller to settle their disputes?

*

Putting His Foot in It

I’m at a loss to figure out how exactly this focus on gun rights helps rural Virginians. [More]

That much is obvious. There's more than a little Pauline Kael action going on here.

If this cloistered character weren't such a sanctimonious ignoramus, he'd realize all these points he seems to be having an epiphany over have been thoroughly discredited for years -- more often than not by the words and actions of "his side."

News flash: "We" know "you." What's obvious is "you" don't have Clue One about "us."

That smug incompetence combined with political and enforcement powers makes things dangerous.

So I think I'll keep my guns.

[Via Mack H]

Unbelievable!

Only to those who have insulated themselves from reality... [Read]

This reminds me of that quote from Pauline Kael.

And that appalling, provincial ignorance reminds me of another bit of dialog that ends up in astonishment for the willingly self-isolated.

Beating a Dead Magic Pony

Is there anyone more provincial and insulated than Peggy Noonan? [More]

She really can't conceive that it was support for issues, not Beatlemania over the man, that resulted in Trump winning. 

What does she think the results would have been if he'd run on his past and his personality instead of on his platform pledges?

Ghosts of Pauline Kael...

Epiphany

“You guys understand how significant this is?” Luntz asked the press breathlessly when he came back into the room behind the glass. “This is real. I’m having trouble processing it. Like, my legs are shaking.” [More]

Ah, a parallel Pauline Kael effect that so many establishment Republicans also seem to suffer from, and we're going to see a lot more legs shaking, not to mention fists.

As for Frank Luntz, what more is there to say than this?