January 8, 2015

Through a YouTube interview with her grandson, Zach Rodham, Barbara Boxer announces that she won't run for reelection in 2016.



I'm not going to criticize the bad acting that fails to disguise the scriptedness of every word of this. I've only got one thing to say, and I think you know what it is.

Man in shorts! Why in the holy hell is this man — sitting across from his coiffed, bejeweled, and heavily made-up matriarch of a grandmother — wearing shorts? Why is this video framed to include his bulgy, hairy knees squarely in the middle of the long shot? It's winter, and there's a fire blazing in the fireplace.

Do me a favor? Could you put on some pants instead of shorts? It's just a thing. She worked so hard to become your grandmother, so I'd appreciate it. Yes, thank you.

61 comments:

Hagar said...

It's "Kollyfornia!"

Original Mike said...

I'm sorry, I only made it to around 0:45 before I threw up (and it wasn't Zach's shorts).

Seriously. I couldn't handle the self-aggrandizement.

Brando said...

It'll be nice to have her out of the Senate. She's been a particularly ridiculous Lefty, even by modern Democratic party standards.

Obviously she'll be replaced by a Democrat, but hopefully a more moderate one. Considering the state, I could easily see some nutty moron like Maxine Waters getting in there.

rehajm said...

Whatever gets her to retire. Thanks, Zach!

Paul said...

Well she and her husband have ripped off California and the US long enough.

Good riddance.

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...


Ah yes. Senator Toe Thumbs.

Good riddance.

Gahrie said...

One down, two to go......

Anonymous said...

It's a glorious day in California.

Now if only the California Republican party can put up a Republican that isn't Democrat-lite.

Republicans always lose in California Statewide elections because they put up someone that is "electable".

B said...

Good riddance. Why does California produce such insufferable politicians?

furious_a said...

The Boxer-Rodham divorce was mess. Little Brother Rodham a grifter like his Big Sister.

traditionalguy said...

Land of the fruits and nuts and men in shorts.

Will Cate said...

Compared with the video of her "call me Senator" hissy fit, she appears to have aged 15 years. Weird.

Unknown said...

Zach Rodham will one day be Governor of California. And he will probably wear shorts. But...the reason granny isn't running for Senate re-election is that she will next be running for Governor. After all, if Jerry Brown can be Governor, how hard can it be?

B said...

What a hideous display. What kind of relationship do those two have? My family has no wealthy and powerful matriarch so I've never had to humiliate myself like this. Maybe I'm fortunate in that way.

Anonymous said...

Yes, the shorts are awful. As is the contrived conversation.

She calls him her grandchild, not her grandson. He's a child, and he dresses the part by wearing shorts.

Ann Althouse said...

I thought "Rodham" was just a coincidence.

So this character is Hillary Clinton's nephew?!

Ann Althouse said...

This bad actor in shorts is royalty!

Original Mike said...

"So this character is Hillary Clinton's nephew?! "

When they say the Democrats have a shallow bench, it goes deeper than you can imagine.

From Inwood said...

"Today, I consider myself the smartest person on the face of the Earth, OOPS Planet."

Rob said...

No, Ann, his being named Rodham is no coincidence. However, starting in 2017, every child will be required to have Rodham in its name.

rhhardin said...

I'm wearing Bermudas right now, albeit with sweat pants over them as a tribute to negative F temperatures.

Larry J said...

Ann Althouse said...
I thought "Rodham" was just a coincidence.

So this character is Hillary Clinton's nephew?!


As Jeff Foxworthy said, "If your family tree does not divide, you may be a redneck."

Or a career politician.

Julie C said...

Even when I was a democrat I couldn't bring myself to vote for this woman.

F said...

I love that "fighting for the middle class" statement. Barbara Boxer has never known what it was like to be middle class. And her love for the Senate has obviously never included taking seriously the Senate's requirement to pass a budget. Retch.

Ann Althouse said...

Zach is still in college, with a graduation date of 2017, so I don't think she's stepping down so he can run.

But using him for that interview... seems like she's trying to launch him.

It had some of the vibe of Luke Russert on "Meet the Press." Stiff but entitled. Blecch.

gerry said...

