October 18, 2016

"There are things he’s said on the bench where if I had a baseball bat, I might have used it."

Said Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The "he" is Justice Scalia.

I guess that's just one more New Yorker demonstrating how people talk in New York. The other one I'm thinking about is Donald Trump. There's hyperbole, humor, casual nonchalance about referring to physical violence. Pussy-grabbing, hitting with a baseball bat — the non-New-Yorkers gasp, but this is how they talk — right?

69 comments:

Sprezzatura said...

It'd be interesting to get specifics from her. What things?

traditionalguy said...

The Gangs of New York are still going strong.

Guildofcannonballs said...

[Recitation:]. D. A. Coe:

The old man was covered with tattoos and scars
He got some in prison and others in bars
The rest he got working' on old junk cars
In the daytime
They looked like tombstones in our yard
And I never seen him when he wasn't tired and mean
He sold used parts to make ends meet
Covered with grease from his head to his feet
Cussing' the sweat and the texas heat
And skeeterz
And the neighbors said we lived like hicks
But they brung their cars for pa to fix anyhow
He was veteran-proud, tried and true
He'd fought till his heart was black and blue
Didn't know how he'd made it through the hard times

He bought our house on the g.i. bill
But it wasn't worth all he had to kill to get it
He drank pearl in a can and jack daniels black
Chewed tobacco from a mail pouch sack
Had an old dog that was trained to attack
Sometimes
He'd get drunk and mean as a rattlesnake
And there wasn't too much
That he would take from a stranger

There were thirteen kids and a bunch of dogs
A house full of chickens and a yard full of hogs
I spent the summertime cutting' up logs for the winter
Trying' like the devil to find the lord
Working' like a nigger for my room and board
Coal-burin' stove, no natural gas
If that ain't country, I'll kiss your ass

If that ain't country,
It'll hair lip the pope
If that ain't country, it's a damn good joke
I've seen the grand ole opry,
And I've met johnny cash
If that ain't country, I'll kiss your ass

[Recitation:]
Mama sells eggs at a grocery store
My oldest sister is a first-rate whore
Dad says she can't come home anymore
And he means it
Ma just sits and keeps her silence
Sister, she left 'cause dad got violent
And he knows it
Mama she's old far beyond her time
From chopping tobacco and I've seen her crying'
When blood started flowing' from her calloused hand and

It hurt me
She'd just keep working' trying' to help the old man
To the end of one row and back again like always
She's been through hell since junior went to jail
When the lights go out she ain't never failed
To get down on her knees and pray
Because she loves him
Told all the neighbors he was off in the war
Fighting' for freedom,
He's good to the core and she's proud
Now our place was a graveyard for automobiles
At the end of the porch there was four stacks of wheels
And tires for sale for a dollar or two
Cash

There was fifty holes in an old tin roof
Me and my family we was living' proof
The people who forgot about poor white trash
And if that ain't country, I'll kiss your ass
If that ain't country, it'll hair lip the pope
If that ain't country, it's a damn good joke
I've seen the grand ole opry,
And I've met johnny cash
If that ain't country, I'll kiss your ass
I'm thinking tonight of my blue eyes
Concerning the great speckled bird
I didn't know god made honky-tonk angels
And went back to the wild side of life

mockturtle said...

I'm a non-New Yorker and I don't gasp. People I grew up with on the West Coast say things like, 'He should be taken out and shot', or 'She should be thrown off a cliff'. Statements like this are certainly not to be taken seriously. I can't even imagine that anyone would.

Wince said...

I guess that's just one more New Yorker demonstrating how people talk in New York... the non-New-Yorkers gasp, but this is how they talk — right?

"I'll shove that bat up your ass and turn you into a popsicle."

Anonymous said...

(Sotomayor grabs own pussy) "Ayyyy! I got your original public meaning right here, pal!"

Big Mike said...

I guess that's the civility for which wise Latinas are so famous.

Sebastian said...

