July 16, 2012

Drudge is back to color with a glowing image of Romney...

... who has — supposedly — "made his decision!" for VP.



Also on the page right now: Column 1: A very skinny-looking Obama with his fists balled up as though he's going to bang on the lectern. The linked story is: "Obama Goes Wild: 'If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen.'" Column 2: Traffic on a road with the sign reading "Avoid London/Area closed," above a link reading "CHAOS: 32-mile backup in London as VIP Games lanes open...." (By the way, don't these London Olympics chaos stories help Romney, the man who saved the Salt Lake City Olympics?) Column 3: A dramatic and somber closeup of Hillary Clinton, above links about Egyptians throwing things at her motorcade. Below the fold in Column 2 is a holdover from Drudge's B&W period: The comedian George Lopez and a link to his routine with the line "Romney Is F***ing Latino, He Won't Admit It..."

104 comments:

shiloh said...

And in other breakin' news, water is wet!

wef said...

drudgeology

shiloh said...

Interesting MSM never mentions Drudge.

traditionalguy said...

Reading the Drudge tea leaves is fun.

If the VP candidate has been selected, then the Media Slandermatic will process that raw material for a couple of weeks giving Romney time to jet ski and visit his money down at Grand Cayman Island.

Or will Mitt make his overdue pilgrimage to Jerusalem and visit Bibi?

Ann Althouse said...

"Interesting MSM never mentions Drudge."

Remember when they were all about how Drudge isn't a journalist and they were so mad at him for bringing attention to stories that they'd decided to kill.

Oh, what trouble he was! They may not talk about him now, but they all look to see what he's elevated to his iconic page.

Anonymous said...

By the way, don't these London Olympics chaos stories help Romney, the man who saved the Salt Lake City Olympics?

Um . . .No!

You are really grasping at straws. What does the London Olympics have to do with the Salt Lake City Olympics?

shiloh said...

Well, at least you do Althouse.

Anonymous said...

Interesting MSM never mentions Drudge.

Yeah, they completely ignored his unsourced and untrue story that Condi was at the top of the VP list.

Oh wait.

Matt Sablan said...

"You are really grasping at straws. What does the London Olympics have to do with the Salt Lake City Olympics?"

-- One is apparently in chaos, the other is a success.

shiloh said...

ok FF, you win as the MSM is pretty damn pathetic lol!

wyo sis said...

Romney's name will forever be associated with the success from failure of the Salt Lake Olympics. Therefore any mention of the Olympics must never allow any reference to Salt Lake. It's as if it never happened.

shiloh said...

Actually, the American tax payer bailed out the mittens Olympics in Utah.

And comparing 2002 Salt Lake City to 2012 London is quite a stretch, but C- for effort.

Matt Sablan said...

Drudge must be living the life though. Drives media crazy, exposed a president's affair. I'd love to get inside his head for a day. But, I think that about most people.

Matt Sablan said...

Oh. One was in America, the other is not. Another reason to avoid talking about the Olympics and the presidential contenders.

wyo sis said...

It's aparently a stretch to compare and contrast. