A SHIT OBIT | MetaTalk

This post should've been deleted within seconds after its posting.

(1) Snow was neither important enough nor talented enough to warrant an obit thread here. He was just another cog in the Bush/Cheney Propaganda machine. Rush, Coulter & O'Reilly would rate an obit thread, but if Steve Doocy got hit by a bus? ORLY?

(2) It upstages the post immediately before it, covering the death of the infinitely more worthy Dr. Michael Debakey.

(3) It was pure snark-bait by WCityMike even to the inclusion of a quote that has to be the biggest bald-faced lie of 2008:
"Bush's wavering conservatism has become an active concern among Republicans, who wish he would stop cowering under the bed and start fighting back against the likes of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Wilson," said Snow in a column. "The newly passive George Bush has become something of an embarrassment."
It was stunning, after that, that one MeFite, tried to defend Snow's humanity by writing "he was the "good" conservative, able to construct an honest argument." BULL SHIT.

Colon cancer is a terrible way to die. So is hanging, but I don't regret the death of Sadaam Hussein.

posted by wendell to etiquette/policy at 4:27 PM (165 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite

I think obit threads, on general, are a recipe for a shit post with shit comments. Was Snow more worthy of an obit than Debakey? Was Helms more worthy of an obit than Tom Disch who died a few days ago? I don't think Disch even rated a post. And so on.

But I still don't know what you think will be accomplished by this callout. It can't possibly wendel... uh... you know.
posted by Justinian at 4:31 PM on July 12

This will wend-- oh!
posted by MegoSteve at 4:32 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

Stop stepping on my lines.
posted by MegoSteve at 4:33 PM on July 12

Popcorn? ORLY?
posted by DarlingBri at 4:39 PM on July 12

I was sure this was going to be that Jamie Lynn Spears thing.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 4:41 PM on July 12 [2 favorites]

Half of the comments were Blazecock Pileon complaining about other commenters.
posted by found missing at 4:42 PM on July 12 [5 favorites]

I was sure this was going to be that Jamie Lynn Spears thing.

Tony Snow was Lynn Spears' baby daddy!?
posted by delmoi at 4:47 PM on July 12

You just compared Snow to Hussein? Get some perspective.
posted by caddis at 4:49 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

and those comments should have been deleted because they had nothing to do with the subject matter.

The subject of the thread was a dead person. Exactly what could people say other than their opinions of them that are related to "the subject matter?" Bet on how long it'll take him to decompose?

I don't think Tony Snow is going to be doing anything new at this point so I figure that leads to people talking about what he's already done.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 4:52 PM on July 12

Half of the comments in there were whines about anyone pointing out Tony Snow's behavior as a slimy, lying Bush conspirator, and those comments should have been deleted because they had nothing to do with the subject matter.

Translation: Blazecock says it should be against the rules to disagree with Blazecock.

Unless you take it to MetaTalk.

Where it's still not OK to disagree with Blazecock.

Everyone got that now?
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:52 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]

Contrary to popular belief, the Eskimos do not have hundreds of words for snow.
posted by octobersurprise at 4:57 PM on July 12

There's no business like Snow business.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 4:59 PM on July 12 [2 favorites]

I fail to see how how criticizing another poster's response to a subject cries for Meta. Saying "Take it to MeTa" is not an escape technique for when someone disaproves of what you've said.
posted by brundlefly at 5:01 PM on July 12 [2 favorites]

Translation: Blazecock says it should be against the rules to disagree with Blazecock.

Translation: If you can't refrain from shitting in an obit thread, don't participate. The site's hashed this out before, so this has nothing to do with Blazecock or anyone else.

Everyone got that now?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:01 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

BP, what is your definition of shitting in the thread?
posted by brundlefly at 5:05 PM on July 12

Taking shots at a dead man in an obit thread: Fair game.

Defending that dead man from said attacks: "Shitting in an obit thread".

I wonder if Blazecock would reverse those for someone he thought highly of.
posted by toomuchpete at 5:07 PM on July 12 [2 favorites]

I actually gave TPS a pass for the Jamie Lynn Spears post, considering some of the other Low Culture crap that has slipped onto the blue in the last couple days, but I'd suggest automatic deletion of anything in the future even peripherally involved with the Spears family. But you know that idea will never fly, especially since I suggested it.

And hey, I could always compare Snow to the one person I knew on a personal level who died of colon cancer. He was an in-law who sexually abused his own daughter but was never called to account for it (I married into one of the few families worse than the Spears').
posted by wendell at 5:07 PM on July 12

You know when someone we like dies, say Vonnegut as an example, and we point out how the right wing blogs go to town calling the recently deceased all kinds of names and insulting their memory?

The Tony Snow thread is an example of when we do the same thing, only in reverse.

Or something.
posted by chillmost at 5:08 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

Half of the comments were Blazecock Pileon complaining about other commenters.

Total comments so far: 105.

Total attempts to ask people to take their "asshole" commentary to Metatalk: 4.

4 / 105 = 3.8% < 50%
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:09 PM on July 12

(2) It upstages the post immediately before it, covering the death of the infinitely more worthy Dr. Michael Debakey.

This item was how I knew that this MeTa post is a hi-larious joke. Good job Wendell, you sure have demonstrated what it would be like if you had no grasp of how administrative policy works here!
posted by !Jim at 5:13 PM on July 12

After the first post or two, you're just beating your head against the wall anyway, so telling people to take it to Metatalk four times is excessive, unless you have a shiny moderator badge.
posted by MegoSteve at 5:13 PM on July 12

Whoever had 8 hours 21 minutes in the pool, please claim your prize.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:15 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

I don't think Disch even rated a post.

For whatever it's worth, Disch did get a post, and even a Jamesbrowning.
posted by cortex at 5:18 PM on July 12

After the first post or two, you're just beating your head against the wall anyway

Well, it's here on Metatalk, so the thread-shitters have no reason not to do their work over here. So a big thank-you to wendell for that.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:18 PM on July 12

4 / 105 = 3.8% <>

You didn't realize that I was mocking your use of the word "half"?
posted by found missing at 5:19 PM on July 12

And considering the way WCityMike has recently been commenting on "my longstanding observations (both publicly and privately held) re: Mefites and snark excess", doing this post at all, let alone the long bio and bad quote at the end, was one of the most obvious examples of TROLLING FOR SNARK I have EVER seen here. That's my last statement on the matter. I've wasted way too much time. The rest of you can end this well.
posted by wendell at 5:19 PM on July 12

Obit threads suck. If someone was worth a FPP, they were worth a FPP while they were alive. Making the front page of Metafilter isn't some sort of magic undead consolation prize.
posted by Justinian at 5:20 PM on July 12 [5 favorites]

I don't know, found missing. I just assumed that you were from one of those cultures where your only words for numbers are "one," "a few," and "many."
posted by brundlefly at 5:21 PM on July 12

You didn't realize that I was mocking your use of the word "half"?

I was doing this more for the benefit of the illiterates who favorited your comment.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:23 PM on July 12

We Eskimos have 100s of words for numbers.
posted by found missing at 5:26 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

Popcorn is delicious.
posted by dw at 5:34 PM on July 12

How can the illiterates know what is in the comment? Perhaps you meant innumerate. I get a lot of innumerates favoriting my comments.
posted by found missing at 5:34 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

It should have been deleted within seconds before its posting.
posted by Burhanistan at 5:36 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

When I die and my obit thread comes over metatalk, you guys are gonna be nicer in remembering me, right?

. . . . . .

Ahem, RIGHT?
posted by chillmost at 5:37 PM on July 12

I thought Tony Snow was the president of England.. The guy from Spinal Tap? No?
posted by stubby phillips at 5:42 PM on July 12

Oshituary?
posted by The Straightener at 5:42 PM on July 12

but if Steve Doocy got hit by a bus? ORLY?

It might be a tossup between a mefi post and and a metatalk under "metafilter-related" because the post would probably start with...

Metafilter's own birdherder highjacked a MTA bus and drove it over Fox & Friend's Steve Doocy on live television this morning...

[the more inside would mention] As Birdherder was being lead off to the police car he was screaming "THIS WILL NOT WENDELL"
posted by birdherder at 5:45 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]

I don't care what the kids in the high school said. I liked "Informer."
posted by Eideteker at 5:45 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]

Jamesbrowns are like hashbrowns that make you want to get up and dance.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 5:46 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

All Newsfilter and Politicsfilter should be deleted within seconds of posting.
posted by LarryC at 5:50 PM on July 12

MeTa threads bitching about obit threads is one of those things that needs to be turned into a drinking game, like when Emeril says BAM. At least something fun could come of this tail-chasing.
posted by CwgrlUp at 5:52 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

I like the drinking game idea!! I have a fresh Mai Tai in hand, much better than popcorn...
posted by pearlybob at 5:55 PM on July 12

I have a fresh Mai Tai in hand

You're not one of these, are you?
posted by Burhanistan at 5:57 PM on July 12 [2 favorites]

But you know that idea will never fly, especially since I suggested it.

Huh? Since when did this become WeHateWendellFilter? You're a hero to these people, A HERO!

I mean, I personally can't stand you, but I always assumed I was in the minority.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 5:57 PM on July 12 [2 favorites]

The winter wind howled through the valley, as the lone figure struggled up the side of the mountain through the deep snow. Many bundles were upon his back and he used a spear to steady his progress.

As he neared the top, he spotted the familiar corpses of the Relentless Ones, the Dark Lords of Spamming. Their bodies were piled higher than the snow and mixed with dirt and garbage.

"Hmmm," the traveler thought. "Her composting pile sure is getting big."

Walking past the garden, he spotted the familiar cabin, smoke billowing from its chimney. It was perched near the edge and overlooking the lands to North, know as Metafilter. He wearily set down his bundle and began shifting through it. Cafefully he pulled out an iBook and turned it on, watching the cabin carefully. As the startup chime from Mac OS .0035 sounded, the door of the cabin opened a crack and voice, rich and deep with menace, bellowed from within, "Friend or Boyzone?!"

"It is I," cried the traveler, "Cortex the great, come to relieve your shift and stand guard against That Which Must Not Happen."

"Oh," said the voice from within. "Well, get your ass in here and let's smoke some shit."

The door opened fully to reveal the mighty voice belonged to some crazed chick with dreads and shit. The traveler picked up his bundle and slowly moved forward. His books were way overdue and one must be careful with librarians.

Once inside, she demanded news: "What of Askme? Matt and PB? Is travelfilter up YET?"

"Wait," Cortex grimly replied. "What of your watch, have there been any sitings? Has there been any sigh of the Forbidden Post forming?!"

"Nah, nothing much going," Jessamyn said. She picked up her gleaming ban hammer and swinging it expertly, shouted, spittle flying from her lips, eyes ablaze with anger, "But I swear, by the Anons of Askme, if a post about Tony Snow ever did appear, I would dispatch it in seconds."

"Oh, yeah, well ok," said Cortex. "That's good, 'cause that would totally fuck stuff up and shit. I mean, like, totally."

"Yeah," said the mighty Jessamyn.

"Yeah."

Awkward pause.

"You got doughnuts left?" asked Cortex.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:57 PM on July 12 [17 favorites]

tried to defend Snow's humanity by writing "he was the "good" conservative..."

So, the only good conservative is a dead conservative?
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 6:02 PM on July 12

Rimshot!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:09 PM on July 12 [2 favorites]

Whoa, you just compared Tony Snow to Saddam Hussein.

On the one hand you say that Tony Snow is not important, and then on the other hand you're comparing him to someone who clearly is important. I think internal logic is more than a little bit off.

This metatalk post needs its own metatalk post.
posted by every_one_needs_a_hug_sometimes at 6:12 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

The intense hatred for Snow is kind of baffling. He didn't make policy. He shouldn't be compared to the Nazis as he was in the original post, or Sadam Husein as he was here. I don't have this much hatred for GWB, and I think he's pretty despicable.
posted by LoriFLA at 6:12 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

The Snow obit thread makes me cringe but, uh, so does this one. I mean, Saddam Hussein? Really? And it's upstaging the post before it so you...made a whiny MetaTalk thread about it instead of oh, I don't know, linking the post you feel is being upstaged?
posted by kate blank at 6:12 PM on July 12

You're not one of these, are you?

Well, I do like 'em nice and fruity!!
posted by pearlybob at 6:18 PM on July 12

I have to see what Wendell's and WCityMike's post to favorite ratios are before I decide whose side to be on.
posted by iconomy at 6:18 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]

MeTa threads bitching about obit threads is one of those things that needs to be turned into a drinking game

And the best thing about a Metatalk drinking game is that it will lead to- more Metatalk threads! Everybody wins!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:24 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

First rule, every time you hit refresh......DRINK!!
posted by pearlybob at 6:26 PM on July 12

*checks Blazecock's math, moves the decimal, carries the one, alligator eats the larger...*

WTF, found missing, you lied to me! That's not half at all! That's the last time I trust a MeFite to refrain from hyperbole or sarcasm!
posted by the other side at 6:29 PM on July 12

Does Opera still have an auto-refresh setting?
posted by box at 6:30 PM on July 12

First rule, every time you hit refresh......DRINK!!

I play this game basically all the time.
posted by dirtdirt at 7:14 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]

If Oprah had her own auto-refresh. she and her armies could control the world!
posted by Dizzy at 7:18 PM on July 12

I play this game basically all the time.

I get paid to play it. It's a weird world.
posted by cortex at 7:59 PM on July 12

In all seriousness, can't someone obtain the domain ObitFilter? Famous people are dropping like flies lately, and if there were a mefi-like place to post about it....

Nah, people would still post that stuff here too.

but I will miss Tony Snow. I remember him subbing for Rush. He had a nice calm voice...
posted by konolia at 8:07 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

I don't know who Tony Snow is because I maybe don't watch enough television. I was out lying in the grass in the sunshine all day. What's going on here again?
posted by jessamyn at 8:16 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

And the best thing about a Metatalk drinking game is that it will lead to- more Metatalk threads! Everybody wins!

This makes me feel better about my drunk Metatalk threads being overwrought circle-jerks 45 days past their initial prime.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:16 PM on July 12

I was out lying in the grass in the sunshine all day. What's going on here again?

Well, I'm watching "Wolf Creek" and drinking mint juleps. I'm pretty sure a couple of Australians are about to die, which I feel they deserve, on account of their funny talkin' and all. It's kind of like a drinking game, only one where you drink when you feel like drinking.
posted by middleclasstool at 8:20 PM on July 12

and...DRINK!!
posted by pearlybob at 8:29 PM on July 12

*drinks*
posted by brundlefly at 8:41 PM on July 12

*falls over*
posted by brundlefly at 8:41 PM on July 12

.
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 8:46 PM on July 12

I don't know who Tony Snow is because I maybe don't watch enough television. I was out lying in the grass in the sunshine all day. What's going on here again?

I watch too much television and I don't know him either. I was at work all day. The usual bullshit is going on here again.
posted by jonmc at 9:13 PM on July 12

I was going to type out a clever newspaper-style obituary for a piece of feces, but I'm too lazy.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:21 PM on July 12

What's going on here again?

Nononono, you got it all wrong, this is the first time wendell has done crack.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:44 PM on July 12

but I will miss Tony Snow. I remember him subbing for Rush. He had a nice calm voice...