No one gasps at progressives wanting to harm conservatives. It's their basic instinct.

Unknown said...

Remember you did post recently about how Trump's supporters don't take him literally, while the press (claims to) take him at face value.

Static Ping said...

Generally poor taste to make such comments about the recently dead, even if it is a joke. It rarely ever goes over well. To make it work requires doing enough setup to prove that it is good natured or having a rather morbid audience.

Lyle Smith said...

She has to resign... if we're going to be fair.

Speaking of judges, the Mexican judge who sentenced El Chapo to prison was assassinated yesterday while out jogging. It was caught on film. Trump's right, there needs to be a wall.

Birkel said...

So by the standard established with Trump, Sotomayor admitted to assaulting Scalia?

Is it ok since it was not a sexual assault?

Original Mike said...

Charming.

Sprezzatura said...

It's cool that so many very non-NY populations are on the T Train. It wouldn't have been obvious that flyover cons would be into nasty NYers and NJers (DJT, Giulianni, Conway, Christie (and extra help from VA provocateur Bannon)). Likewise, it wouldn't be obvious that the racists would be so attracted to the NY DJT.

I guess the racists like stuff such as birtherism and DJT shout outs:

http://time.com/4418591/republican-convention-white-supremacist-tweet/

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/276919-trump-retweets-another-apparent-white-supremacist

Re the non-racists who like DJT: I dunno. We know that his appeal is strongest w/ the least educated, so beyond his appeal to racists, he's also popular w/ less educated folks. I guess you can look at this as a glass half full if you think that poorly educated folks and racists have some sort of insight that....er....I give up. If you think it's great that poorly educated folks and racists really like djt, we'll just need to agree to disagree, as they say.

Ctmom4 said...

You can take the girl out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of the girl.

gbarto said...

I say we condemn 'em both or overlook 'em both.

Martin Gale said...

Instead she used a pillow.

bagoh20 said...

I think he could take her...
even now.

Dude1394 said...

She is suggesting attempted murder, right??

Sprezzatura said...

BTW, if this quote is going to be compared to DJT's most famous quote wouldn't it need to be adjusted?

"There are things he’s said on the bench where I responded by beating him with a baseball bat. But, he let me do it because I'm a SCOTUS justice."

Lori said...

Maybe the feeling was mutual.

Etienne said...

Wait, wait, that would be a felony.

Sprezzatura said...

"Wait, wait, that would be a felony."

Is it a felony to say "if" such or another, you "might" do something?

Presumably this is not the same as saying you actually did something, and you got away with it because you're a star.

Qwinn said...

I know Althouse is attempting to force us to condemn Trump for his remarks in our desire to condemn Sotomayor for hers.

It's not going to be effective, though, because it's pretty clear that she will continue to condemn Trump while not condemning Sotomayor. She expects us to hold ourselves to consistency, without feeling any need to be consistent herself. That ain't gonna work anymore.

Luke Lea said...

Remember the Jackie Gleason show?

jg said...

i'd like to believe sotomayer is competent and in control of her emotions. so i will do that.

walter said...

Chicago style

Earnest Prole said...

It looks like the Wise Latina learned a thing or two from the Italians

Dave in Tucson said...

You not using your civility bullshit tag anymore, Althouse?

Achilles said...

The democrat party is sad. Their utter hypocrisy and shame is getting a full and open viewing. They are worse than everything they have called us for the last 30 years.

And all they have is a decade old pussy recording. They have flushed their souls down the toilet and for what? Hillary? They are Poor sad pathetic and twisted people without their souls.

Pity will be in order after an honest and decent DOJ gets done with them.

Achilles said...

The unimportant nobody Robert Creamer who organized violent protests and at trump rallies and voter fraud but was fired because democrats really don't do that visited the White House 342 times since 2009.

He only met with Obama 46 times though. Nothing to see here.

Lewis Wetzel said...

". . . if I had a baseball bat, I might have used it."
You sure this isn't a wikileaks thing Hillary said about Bill?

rhhardin said...