I didn't bother to watch the video.

Did he manspread?

paminwi said...

Please do not blog about her again unless you are telling us who her pallbearers are.

Michael said...

No comment about the fact that the grandson is manspreading?

Anonymous said...

Good riddence to bad rubbish.

Skeptical Voter said...

Don't get cocky kids. The People's Republic of California is getting ready to serve up Kamala Harris as Baghdad Bab's replacement.

She's got it all; youngish --50--good looking--exotic, but politically acceptable parentage--mother was from India, father was from Jamaica. She's got smooth light skin like Obama and doesn't speak Ebonics unless she has to. [Slow Joe Biden and Harry Reid will like that.]

Born in Oakland (although not in the ghetto since her mom was a doctor) she showed she was down with the brothers by going to Howard University for undergrad work. She then came back to the Bay Area and went to Hastings Law School in San Francisco.

She's screwed her way to the top. Bill Clinton will like that.
As a young Deputy District Atorney in Oakland, her boyfriend was Assembly Speaker (and later San Francisco Mayor) Willie Brown. Better government appointments came her way as a result.

She was San Francisco D.A. for two terms, then was elected California A.G. in 2010. She's waiting to decide what to do next--Senator? If she wants it, Boxer's seat is hers. Governor? Her term as AG will be up just as Governor Moonbeam shuffles off to the old folks home? SCOTUS? She's reputed to be on Obama's short list if he gets an appointment.

Basically you just can't vote against a female half black, half Asian hybrid--and hold your head up in coastal California.

You heard it here first.

richardsson said...

Zach's father is a real piece of work, as furious_a's link points out. In the last days of Bubba, he was living in the White House and dining on the Fats Waller diet (6 whole chickens a day.) Royalty? I'd say hillbilly royalty. I'm not a robot.

furious_a said...

Further Kamala Harris...

she showed she was down with the brothers by...

...not seeking the death penalty for a black gangbanger who murdered a San Francisco policeman.

Harris has got it all...

Bilwick said...

"love that 'fighting for the middle class' statement . . ."

I love the crocodile tears that "liberals" (and by "liberals" I mean of course "tax-happy, coercion-addicted, power-tripping State-f*ckers") are now required to shed for the middle class. I remember when upper-income neo-Marxist "liberal" sophisticates used "middle class" and "bourgeois" were put-down terms. (Remember the days of "Radical Chic"?) Now it's all "Lo, the Poor Middle Class." When did the party line change?

furious_a said...

So this character is Hillary Clinton's nephew?!

Yes, Professor. The marriage was was all the buzz in D.C. -- Rose Garden wedding -- and helped the Arkansas Clintons earn social cred with Washington society.

Marriage lasted two years.

Bob Ellison said...

I still think she's kinda hot.

Bob Ellison said...

"Zach, I have about a thousand accomplishments. And I'm gonna post a hundred of these at Barbaraboxer.com."

What a self-centered jerk!

Chance said...

I recently saw the Woody Allen movie Whatever Works; in the opening scene, it features Larry David in a severe men in shorts violation that made me think of Althouse.

Big Mike said...

Democrats are a rather inbred lot, aren't they?

SteveR said...

There is no improvement in the sense that a devout Californicating Liberal will take her place, but hopefully in the minority.

But Boxer, an idiot by most standards, was useful to the right since you could always say "well there's this"

richard mcenroe said...

Dear Barbara AND STAY OUT!

Mark Caplan said...

Barbara Boxer's daughter, Nicole, is 13 years younger than her ex-husband, Anthony Rodham (Hillary Clinton's brother). The couple produced Zach Rodham.

chickelit said...

Good riddance.

Humperdink said...

Dumber than a Boxcar full of hammers.

Julie C said...

I've never liked a single resident of Marin county. I had one for a roommate once and she and all her Marin friends were the biggest bunch of obnoxious, coke-snorting liberals I ever met.

Marty Keller said...

Buh bye, Babs. While your successor will vote just like you, we can only pray s/he will be far less obnoxious and self-righteous (well, I can dream, can't I?).

Bob Ellison said...