How did he play all those instruments at once?
posted by loquacious at 9:49 PM on July 12 [11 favorites]

Grace under pressure.
posted by cortex at 9:56 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

Not Saddam. We may not have meant to, but we showed him the ultimate respect. And he deserved it. He's wherever the real men go; where Pancho Villa went, and Patton, and Richthofen. Not heaven, but someplace way, way better.
posted by telstar at 10:10 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]

The intense hatred for Snow is kind of baffling. He didn't make policy.

He's fulfilling the function in death he was hired for in life: emotional lightning rod. Bush's press secretaries are carefully chosen for their precise mixture of bland entitlement and ignorant audacity. Since they embody the core characteristics of Bush's own administration, their time at the podium functions to create the illusion that those qualities are somehow separate from the institution for which they speak. It's a trick of the light; you stare at the man, jaw agape and carotid throbbing, and forget momentarily the deeper ugliness behind the blue curtain. The slight-of-hand can't be maintained for long, of course. In a year or two, the aura is gone and it's time to bring in another dealer for the next round of constitutional three-card monte.

Or had you thought they hired Snow or Perino because they're pretty?
posted by felix betachat at 10:53 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]

posted by jessamyn What's going on here again?

WCityMike made an FPP about Tony Snow's death. Some people were nice, some people were nasty, and Blazecock Pileon was a drama queen.
posted by optovox at 11:11 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

Speaking as a non-American, How is Tony Snow any worse than whoever the press secretary was for Bill Clinton? You guys have a real problem. Your government is so discredited that any government employee working for it, including a press secretary, who, let's face it, is told what to do and acts with absolutely no authority to set policy, is basically suspected of being a criminal. Have you guy descended into kleptocracy?
posted by KokuRyu at 11:20 PM on July 12 [7 favorites]

The drinking game is a cute idea and all, but I'd like to up the stakes a little bit and propose a new rule that all Mefites have to send me a dollar anytime someone makes a comment in an obit thread along the lines of, "I don't see why [insert name of famous person] dying is any more newsworthy than the thousands of other people who die every day of the same thing".

We're looking at putting a pool in the backyard.
posted by The Gooch at 11:23 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

Some people were nice, some people were nasty, and Blazecock Pileon was a drama queen.

Meh, weak. Back to #mefi or #tapes or whatever with you, troll.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:30 PM on July 12

De mortuis nil nisi bonum -- Blazecock Pileon
posted by ikkyu2 at 11:35 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

Brevior saltare cum deformibus viris est vita
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:40 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

I feel bad for his kids. But I feel worse for all the millions of American citizens he took money to lie to, repeatedly, every day, on behalf of the worst scum of America. We'll all have to deal with the longer consequences of his lying to the press, of controlling the message while the country goes out of control.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:13 AM

If you think Snow is being mistreated, please take it to Metatalk. Like, now. Stop shitting in the thread. Thanks.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:48 AM
posted by optovox at 11:44 PM on July 12

De mortuis nil nisi bonum -- Blazecock Pileon

Surely you mean Flammagallus Struesuper.
posted by Krrrlson at 11:46 PM on July 12

Fandango_matt, or optovox, please come back after you learn the necessary reading comprehension skills. Thanks.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:48 PM on July 12

Exsisto quietis vos parum dramatic regina
posted by optovox at 11:50 PM on July 12

Must be a quiet night for metafilter's IRC trolls.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:53 PM on July 12

The last two days on Mefi have got me thinking that this is maybe not so much a good place for me to hang out. It has begun to feel toxic and angry.
posted by loiseau at 12:07 AM on July 13 [4 favorites]

Just checking in to see if my character has been successfully assassinated yet. But how can you kill something that was never alive?

Good job Wendell, you sure have demonstrated what it would be like if you had no grasp of how administrative policy works here!

I haven't seen any claims that administrative policy DOES work here.

Whoa, you just compared Tony Snow to Saddam Hussein. I think internal logic is more than a little bit off.

The comparison was just an exaggerated riff on the "nobody deserves to die like that" commentary. I did revise it later to compare him to the pedophile relative-by-marriage who also died of colon cancer and nobody ever heard of him (and frankly I wish I never had - and so do you).

linking the post you feel is being upstaged?

Yikes! I KNEW I'd missed something. Actually, I missed several things, first to find them all wins a broken iPod!!!

I don't know who Tony Snow is...
posted by jessamyn

And that PROVES why this post should've been deleted!

Since when did this become WeHateWendellFilter? You're a hero to these people, A HERO!

There are no heroes any more (except on NBC Monday Nights and their ratings are way down). If you can get 5% of the MetaFilter Membership into your cult, you can pass as one, but I've never done better than 3.5. I do have a plan to get my obit on MSNBC.com disguised as a sitcom review, but I can't talk about that now.

this is the first time wendell has done crack.

No, tried it once and didn't like it years before MeFi was even a gleam in mathowie's eye. This is however, the third time I've used LSD since the site began and you are all one-horned chihuahuas riding dolphins with goatees.

I will miss Tony Snow... He had a nice calm voice...

Hypnosis! I should've known!

Grace under pressure.

I let off gas under pressure, but I'll bet you already noticed.

The Gooch, if everyone who posted something stupid on MeFi sent you a dollar when they did, you'd be a dot-com billionaire (and you'd have all of MY money).