Baseball bat because she's a lesbian. Rolling pin is traditional for women.

Brando said...

I've grown up in New York, and still have friends who live there, and no this isn't "typical New York talk." It's just impotent bluster from the frustrated. Sorry Scalia didn't agree with you all the time.

I think if Scalia had said the same thing about Sotomayor we'd be hearing all sorts of outrage. I guess it's adorable when she says it though.

Unknown said...

I was there. It was unquestionably intended and received as a joke. The comment came in the context of Justice Sotomayor talking about how the Court is "a family" that socializes and fights like a family and that grieved as a family when Justice Scalia died. To use this comment to excuse Trump's comments is wrong both morally and factually.

Tommy Duncan said...

When she is out gunned intellectually Sotomayer answers with a baseball bat.

She even reinforces the stereotype that baseball is a Latino sport.

Fritz said...

She can do it. But she hasn't. Just like Trump can grab pussy.

Gusty Winds said...

I'm assuming she was losing the argument with Scalia, and knew it. It obviously still bothers her a great deal. Plus she probably hated the confidence he had in his opinion.

Interesting how her baseball bat fantasy fits right in with the liberal desire to silence opposing arguments. No surprise.

But of course she's liberal so not big deal.

damikesc said...

Yeah, if Scalia said it, I wouldn't have learned about it from Althouse.

gspencer said...

"I mighta used a bat on him"

The knee-jerk deflection to force and violence. It's the Democrat way.

damikesc said...

Can I use a bat on her? She's far more damaging to ME than Scalia was to her?

Fabi said...

I expect that type of language and violent imagery from a prog hack like Sotomayor. She was unable to compete with Scalia on an intellectual level, so she fantasizes about violence. Lefty impotence writ large.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Soto has assault fantasies.

When will Obama denounce? When will the hack press ask Obama to denounce?

Jupiter said...

Jason Steck said...
"I was there. It was unquestionably intended and received as a joke. The comment came in the context of Justice Sotomayor talking about how the Court is "a family" that socializes and fights like a family and that grieved as a family when Justice Scalia died. To use this comment to excuse Trump's comments is wrong both morally and factually."

How was Trump's comment "intended and received"? Trump didn't say he had grabbed anyone's pussy. He said that he could have. Sotomayor said that, if she had had a bat she might have used it. Sotomayor's apparent intention was to indicate that she sometimes got very angry at Scalia. Trump's apparent intention was to indicate that celebrity sometimes has an astonishing effect on people. Your apparent intention is to deny the obvious in the service of your political goals. Are you by any chance a journalist?

Brian said...

Sotomayor never had a reputation for brilliance. Ask Lawrence Tribe.

Her remarks show a kind of temperamental stupidity, in addition to the IQ kind. It's like having an affair with someone you don't feel much for and ruining a marriage. This unwise Latina got a momentary thrill from being "transgressive," but once this kind of incivility spreads to yet another American institution, the Supreme Court, it can be hard to reverse.

SayAahh said...

First Justice Ginsburg. Now Justice Sotomayor.
Under their robes they are human.
Who knew?

Tank said...

Yes, a lot of people talk like that. It's meaningless.

Lewis Wetzel said...


"There are things he’s said on the bench where if I had a baseball bat, I might have used it."
At first I misread "beach" for "bench." I thought "That is odd."

Alexander said...

"There are things he’s said on the bench where if I had a baseball bat, I might have used it."

A Democrat comes out ready to literally play ball with a conservative judge and everyone flips out.

BxBomber said...

I'm a NYer, and while its a rough statement by SS its not literal. It just means she was angry with him. What bothers me about the statement is the man is dead. He cant defend himself. Say you wanted to hit him with a baseball bat when he was alive! Let that old guinea respond. I'm sure he would have said something absolutely appropriate and fitting. She is a coward to wait until he is dead to attack him.

richlb said...

That's just "chamber's talk".

Meade said...