I wear shorts every 24 hours. Mostly because I have an insulin pump. But I like shorts, too. I'm not trying to show off my legs; they're short.

If I were, say, Jennifer Aniston, I'd wear shorts everywhere, because that would be my business: showing off great legs.

Sam L. said...

Long, long. looooooong Overdue!

Danno said...

That video with Zach was enough to gag me, and I only got through the first 55 seconds. This clearly was not a "shorts appropriate" situation, and boy did the shorts make him look juvenile. Please leave the shorts for the heat of summer in casual situations. Or bike rides.

The Godfather said...

What a phoney!

I don't mean Zach. He looks like a doofus in those shorts, but cut him some slack -- he's a kid.

@Alhouse: if Zach's shorts are the thing you focus on in this interview, you're not paying attention.

I lived in south Florida for six years, and I wore shorts almost all the time (not for fancy dinners -- it's not Bermuda), but certainly never for an occasion like this.

@ Julie C: I have a good friend who lives in Marin Co. -- indeed, he MOVED there -- and he's nonetheless a good guy. Let's not stereotype.

I am still not a robot

Birkel said...

As a feminist, I wonder about all these Californian women who marry really rich guys and run for political office. What a grand achievement.

But shorts is the important thing.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Julie C,

Hey! I lived in Marin County for about a decade. Granted, the majority of that was in Novato (if you squint it almost looks like Petaluma), but four of those years were in San Rafael, which is pretty much Marin Central.

Really, we are not all soulless, pneumatic, coke-snorting bimbos. A solid, oh, 10% of us never do coke at all, for one thing.

Enh, who am I kidding? I left Marin four and a half years ago. Salem is definitely more my speed.

Francisco D said...

Here's the really important question: Who will now take the title of "Dumbest US Senator?"

Forget the obvious answer (Patty Murray) and think of other possibilities


For those who gave been hibernating, Joe Biden is VP, no longer a senator.

Eric said...

The Senate's average IQ will almost certainly increase with her departure, but our current political class can do some amazing things.

retired said...

Boxer is so bad that the SF Chronicle wouldn't endorse her.

But up next is probably Kamala Harris, willie brown's ex-mistress likely affirmative action beneficiary and former SF city atty who might not be as stupid as Boxer.

Rich boy alcoholic adulterer law breaking former SF Mayor now Lieut. Gov Gavin Newsom is Jerry Brown's hand-picked successor.

If you're a plain old married your college sweetheart and stayed sober played by the rules worked your way up the ladder kinda guy/gal, there is no room for you in Cali Dem politics

No nutty womanizing latino socal union organizers ex LA mayors who couldn't pass the bar need apply.

retired said...

And no way no how could any republican win the Cali senate seat.

Perhaps when the next total state meltdown hits they would elect a rino like the Guvernator. But only if he is as libertine as his democratic brethren.

retired said...

Dumbest US senator?
Corey Booker, ex college football player, can't even tell us who his girlfriend is. did nothing for Newark when he was mayor.

He is following Obama's playbook. Look good, say nothing, do nothing, just run for office and hope they pick you for VP based on...

I know Stanford football players and they aren't all smart.

chillblaine said...

Wife and I have a game called "cargo shorts" that we play when we go to events. Whoever sees a fella in cargo shorts has to call it first to get a point. At the Pageant of the Masters I won 8-2.

Yes the game was inspired by the Althouse tag.

chillblaine said...

Bermuda shorts, and other non-cargo shorts are not allowed to be called, and result in a point deduction. Unless we are playing Aussie Rules and then carpenter shorts are two points.

el polacko said...

can boxer's grandson have a little chat with pelosi now ?

el polacko said...

p.s. i'm a californian who wears shorts year-round because they are comfortable in our warm climate. hope that doesn't get me banned from commenting here.

William said...

Demonspawn. Don't introduce that kid to Lena Dunham. She'll probably encourage him to get tats to show off his legs and maybe drop a sex video with her in order to refurbish the family's reputation.. .......Barbara Boxer had a better surgeon than Pelosi, but Feinstein is still the champ......You seldom see that many cringe worthy moments in such a short space of time. I mean the woman's only lived eightys years.