I've said my peace. jessamyn, you can give me my timeout now.
posted by wendell at 12:10 AM on July 13

If you're here to go after other users on the site on a personal level which has nothing to do with Tony Snow or his work, take it to Metatalk, just like everyone else.
posted to MetaFilter by Blazecock Pileon at 12:47 PM

But elsewhere:

I can see why people get frustrated with you and call you a troll, konolia.
posted to MetaFilter by Blazecock Pileon at 2:00 PM

When you go back to LGF, please take your fellow nutball loonies with you.
posted to MetaFilter by Blazecock Pileon at 3:27 PM

Please climb back under your rock at LGF, troll.
posted to MetaFilter by Blazecock Pileon at 4:11 PM

Pot, meet Kettle.
posted to MetaFilter by Blazecock Pileon at 10:37 PM
posted by optovox at 12:10 AM on July 13 [2 favorites]

loiseau writes: The last two days on Mefi have got me thinking that this is maybe not so much a good place for me to hang out. It has begun to feel toxic and angry.

These sorts of things seem to happen at fairly regular intervals, but I don't think they signal any significant decline in the average quality of an FPP or the comments therein. Just last week I was actually thinking about how impressed I had been with the previous week's batch of posts.
I think a lot of it is confirmation bias, and so the best thing sometimes is just to avoid any Metatalk post (or FPP) with more than 100 comments if you're not interested in drama.
posted by anifinder at 12:15 AM on July 13 [1 favorite]

I never called Konolia a troll, so here are some quotes from you, entirely out of context, I'm sure:

Thank goodness dbiedny is here to set us back on the narrow path to righteousness by admonishing us with his unique style of shrieking, overwrought, and sanctimonious outrage that sounds exactly like the braying honk of a jackass.
posted to MetaFilter by fandango_matt at 3:00 PM on February 29, 2008 [+]

Please speak English.
posted to MetaFilter by fandango_matt at 12:35 AM on January 22, 2008 [3 favorites +]

Sometimes you are such an unbelievable idiot I wonder if you're mildly retarded or engaged in some sort of internet performance art.
posted to MetaFilter by fandango_matt at 9:54 PM on November 19, 2007 [2 favorites +]
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:18 AM on July 13

I smell you, wendell.

Kinda nice really. A bit of rebel thyme in you with a tad of dried hot tamale and some reconstituted raisins for sweet.
posted by LiveLurker at 12:23 AM on July 13

Members of #mefi post on Metafilter SHOCKING!!!

The world does not revolve around your fat head Alex.
posted by Dreamghost at 1:06 AM on July 13 [1 favorite]

When the yellow links get as thick as the vitriol here in metatalk? We REALLY need to worry.
posted by LiveLurker at 1:18 AM on July 13

With no comments a few minutes after original....no more WE, honey.

You pumping the proletariat worse than Mister Marx.
posted by LiveLurker at 1:31 AM on July 13

C.U.N.T and resenting all those periods in between the acronym. Grow up ladies.
posted by LiveLurker at 1:34 AM on July 13

I have had my rows with you Alex but least i can say your actions have not caused massive amounts of misery like Mr. Snow has.

Over a Million Iraqis have been Maimed, Killed, Tortured, Displaced because of this War. Mr. Snow Carried Water for the people responsible for this.

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves. -- William Pitt
posted by Dreamghost at 1:37 AM on July 13

When you've died
Tony, we got it.
What you read
Do you know we got it?
All we're postin'
Is just a little snarkfest when you come home (just a shit obit)
Hey Tony (just a shit obit) when you get home
(just a shit obit) mister (just a shit obit)

We ain't gonna FPP till you're gone
Ain't gonna FPP 'cause we don't wanna
All we're postin'
Is just a little snarkfest when you come home (just a shit obit)
Tony (just a shit obit) when you get home
Yeah (just a shit obit)
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 1:44 AM on July 13 [2 favorites]

It has begun to feel toxic and angry.

It's been a bit cranky, I'll grant you that - I think there're a few folks here with too much energy and not enough to do.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 3:19 AM on July 13

Yay, and today opens with a brand new obit fpp.

I just got an idea. Around 150,000 people die each day - wouldn't it be cool if we did an obit thread for every single one of them?
posted by qvantamon at 3:52 AM on July 13

that post should not have been deleted even though it was a weak FPP. you are right in snow being unimportant but wrong in making his politics a point for deletion. I write this as someone who disagreed with snow on pretty much anything he evr said beyond hello. it's the posters right to highlight what he found noteworthy, even though it might very well be an invitation to a fight. changing that in this case when we allow other political stances would be hypocritical. there is a place for hypocrisy but that's boingboing, not metafilter.
posted by krautland at 4:16 AM on July 13

I just got an idea. Around 150,000 people die each day - wouldn't it be cool if we did an obit thread for every single one of them?

I have an idea, too. why don't you just do it? it would cost you about $30,000 to register enough sockpuppets to do it for a day. if it bothers you so much put your money where your mouth is, otherwise relax.
posted by krautland at 4:18 AM on July 13 [2 favorites]

I have to admit I didn't know who Tony Snow was either. But please everyone, get your colonoscopy test done if you're 50 or older. My husband had colon cancer a year ago January and had to have an operation. Thank goodness his hadn't spread to his organs. But it still wasn't a fun time for him (he is cancer free now according to his latest test).