Makes me like Sotomayor more. That empathy thing was all in Obama's imagination.

Meade said...

We could use a president like that. Big bat; soft voice.

damikesc said...

I'm not giving her benefit of the doubt. Conservatives and Trump don't get it...why should she?

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Does anybody go upside anybody's head anymore?

Patrick Henry was right! said...

She should be impeached. Thug government.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Meade,

Soft voice? Five minutes of her Bronx honk and your ears will be begging for anosmia.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Jason Steck said...I was there. It was unquestionably intended and received as a joke.

Oh that's nice, Jason Steck believes we should give a public figure the benefit of the doubt and accept that the context of their statement matters. What a nice privilege to have--to have your jokes taken & treated as jokes! I wonder what that must be like? See I'm not familiar with that myself, Jason, since I'm not on the Left.

It seems like people who want us to "be adults" and extend an assumption of good faith to them & to their political allies would have the common courtesy of extending the same assumptions to us, but for some reason it never seems to work that way, does it?

TrespassersW said...

It's really simple: It's always different if a liberal does it. Always.

robother said...

Ricans and Iteys going at it. Nuthin changes. Hopefully, no blades were switched in Chambers.

Skeptical Voter said...

Wise Latina indeed. Fortunately when it comes to batting, she doesn't rise above the Mendoza line. Indeed when it comes to writing lucid well reasoned opinions, she doesn't come close to the Mendoza line. But she's a wise Latina.

Bay Area Guy said...

The problem is simply one of standards and taste. Sotomayor's comment is totally fine, a mild, colorful expression of frustration with Scalia. In a normal world, I say big deal.

The problem, of course, is that the Left has enacted all these speech codes, formally, at the university, formally at the workplace, and informally, in the culture. If a "perceived" "opponent" (hint: white male Republican) says anything remotely "perceived" to violate these speech codes, well, off with his head.

Remember the bureaucrat who got in trouble for using the word, "niggardly" at the podium?

I'm not giving blanket amnesty to the right for past misdeeds, but in the modern era, the Left is most likely to be the enforces of the thought police.

JackWayne said...

Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh-oh

Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh-oh
Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh-oh

What can you do?
What can you do?
With a brat like that always on your back
What can you lose?

What can you do?
What can you do?
With a brat like that always on your back
What can you lose, lose?

Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh-oh

Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh-oh
Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh-oh

What can you do?
What can you do?
With a brat like that always on your back
What can you lose?

What can you do?
What can you do?
With a brat like that always on your back
What can you lose, lose?

damikesc said...

To use this comment to excuse Trump's comments is wrong both morally and factually.

Explain the difference. Both are either clear hyperbole or both are admissions of plans for assault.

OGWiseman said...

Except Sotomayor referred to what she "might" have done, in a hypothetical situation that can never possibly arise in the future. Donald Trump plainly declared "I do this". That's what made the tape so creepy for me, is how matter-of-fact he was about actually doing it.

mockturtle said...

Ricans and Iteys going at it. Nuthin changes. Hopefully, no blades were switched in Chambers.

'West Side Story' remake.

walter said...

Dave in Tucson said...You not using your civility bullshit tag anymore, Althouse?
--
You're not taking into account the recently revealed rules for "civility bullshit" attribution.


Blogger Meade said...
We could use a president like that. Big bat; soft voice.
--
Kinda what we have now. (And he's a wonderful man that kisses babies)

Zach said...

I said a few days ago that I didn't think Sotomayor had the makeup to be a liberal apostate on the Court, and things like this are why. She's always got to show that she's a member of the team. She doesn't like anybody you don't like, and if you hate them enough she'll start looking for a bat.

It's odd that people concerned about "judicial makeup" don't seem to get worked up about a judge being too much of a team player. The best thing about Scalia is that he wasn't afraid to vigorously dissent from a truly horrible decision.

Gojuplye said...

Didn't Scalia take her to a shooting range so she could understand the gun culture? Seems to me, she really got into the shooting sports. To the point she even went deer hunting.