December 9, 2010

"Outside Madison's city limits... Althouse is largely known as the smugly inscrutable blogger with a platinum bob."

From a piece in The Daily Cardinal identifying me as the 10th "most influential figure" in Madison.

Is Althouse smugly inscrutable?
Yes!
She's inscrutable but not smugly so. But she is smug nonetheless.
She's inscrutably smug.
She's inscrutable but not smug.
She's smug but not inscrutable.
  
pollcode.com free polls

I couldn't find a list of the top 10, but you can see them all at this search. The mayor, Dave Cieslewicz, is #1. Barry Alvarez is #3....

70 comments:

kent said...

"Smug"... "pragmatic." Such a fine line, really. Comme ci comme ca.

former law student said...

Today's lesson: The readership finds the professor all too scrutable.

New York said...

When the lefties complain that they can't grok AA, it's mostly due to their poor reading comprehension. Occasionally it's due to epistemic closure.

I voted for "smug"

AllenS said...

How many people from Madison actually comment on your blog?

Famous Original Mike said...

The writer is a racist. Using code words to elicit an unflattering WWII stereotype of Americans of Japanese descent. "You inscrutable Americans!"

chickelit said...

Scrutiny On The Bounty

Ann Althouse said...

Oh, I forgot "not smug or inscrutable"! LOL.

MDIJim said...

If people in Madison read your blog they are going to start coming to you with complaints about street cleaning and trash removal.

Can you fix parking tickets?

Ann Althouse said...

"How many people from Madison actually comment on your blog?"

They don't even comment on my blog when they see me in person. Unless suppressed seething counts as a comment.

chickelit said...

How many people from Madison actually comment on your blog?

Bill Lueders is Alpha Fiberal.

Disprove that.

Daniel Fielding said...

Ann- you are neither smug, nor inscrutable. Very smart is what you are.

And I am proud that you are a fellow Wolverine alum.


@AllenS: probably none, except for the few crazy "leftist/progressive" trolls who like to chime in now and then to abuse Ann and all the regulars here.

MadisonMan said...

Most influential in Madison, Nationwide, or some weird mix? I can see how Mayor Dave (love the new siding on his house, btw) is influential in Madison, but nationwide? Not so much. I can see how althouse is influential nationwide. But in Madison?

AllenS, I'd say about 10 do.

Ann Althouse said...

"If people in Madison read your blog they are going to start coming to you with complaints about street cleaning and trash removal."

Yeah, good point. I may be an influential person in Madison, but I'm not an influential person in Madison. I mean, I'm in Madison, and I'm influential, but I'm not influential in Madison. Which is fine. Nobody who's actually near me should try to get anywhere through me. I keep my distance from my influencees.

Triangle Man said...

AllenS, I'd say about 10 do.

If you include the whole metropolitan area.

Ann Althouse said...

It seems to me that the governor is *in* Madison. Why didn't he count? If his sphere of influence is at the state level and that excludes him from the list, why am I on the list?

Scrutineer said...

Mischievously ambiguous?

MadisonMan said...

I'm in Madison, Irene, k*thy, one of the Mikes. Althouse, Meade. That's 6. Froggy is 7. Hmm. Alpha Liberal is from Madison, too I think -- I don't think it's Bill Lueders though.

I'm sure I'm forgetting people.

garage mahal said...

I think I'm the only one representing the east side.

Bob said...

I noticed the missing "Neither smug nor inscrutable" right away, as it would have been my first choice. "Ineffably elfin" might come closer to describing you.

Misty said...

So you're influential, but not influential influential. :)

Anonymous said...

Certain not inscrutable, because I've "scruted" you.

You're incessantly self-interested. Nothing wrong with that.

So, you are obsessed with set-asides and quotas for woman, and with getting gays in the military, because those issues fit your self-interest.

Issues that involve blacks, Hispanics, Asians? You have no personal connection, and thus no self-interest to prosecute. So, you barely mention these groups.

You don't like to part with your money. I agree with you here. So, you want the government to be fiscally responsible.

Unfortunately, your support for set-asides and quotas cannot be reconciled with your desire for fiscal responsibility.

And, more than anything, you like to talk about yourself and for other people to talk about you.

You've been "scruted."