This PSA brought to you by me, myself and I, a non-profit organization, but only because I am not making any profit right now.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 4:21 AM on July 13 [3 favorites]

is the golden age of metatalk upon us ?
posted by sgt.serenity at 4:37 AM on July 13

I'm not that interested in politics, I'm not even American, and still I knew Tony Snow. He was shown in German standard TV news about once a week. So even I, as a foreigner, found it interesting to hear about his death. Considering the otherwise disastrous image of the Bush administration in Europe as a regime of morons and nutjobs, I think Snow did quite a good job and seemed relatively reasonable.

I'm certainly no fan of the Bush administration (few Germans are), but I don't really understand why people find it so extremely outrageous that someone would write an FPP about this guy's death. As an outsider, it seems to me that your problem is not Americans writing obits for Republicans but Americans voting for Republicans. So maybe you could sort that out first and take care of seemingly too-nice obits later.
posted by The Toad at 5:03 AM on July 13 [3 favorites]

I wish we could cut out the obituaries altogether. There have been a freaking lot of them lately, and they're seldom any good.
posted by Eideteker at 5:03 AM on July 13

I was a bit pissed off with that crap joke you made in the obit thread about Charles Wheeler though, Eideteker. That was an interesting enough retrospective of the life of a man who was a proper journalist and a decent human being and actually did do his bit to fight Hitler. Not exactly a big deal given the minimal likelihood of any of his family or friends seeing it, but still.
posted by Abiezer at 5:34 AM on July 13

Did someone mention James Brown? I felt a... disturbance, a slight shifting here in the astral plane... I fear something may have happened... as if James is dead, or perhaps as if he has just now invented something extraordinary.
posted by Meatbomb at 5:57 AM on July 13

Ah, I see everything is OK. I feel good, carry on.
posted by Meatbomb at 5:58 AM on July 13

Well, this is pointless and taken a turn for the needlessly nasty. I'm not even going to bother putting on my Louis Renault costume this time.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:08 AM on July 13

I will miss Tony Snow. I remember him subbing for Rush. He had a nice calm voice...

You'd think Satan had a nice voice if he agreed to sub for Rush.
posted by octobersurprise at 6:35 AM on July 13 [1 favorite]

But it's all shiny and fresh and clean.
posted by Dizzy at 6:38 AM on July 13

I will miss Tony Snow. I remember him subbing for Rush.

I don't think Tony has the voice to pull off "Tom Sawyer."
posted by jonmc at 7:43 AM on July 13 [1 favorite]

Have you never heard the phrase "silver-tongued devil"? ;-)
posted by konolia at 7:53 AM on July 13

I've noticed that roughly half* of Blazecock Pileon's comments consist of telling someone else to leave the site and go back to somewhere he finds disdainful.

This makes sense because they clearly missed the part in the terms of service that said that everyone must be ideologically identical to Blazecock Pileon. Thank heavens that rule is in place, though, or it might make more sense for Blazecock to crawl back to some liberal echo chamber, where he won't have to come into contact with people whose opinions he finds disagreeable, rather than trying to enforce some sort of non-existent thought code.

* - Dramatization, YMMV.
posted by toomuchpete at 8:56 AM on July 13 [3 favorites]

You skip your RSS feeds for a night, and look what happens.

So, uh, wow. Really not going to get drawn into a longform debate here, but I'll just make one batch response. Just one, so if someone'd like to have the last word, including Wendell, please be my guest.

To address his first two points, I'm not aware of Mefi rules nor even Mefi traditions that require that obit threads on those who died be talented. I think the White House spokesperson qualifies as important. (He won't be remembered 100 years from now, no. But many obit FPP subjects won't.) Nor, especially, am I aware of a Mefi tradition that the threads surrounding something worthwhile be unimportant so they not upstage the worthwhile thread. As for the quote that enraged wendell, if I disagree with someone whom I'm writing a Mefi post about, it's snark to grab the quote that would paint him in the worst light. It's accurate to grab the quote that accurately reflects the nature and beliefs of the person quoted. Further, I'm a bit puzzled at this odd assumption that if you write a FPP obit about someone, or quote them without interjecting your own personal disagreement to those quotes, that this should be interpeted as endorsement of those views and of the obit subject.

I regret that someone had to die from the painful process of colon cancer. I don't specifically regret the loss of Tony Snow. I think all the members of the Bush Administration have done an intense amount of harm to the nation and the world. That doesn't mean you rejoice if they suffer a painful death. If, to you, that is cause for joyous celebration and putting on Kool & the Gang, well, you're not the kind of person I'd like to know. Hopefully that's not going to rule out too many Mefites.

As for wendell's later comment about trolling for snark, I actually thought ... call me naive ... that the generally intelligent base of Mefites might have an interesting discussion about the matter. We are not Daily Kos, and thus I don't expect automatic frothing.

I'm an avowed liberal who is pinning his hopes on an Obama presidency for repairing the damage done to this country. I think our world would have been better in ways immeasurable had Bush and all his minions, including Tony Snow, never been within a thousand miles of Washington.

