Friday, August 23, 2013

SEE YOU IN THE NORTON ANTHOLOGY.

I should mention, now that he's gone ahead and pulled the trigger, that Tbogg has for years been one of my favorite writers -- and I needn't qualify that with "in the blogosphere," which is like calling someone the smartest guy on a National Review cruise. That he is known as a "liberal blogger" is just an accident of history, I think -- he's really a satirist (as his hilarious Filner summer camp chronicles show) who has hunted where, in our low mean time, the ducks pretty consistently wind up: Out on absurdly elevated media perches, defending the indefensible in loud, quacking voices, just begging for his buckshot.

Part of a satirist's racket is wisdom, and Tbogg has supplied enough of that ("no one is going to get a blogging Pulitzer for being the fastest to post what they just saw and heard on the TV"), but I've been most grateful for the laughs -- for the times when he has greeted the sententious argh-blargh of internet hierophants with appropriate seriousness, or got right to the nub on the works of Ayn Rand:
One assumes that it is somewhere around page 600 when Dagny Taggart has sex with Hank Reardon but it ends badly because, while sex is the highest celebration of human values, giving your partner an orgasm because they expect one is just sanctioning your own victimhood.
I speak in the present perfect continuous tense because I can't imagine we've heard the last of him -- though if he slips off like Rimbaud into the quarries and stays silent on this foolish world forever, I can't say I would blame him.

84 comments:

  1. LittlePig1:49 PM

    Don't you be getting any ideas Roy.

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  2. mortimer20002:15 PM

    Don't you be getting any ideas Roy.
    Yeah. After the loss of Doghouse and TBogg I'm feeling very vulnerable right now. If you're thinking about hanging it up I need time to lay in some good drugs.

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  3. GWPDA2:59 PM

    All the weird little internet friends will be around....

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  4. teresa3:16 PM

    TBogg is a writer. He'll be back once he finds a good balance between cyber life and peopled and dogged life. It's not goodbye it's a bientot.

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  5. Jay B.3:19 PM

    It's funny how it all goes. Tom is a great writer and a good guy. I even guested for him with Susan From Texas and a couple others when he took a previous break on FDL, but I think it was that move that drained him. When he hung his own blogspot shingle, it seemed like more of a lark, he became a 'brand' at Hamsher's place and it wore on him a bit. At least I know he'll be around here and there. I'm actually curious to know where The Editors went.

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  6. JennOfArk3:27 PM

    I'm guessing that if he ever wants a guest hosting gig, he'd wind up here, since this is where he would fit the best.

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  7. Weird to see a skewerer of all things Randian "go Galt".

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  8. StringOnAStick4:21 PM

    It was great t be transported back to Tom's old site, like seeing a vacation cabin that was always a great time. Thanks, Roy.

    I'll miss the blog, but my sadness is well tempered by support for his reasons for hanging it up. Life is indeed too short. I hope he isn't done with writing; he's too damned good and I would be immeasurably sad if I let myself think I'll never see another perfect Tboggism.

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  9. P Gustaf5:51 PM

    Exactly what I was thinking. For Christ's sake, don't!

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  10. M. Krebs6:19 PM

    I suppose that one day all of the original all-stars will have retired or deceased. Let's hope that a new generation picks up the slack. Or better yet, that they don't need to. Ha! Not in this world.

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  11. hellslittlestangel6:26 PM

    Someone please remind of the name of The Editors' blog before I go crazy.

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  12. Jay B.6:28 PM

    The Poorman Institute, I think

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  13. JennOfArk6:29 PM

    Well, George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, SC, for one is not sorry to see TBogg go.

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  14. Waingro6:35 PM

    I actually just looked the Wanker-Wingnut continuum the other day. That guy was a funny motherfucker.

    http://web.archive.org/web/20051125024719/http://www.thepoorman.net/2005/11/23/the-wanker-wingnut-continuum/

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  15. hellslittlestangel6:36 PM

    Thank you. I might have gone days before I remembered that.


    Aw, now I'm getting all weepy again.

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  16. hellslittlestangel6:48 PM

    Though who could forget this:

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  17. JennOfArk6:52 PM

    KEN!

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  18. hellslittlestangel6:55 PM

    Some day we'll all be doddering old fools remembering "the golden age of blogging" -- "Remember the Horse? What was the name of the guy who did Instaputz?"-- while the young folks roll their eyes and make the twirling finger motion at their ears.



    Yeah, I ain't looking forward to 2018.

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  19. hellslittlestangel7:02 PM

    Well, he says he'll be on Twitter. If that isn't giving up writing, I don't know what is.

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  20. whew. shit, i thought he had died.

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  21. yeah no fucking around edroso.

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  22. hellslittlestangel7:46 PM

    Yeah, don't forget how much we're paying you, Edroso.

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  23. Nope.

    You can find him on the Twitter, fearlessly defending our downtrodden NSA.
    ~

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  24. Jeffrey_Kramer8:38 PM

    I speak in the present perfect continuous tense because I can't imagine
    we've heard the last of him -- though if he slips off like Rimbaud into
    the quarries and stays silent on this foolish world forever, I can't say
    I would blame him.