And just to dig a bit deeper, the Prophet Dylan appeals to you because he gave you a deeply intellectual rationale for screwing around, which was what you wanted to do in the first place.

A nice white girl from the suburbs doesn't just screw around because she wants to get down in the mud.

So, there you go. Completely "scruted."

Kirk Parker said...

"suppressed seething"

Is this an inscrutable bid for the "Palin Factor"--i.e. you make the right heads explode? :-)

Anonymous said...

And, I would suggest the right answer:

"Smug and completely transparent."

Unknown said...

I don't anyone who reads her objectively can justify the smugness thing. That's coming from Lefties who are mad because she's dissed a lot of their own the past couple of years.

former law student said...

Today's lesson: The readership finds the professor all too scrutable.

Well, Meade certainly does.

Famous Original Mike said...

The writer is a racist. Using code words to elicit an unflattering WWII stereotype of Americans of Japanese descent. "You inscrutable Americans!"

Also applied to the "Heathen Chinee".

Ann Althouse said...

"If people in Madison read your blog they are going to start coming to you with complaints about street cleaning and trash removal."

Yeah, good point. I may be an influential person in Madison, but I'm not an influential person in Madison. I mean, I'm in Madison, and I'm influential, but I'm not influential in Madison. Which is fine. Nobody who's actually near me should try to get anywhere through me. I keep my distance from my influencees.


Now that's inscrutable!!!

shoutingthomas said...

Certain not inscrutable, because I've "scruted" you.

He who hath scruted in his heart...

PS Love that "incredibly elfin", Bob.

MadisonMan said...

Sorry garage! I forgot you. How did that happen!

The Crack Emcee said...

Talk about bad timing! That's kinda sad, considering the EE blowup.

As far as smug or inscrutable, I voted for smug. NewAgers ain't hard to figure out.

Chip Ahoy said...

Inscrutable is such a strange adjective to apply to blogger who lays it all out in detail through multiple posts without missing a day for years.

'Smug' is a normative alternate of positive 'confident.'

Clyde said...

Does anyone else get a deja vu feeling when they see the GEICO commercial with the gecko saying, "I wouldn't want to be Stanley!"

Calypso Facto said...

Wait a minute, Garage, did you forget we're practically Monona neighbors? And I take it Monona counts as Madison in this exercise...

Clyde said...

Although I have to say, I miss the cavemen...

garage mahal said...

@Calypso
I did forget. Sorry!

When is the Madison meetup anyway>?

Phil 314 said...

Everyday I ask myself:

What would folks in Madison, Wisconsin do?

In fact I wear a wrist bracelet with the initials:

WWMWD

traditionalguy said...

The college atmosphere is a rarified super intellectual one. Your IQ is not in question there so much as your politics. The Madison guys probably like you, but they are afraid that by the group think rules your approval of Rush Limbaugh's skills will rub off on them too. You have Limbaugh cooties.

Phil 314 said...

Funny as I contemplated the phrase "smugly inscrutable" I thought of

him

former law student said...

Dang! Now "inscrutable" is well in the lead.

Perhaps constant readers find her scrutable while she mystifies more casual or itinerant readers.

Scott M said...

"Outside Madison's city limits... Althouse is largely known as the smugly inscrutable blogger with a platinum bob."

That's crap. Smugly or not, I've always thought of AA as immensely scrutable. Frankly, I always thought the hair was more of a platinum Tom.

He's nuts.

The Drill SGT said...

She is still a moderate conservative in Madison,

Only in Madison are Obama voters considered conservatives.

The liberals there vote the straight Communist party ticket.

Ann Althouse said...

New Age is to Crack as Satan is to the kind of Christians who are Crack-like about Satan.

Crack, don't you realize that you've made a New Age cult out of your fight against the New Age devil?

Remember, "devil" spelled backwards is "lived," and "New Age" is an anagram for "wee nag."

David said...

I would have voted "all of the above."

Women are inherently complex and contradictory.

ricpic said...

What's inscrutable about someone who will pull the lever a second time for Obama should his opponent be Palin? A perfectly predictable beautiful person revulsion for genuine conservatism will kick in. Watch and learn.

Opus One Media said...

boob (husband)

Michael Haz said...

That list is not in the least valid. Were it valid, the name J.J. Watt would appear as the most influential person in Madison.

A phone call from J. J. Watt would be returned well before a phone cal from any of the other so-called influential people in Madison.