But fundamentalist liberals are about as useless as fundamentalist conservatives. And fundamentalist liberal frothing is about as pleasant to read, and about as useful, as fundamentalist conservative frothing.

That's not directed just to you, wendell. There are many times when I look at fellow liberals and realize that a particular behavior or comment they're making at the moment furthers the problem just as much as the conservatives do. Extremism is far more the problem than neoconservatism is, and extremism is a vice that both sides have in abundance. ("They're not the enemy, son, they're the opposition. The Senate's the enemy.")
posted by WCityMike at 9:04 AM on July 13 [4 favorites]

Was busy yesterday so I just got to the post today but I have to say that the comments in the thread are definitely a low point in conversation on the Blue. I didn't particularly like Snow - as a journalist I thought he was a scumbag - but to celebrate another human's slow painful death as some did is shameful.
posted by photoslob at 9:59 AM on July 13

But fundamentalist liberals are about as useless as fundamentalist conservatives.

well, duh. 'Fundamentalist' to me means someone who never thinks but just always follows the party line or tries to bend every occurence to fit thier ideology, and I agree, such people are useless (and worse than that, are boring as hell), but there's less of them than you'd imagine, they just are usually louder than most. And if you're trying to pin that label on Wendell, you are definitely barking up the wrong tree.
posted by jonmc at 10:22 AM on July 13

"You'd think Satan had a nice voice if he agreed to sub for Rush."

And leave his undisclosed location? Heaven forfend!
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:35 AM on July 13

  \ |  __
 _ \| /
  \ |/ 
   \|
    |[!bark!]

posted by philomathoholic at 10:46 AM on July 13 [1 favorite]

I've noticed that roughly half* of Blazecock Pileon's comments consist of telling someone else to leave the site and go back to somewhere he finds disdainful.

I've noticed that roughly 95% of the same brain-dead trolls make or agree with comments like these. Still, if you were going to be a jerk, at least you took it here.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:03 AM on July 13

Troll troll. Troll troll troll troll troll. Troll troll troll.

Troll troll troll troll troll troll troll troll! Troll troll troll troll troll?

Troll.

~Blazecock Pileon
posted by shakespeherian at 11:20 AM on July 13 [1 favorite]

Who's that trip-trapping on my bridge?

sorry
posted by jonmc at 11:25 AM on July 13

He's fulfilling the function in death he was hired for in life: emotional lightning rod. Bush's press secretaries are carefully chosen for their precise mixture of bland entitlement and ignorant audacity. Since they embody the core characteristics of Bush's own administration, their time at the podium functions to create the illusion that those qualities are somehow separate from the institution for which they speak. It's a trick of the light; you stare at the man, jaw agape and carotid throbbing, and forget momentarily the deeper ugliness behind the blue curtain. The slight-of-hand can't be maintained for long, of course. In a year or two, the aura is gone and it's time to bring in another dealer for the next round of constitutional three-card monte.

Or had you thought they hired Snow or Perino because they're pretty?

Thanks for the insult, felix betachat.

Tony Snow is the same as a lawyer defending a child molester. He was an advocate for his client's point of view. You can hate the child molester but the lawyer is just doing his job. I don't agree with the current administration in the least, but Tony Snow was good at what he did and was a father and a human being. Now he is dead.
posted by LoriFLA at 11:27 AM on July 13

jonmc just said mefites are useless. heh. heh.
posted by quonsar at 11:29 AM on July 13 [1 favorite]

Okay, WCM, I accept your explanation. Maybe my sense of smell is way off, but the long paragraph and (IMO) really really wrong quote at the end had the stink of snark bait to me. (I could suggest changing your brand of deodorant, but that would be wrong).

Or maybe I was just blinking up the wrong tree.
posted by wendell at 11:33 AM on July 13

Droll.

Droll, droll, droll.
posted by wendell at 11:35 AM on July 13 [1 favorite]

*drools, drools, drools*

*passes out*
posted by jonmc at 11:42 AM on July 13

Blazecock is not operating here in good faith, and he should be made to go away. What a drama queen.
posted by Meatbomb at 11:44 AM on July 13 [1 favorite]

he should be made to go away.

Why do those words make me think of Billy Mumy and a cornfield? Yep, my sense of smell is WAY off.
posted by wendell at 11:48 AM on July 13

*wobbles unsteadily, half-empty glass in hand* So uhhh the drinking game seems to be goin pretty well and I've got 25 more episodes of Emeril on the dvr, so...carry on then!

(and stop that blinkin shit, my vision is blurry enough as is)
posted by CwgrlUp at 11:51 AM on July 13

Why do those words make me think of Billy Mumy and a cornfield?

Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!
posted by jonmc at 11:58 AM on July 13

jonmc, you Adlepated Amateur, you Babbling Birdbrain, you Blithering Blatherskite, you Caterwauling Clod, you Deplorable Dunderhead, you Floundering Flunky, you Hypertensive Hypochondriac, you Ignominious Ignoramus, you Jabbering Jeremiah, you Know-Nothing Numskull, you Lily Livered Lummox, you Mental Midget, you Monstrous Mountebank, you Nattering Ninny, you Presumptuous Popinjay, you Pusillanimous Pip-squeak, you Ridiculous Roustabout, you Sanctimonious Scatterbrain, you Uncultured Clump (thanks), I was referring to Billy Mumy on The Twilight Zone, not Lost in Space!
posted by wendell at 12:23 PM on July 13

Shaddap, you Alliterative Apoplectic!
posted by jonmc at 12:25 PM on July 13

Thanks for the insult, felix betachat.