    There was a movie about that, wasn't there?

    Trautman: The war, the whole conflict may have been wrong, but damn it, don't hate your country for it.
    Rimbaud: Hate? I'd die for it.
    Trautman:Then what is it you want?
    Rimbaud: I want, what they want, and every other guy who came over here and spilled his guts and gave everything he had, wants! For our country to
    love us as much as we love it! That's what I want!
    Trautman: How will you live, John?
    Rimbaud: Day by day. The bassets will help.

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  25. PulletSurprise10:53 PM

    Sadly, Yes.

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  26. M. Krebs11:19 PM

    You do realize that you've just lost a lot of your internet traditions cred, don't you.

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  27. Tiny Hermaphrodite, Esq.12:37 AM

    Ah, but he doesn't. "Going Galt" means that someone leaves to deprive greedy moochers of their purported talent, creativity or wealth. Which is hilarious because there is nothing on could want from wingnuts, MRAs and whatnot.
    I bet Tbogg has no such pretensions.

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  28. Tiny Hermaphrodite, Esq.12:38 AM

    on s/b one

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  29. GabrielRatchet12:52 AM

    Damn, first Doghouse, now this. Cyberspace just got a whole lot smaller ....

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  30. moelarryandjesus1:07 AM

    Wait, people know about Ken here?


    Worlds collide.

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  31. JennOfArk1:34 AM

    What, you think that we are not aware of all internet traditions? We are; oh yes, we are.

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  32. Yes and what happened to Fafblog?

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  33. mrstilton7:42 AM

    Indeed, some of us even have By Request Only on our Zunes.

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  34. Derelict8:48 AM

    This is simply further proof that there is no sense of justice to the universe. We lose Doghouse and Tbogg in just the last 30 days. And yet, the world will be forever afflicted with the likes of Jonah the Fail, AnchorBaby Malkin, Douthat the Douchebag, and McMegan--all of whom not only prosper, but reaping ever-increasing rewards for their "works."

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  35. I've actually asked Roy, repeatedly, to provide some means for me and others to sling cold hard cash, or at least hot, crumbled sweaty dollar bills his way.

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  36. TGuerrant9:17 AM

    Lately, I have been playing along with the lone-writer pretense here because I see that it is socially acceptable.


    But my astute perception from the outset has been that these writings are accomplished by Ed Roso and Roy. Maybe that's Roy Roso or maybe that's Siegfried's friend Roy, well recovered from both the tiger attack and early German language acquisition.


    The fact is, the quality and the quantity of the writings make a sole source improbable if not impossible, as does the breadth of knowledge expressed in those writings.


    Yet it is likely that each will be lost without the other, so we must plan to retain both of them.

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  37. Don't deprive people of their hobbies, dex. Wait... you meant.. ah, sorry.

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  38. mrstilton10:57 AM

    @GabrielRatchet, @Derelict, TBogg hasn't departed this vale of tears. He merely hung up his cleats. So it's always possible he'll return, in some way, shape or forum. Just like Jesus!

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  39. Derelict11:10 AM

    Oh, I know he's not dead (he's just pining for the fjords).
    It's just that our side of the line seems to lose so many truly great and gifted writers through death or retirement. The Editors, Fafblog, Doghouse, Jon Swift, Steve Gilliard, and so on--all great voices who are terribly missed.

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  40. Wow, thanks for the memories Waingro!

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  41. KatWillow2:40 PM

    Are there any truly gifted conservative writers? Gifted at writing I mean,

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  42. Ruviana2:55 PM

    I'm thinking it'll be like when I see a comment by Billmon or Michael Berube somewhere, like "oooh, a celebrity is among us!"

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  43. JennOfArk3:12 PM

    OT, but this is too good not to pass along (from Gateway Pundit):

    Jim Hoft is loved. Last night, after a week-long battle with a particularly horrible virus, Jim was taken to the hospital. They admitted him and immediately began running tests and scans. The scans to determine his neurological health continue today.
    I didn't have the heart to tell them that there's no need to wait for those scans to come back to determine the state of Hoft's "neurological health." OTOH, if this particular virus attacks grey matter, Hoft's got nothing to worry about. Much like a fire dies out without oxygen to feed it....

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  44. I miss Fafblog. I actually have a Fafblog mix CD. It came to me from Singapore.

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  45. TomParmenter4:41 PM

    Mister, we could use a man like Media Whores Online today.

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  46. merl14:47 PM

    I keep hoping he'll change his mind again I've been reading him and you since I got a computer.

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  47. merl14:51 PM

    What else would you expect? TBogg linked to it.

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  48. Derelict5:43 PM

    The problem here is that any such talent on the right would be obscured by the substance of the writing. Much one could be an amazingly gifted sculptor, but having chosen to work only in human excrement would necessarily obscure your talents.

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  49. Derelict5:45 PM

    Despite my distaste for the stupidest man on the internet, I actually hope he's okay. I'm too much of a softie to kvell in the suffering of even one so hideous Hoft.