The Crack Emcee said...

Ann,

New Age is to Crack as Satan is to the kind of Christians who are Crack-like about Satan.

Well, that at least explains why Traditional Guy and I get along so well. That and all the people NewAgers kill. Those deaths as the kind of fact I expect NewAgers to overlook as they defend themselves and their beliefs. As unsentimental as you've claimed you are about other's deaths, that should be easy, right?

Crack, don't you realize that you've made a New Age cult out of your fight against the New Age devil?

When you talk nonsense, you really talk nonsense. In order for me to make a NewAge cult, there'd have to be a group of us doing it, and there ain't. I told you, I'm the only one who covers the whole thing, and not just one aspect of it. So, once again, you're wrong in your defense. I, on the other hand, can tie you to lots of stupid people believing stupid shit - and even forcing it on the rest of us, as cults will do.

Stop while you're ahead, Ann, you can't win this one. I knew you were a NewAger from that day you were going on about spirits in your house. Any lawyer dumb enough to believe in spirits has to be a NewAger. The rest, like voting for Oprah's candidate, has just been gravy. Talk about a cult - who were you grouping with then?

I hope everyone's noticing how hard it is for NewAger's to admit when they're wrong. They'll say and do anything. That's what makes them dangerous.

Remember, "devil" spelled backwards is "lived," and "New Age" is an anagram for "wee nag."

I have no doubt you've lived. What's next - lessons in numerology?

Roger J. said...

Gotta tell you Professor--you simply are not as brilliant nor beautiful as you think you are--
Post your observations and bag the begging for adulation phase of your career--you are becoming a madison version of maureen dowd and it isnt very attractive.

Big Mike said...

Hey! I'm glad that you belatedly (at 10:13) realized that you need to start including "None of the above" in your tongue-in-cheek polls. While you can sometimes be smug, it's seldom enough that it can't be listed as a genuine characteristic.

And Meade, for one, found you to be perfectly scrutable.*

But shouldn't The Cardinal try to bring on staff writers who passed freshman English? It's "revulsion towards," not "repulsion for."
_______________________

* Yes, I know that "scrutable" is not a word. I refudiate anyone who disagrees with my invention of the term.

Trooper York said...

Inscrutable?

What you look Chinese now?

Anonymous said...

Althouse is married.

She can't be inscrutable.

Gabriel Hanna said...

@Ann Althouse:I'm in Madison, and I'm influential, but I'm not influential in Madison.

Not without honor except in her own country?

Crack, don't you realize that you've made a New Age cult out of your fight against the New Age devil?

No, he hasn't. He's passionate about it, but that's not the same as being in a cult. Words mean something.

chickelit said...

Roger J. said...
--you are becoming a madison version of maureen dowd and it isnt very attractive.

I thought that was the plan?

Trooper York said...

HDHouse said...
boob (husband)

Boy hd that is uncalled for. What did Meade ever do to you. Do you really think he influences the blogger lady that much. I don't.

She is definitely her own person with her own ideas. It's just that conservative ones are the right ones. If you don't believe me....ask your boy Barry. He just signed on to W's whole agenda. Hee.

chickelit said...

Remember, "devil" spelled backwards is "lived," and "New Age" is an anagram for "wee nag."

Did you know that diva spelled backwards is avid?

Freeman Hunt said...

Sweet. Please use your position to influence Madisonians to vote better.

Trooper York said...

Roger J. said...
--you are becoming a madison version of maureen dowd and it isnt very attractive.

Wow. Brother that's pretty tough there. Are you feeling all right?

AllenS said...

SnellA

egarag

Roger J. said...

Trooper--have been a bit off my feed lately--old age, irritable colon and all of that--happens when you get older--

but I do stand by my snark.

Garry Owen sir.

BJM said...

Gees, Emma, condescend much?

I read all ten and Althouse was the only notable, including the other blogger and women, who was identified by the cut & color of her hair.

Ah...the burdens of the blond bombshell in academe, eh Althouse?

Ironically, Roller's fumbling of the Limbaugh quote proves his point.

Unknown said...

edutcher --

"I don't anyone who reads her objectively can justify the smugness thing."

Cough, 'trillion'.



Bit Mike --

Hate to burst your invention bubble.