Wha? This thread is a swamp already. I didn't intend to add to the foul atmosphere. I was aiming for generalized irony, not focused insult. Sorry if it didn't come off that way.
posted by felix betachat at 12:38 PM on July 13

Sorry, felix. I misunderstood.
posted by LoriFLA at 12:42 PM on July 13

No worries. There's so much shit being flung in this thread already, I should have been more careful with my words.

To be more precise: If you look at the way that Bush's press secretary choices have developed, I think you can see a real trend. Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan were just audacious liars. Straight up "molester advocates" in your analogy. But with Snow & Perino, they added a new quality: both of them look like pharmaceutical representatives or TV anchors. Adding "pretty" to "audacious" helped to patch some of the cracks growing in the administration's facade. And, as I tried to outline above, it focused attention on the person so as to distract from the institution. Ari Fleischer was certainly hated too. But mainly because he was an arrogant jerk. What's going on in people's reactions to Snow and Perino is something much more complicated.

Obviously, none of this is to say that I advocate slinging mud on someone after painful illness and untimely death. But it's no insult to take the measure of a man's life while still respecting the difficulty of his passing.
posted by felix betachat at 12:59 PM on July 13

Blazecock is not operating here in good faith, and he should be made to go away. What a drama queen.

Whatever. At least you trolls aren't shitting in the threads in the blue.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:05 PM on July 13

Remember, I'm coming over to kick all of your asses one by one. It's my MeFi Ass Stompin' Spectacular 08! I'll finance each leg of my ass stompin' tour by robbing the stompees. See you soon!
posted by Burhanistan at 1:20 PM on July 13 [2 favorites]

I completely agree with you, felix betachat.

I knew where you were coming from in the first part of the post upthread, but I thought the last line was directed at me, instead of a general snark. I think I'm a little sensitive today.

Is this thread closed yet? Onward!
posted by LoriFLA at 1:27 PM on July 13

everybody needs a ~~hug~~ colonoscopy.

But I don't need to see the results to know who's full of shit.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 1:35 PM on July 13 [2 favorites]

everybody needs a ~~hug~~ colonoscopy.

As long as you're looking up my ass, can you tell me if my hat's on straight?
posted by jonmc at 2:07 PM on July 13

Could someone explain the #mefi / mefi IRC thing to me? I mean, I understand what IRC is, I understand the concept of a mefi channel on IRC, I just don't understand the bad blood that seems to exist between #mefi-users and some (presumably) non-#mefi-users. It's particularly confusing to the uninitiated because, of course, you can't tell who is a #mefi user and who isn't.
posted by WPW at 2:22 PM on July 13

I just don't understand the bad blood that seems to exist between #mefi-users and some (presumably) non-#mefi-users.

It's because of the war. DON'T MENTION THE WAR!
posted by jonmc at 2:35 PM on July 13

I know, WPW. They could be anyone... anywhere! YOU'RE NEXT! YOU'RE NEXT!
posted by brundlefly at 2:36 PM on July 13

I hereby request a pony:

obit.metafilter.com

(it would be OFi and would be maroon and would have a tagline in Latin: "De mortuis dici...")

Self-links would be encouraged.
posted by anotherpanacea at 2:39 PM on July 13 [1 favorite]

Talk about a big, red button.
posted by netbros at 2:49 PM on July 13

And if you're trying to pin that label on Wendell, you are definitely barking up the wrong tree.
posted by jonmc

My god jonmc used bold, underline, and italics. He's super serious!
posted by Dennis Murphy at 3:16 PM on July 13

I used *blink* too.
posted by jonmc at 3:27 PM on July 13

obit.metafilter.com

I'm totally gonna do that.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:30 PM on July 13

Whatever. At least you trolls aren't shitting in the threads in the blue.

Dude, do you even have an ounce of open-mindedness and introspection?

You remind me of an old fart doing 35 on the freeway. Cars flying past you on both sides, and you're wondering, "What in tarnation is wrong with these maniacs...?"
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:15 PM on July 13

You guys aren't gonna believe this, but I heard that Tony Snow totally died!
posted by kittens for breakfast at 4:36 PM on July 13 [1 favorite]

What a snow queen.
posted by wendell at 5:01 PM on July 13 [2 favorites]

fundamentalist liberal frothing is about as pleasant to read, and about as useful, as fundamentalist conservative frothing.

Granted argendo, what the hell did you think the result would be when you posted the link? Did you think that people who believe Snow was a mouthpiece for a criminal administration would suddenly come together for a moment of silence? And what exactly would that prove if they did? The kindest thing would've been to say nothing at all about Snow's passing--his family is taking care of it, I can assure you. But don't raise the topic and then milk it for all the lame-ass David Broder plague-on-both-houses moral superiority you can wring from it when it goes sour.
posted by octobersurprise at 6:47 PM on July 13

A SHIT OBIT July 12, 2008 4:27 PM Subscribe

A SHIT OBIT
July 12, 2008 4:27 PM Subscribe