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  50. Make it rain, you pervy Dane!

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  51. THIS! THIS FROM SOMEONE who had me ferret out on my drunken own that he had a blog. I'm almost hurt. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR5SHuJDlUQ

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  52. I'm one of those people who believes that too much self-promotion is unseemly.

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  53. So do I, which is why I usually share my worst parts.

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  54. MyPetGloat6:38 PM

    TBogg retiring feels like the death of a loved one. I'm still in shock.

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  55. It stares into your soul, don't it?

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  56. Or did I "out" you in some way that you'd rather I didn't? If so, foot-in-mouth-disease and blame is all mine.

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  57. XeckyGilchrist7:34 PM

    Likewise. I hope he ends up OK.


    Bonus: and maybe if they de-virus his central nervous system he'll catch a clue.

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  58. XeckyGilchrist7:35 PM

    ...I keep waiting for the usual genuflection toward P.J. O'Rourke, but I guess that only happens when people ask about funny conservatives.

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  59. XeckyGilchrist7:36 PM

    So true. I was thinking of the phrase "relentless screaming heads" just today. That site was a dose of sanity when one was really, really needed.

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  60. XeckyGilchrist7:41 PM

    (and IMO it's not in the same league, but if you want a blast from the past bartcop looks just like it always did.)

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  61. No, I list the blog address in my Disqus profile. I just feel bad the first post you found was my sad euthanized cat story.

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  62. Oh, I just thought I'd commited some unspoken fauxpas. And I am sorry.

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  63. Lefty9:02 PM

    I used to watch WWF with Andy Northrup in college. He didn't even take my FB friend request :(

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  64. Tiny Hermaphrodite, Esq9:14 PM

    Or a wishlist, even the topical Tbogg had one of those. And it would be fascinating to see what you read Roy.

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  65. Mark_Bzzzz9:31 PM

    I hope he gets cured in the benevolent caress of Obamacare.

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  66. TomParmenter10:08 PM

    The three-legged stool of here, Pierce, and tbogg has done lost a leg.

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  67. Well, cluelesness WAS a pre-existing condition...

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  68. No, we sail tonight FOR there...

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  69. JennOfArk12:02 AM

    To be clear: I'm not wishing him death or ill-health; rather I just thought the idea of Hoft undergoing scans to determine his neurological health to be amusing, given that all one needs to do to determine this is check out his blog.

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  70. mrstilton2:19 AM

    Plus, O'Rourke got steadily and unstoppably less good and less funny as the years dragged on.


    And even when he was good, he was usually at his best when taking positions contra conservative orthodoxies (by which I mean its exoteric orthodoxies, intended for consumption by the rubes), such as advocating doing as many drugs and women as possible. One of his best pieces ever was his anti-Marcos essay. I presume that O'Rourke's anti-Marcos sentiment was merely a shipwrecked rat (he wrote the article, naturally, after and not before the Filipino people had freed themselves from the parasite), but it was still a refreshing change from the usual conservative strategy of "constructive engagement", i.e., doing nothing at all, towards dictators who are clients of the United States and its major financial and industrial interests.

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  71. No faux pas, no apology needed! We're buds, bud.

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  72. Leeds man10:40 AM

    I haven't read his blog in ages. Was he really defending the NSA? Wouldn't surprise me.

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  73. DocAmazing11:16 AM

    One of O'Rourkes best and funniest lines about politics came from an essay he wrote from apartheid South Africa: the apartheid regime, he wrote, would not be accepted by the world until they would stand up and lie like white men.

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  74. LittlePig7:26 PM

    What? No Zardoz?

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  75. BigHank537:49 PM

    Why, this is hell, nor are we out of it.

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  76. BigHank5311:01 PM

    Well, cluelesness WAS a pre-existing condition...


    No wonder he's never been able to get anyone to take a look at it.

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  77. AGoodQuestion11:06 PM

    Late to the party on this one, but I hope you're right in your last sentence prediction, Roy.

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    ReplyDelete
  79. Halloween_Jack10:01 AM

    On the positive side, with TBogg and Pam's House Blend gone, there's no reason to acknowledge FDL's existence whatsoever.

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  80. I was very sad to learn that TBogg was shutting down his blog. It has long been one of my favorite reads, though I rarely commented, which had more to do with wanting to avoid the pissing matches that occasionally broke out between pro-civil-liberties folks and...others...than it had to do with TBogg's words. I will really, really miss him. Hell, I'd even forgive his Shakira's ass postings if he'd just promise to come back before Christmas. Maybe add the occasional beefcake gifs for us straight girls and gay guys to admire.

    The Filner Summer Camp Chronicles were evil pleasure to read.



    Cheers,
    Deborah aka litbrit

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  81. redoubt1:11 PM

    No. This has been, &c.
    Also, wingnut welfare, which is different from what they castigate those people for taking whenever "welfare" is mentioned.

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  82. Caepan2:07 PM

    Found you! :-)

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