Webster's Unabridged:

scru·ta·ble, adj.
capable of being understood by careful study or investigation.
[1590–1600; < L scrut(ar) (see SCRUTINY) + -ABLE]

Unknown said...

Crap - Sorry. Big Mike.

Meade said...

"...the 10th 'most influential figure' in Madison."

Yeah but how does Mayor Dave look in a platinum bob?

Meade said...

Big Mike said...

"And Meade, for one, found you to be perfectly scrutable."

Very true, Big Mike, although now that the relationship has entered its second full year, we seem to be using the table more and more for just simple straight up dining.

Big Mike said...

@Oligonicella, well it wasn't in my old, dog-eared American Heritage Dictionary.

Probably should have looked it up online.

@Meade, more information than I needed to know.

(You old dog.)

traditionalguy said...

@ Crack...The Professor is taking you on about seeing a cult behind every rock. The Christians that believe Satan exists also can begin to see Satan behind every rock. Those Christians have to be careful not to be tricked into falsely accusing innocent people of being under Satan's influence. So you too have to be careful of accusing innocent people of being in a cult when they think different from you. A cult is an isolated group under the mind control of a false Prophet/teacher. The essence of thinking for ourselves is that we are not in a cult. That said, you and I do think alike by reason of your taking Cult Power as a serious opponent and myself doing the same with Satanic Power. We don't win these fights alone and we need all the allies we can get. So raise your game on enemy recognition. Everybody has a piece of truth to share if they are free to think and speak.

MamaM said...

I go for Inscrutably Provocative.

Your ability to stand and invite or call forth comment from all quarters amazes me.

The poll choices (and even distribution of votes) made me laugh, in appreciation for your continued willingness to confound, provoke, invite, challenge, irritate and inspire your readers.

The Crack Emcee said...

Tg (Hey, Buds - high five),

The Professor is taking you on about seeing a cult behind every rock. The Christians that believe Satan exists also can begin to see Satan behind every rock. Those Christians have to be careful not to be tricked into falsely accusing innocent people of being under Satan's influence. So you too have to be careful of accusing innocent people of being in a cult when they think different from you.

I was wondering, both, when you were going to get involved here, and B) when I was going to have to point out the nuance- I called Ann a NewAger but never said she was in a cult.

Of course, between you and I (since I know you get it) we know NewAge is a cult, but a huge, dispersed, world-wide amalgam of things - not like what Tom Cruise and Kirstie Ally are involved in.

My point is (and you know this) one can be a NewAger, today, without being a cultist - which I never accused Ann of - she started with the you're-a-cultist bullshit (which shows her ignorance of the subject) so I'm just happy to let her keep hanging herself until she comes to her senses and asks me a question rather than defending herself. I mean, we are friends, right? If I need to know something about law, would I not go to her? If I needed to know something about religion, would I not come to you? Why must she place herself on a pedestal, throw out all these bullshit attacks - and lame defenses - all because she refuses to say, "O.K., fine - you know this subject better than I do - what makes me a NewAger?"

It just seems pretty stupid from where I sit.

But, then, that's the problem with a lot of so-called "smart" people.

You stay up:

You've got a hardcore atheist who's always pulling for you.

Anonymous said...

Althouse, somehow you manage to be not only both inscrutable and scrutable, but quite ineffable and eminently effable as well (although not with the same people). Fortunately, you're also impregnable.

chickelit said...

Hmmm, does Crack read twitter?

The Crack Emcee said...

chickelit,

Hmmm, does Crack read twitter?

I've got a Twitter account (posted this morning) but I've only followed one guy - Detonantor Kemrexx - and he hasn't posted anything since, like, 1932!

Why do you ask?

Anonymous said...

murgatroyd666 wrote the winner:
"Althouse, somehow you manage to be not only both inscrutable and scrutable, but quite ineffable and eminently effable as well (although not with the same people). Fortunately, you're also impregnable."

The play's the thing!

Mr. Forward said...

""How many people from Madison actually comment on your blog?"

They don't even comment on my blog when they see me in person. Unless suppressed seething counts as a comment."

Exactly. That's why Althouse is influential. This is Wisconsin and we think these things but we never say them. Althouse's blog does for Midwesterners what the
water pump did for Hellen Keller.

traditionalguy said...

Juba...We are enrolling you in Team Shakespeare.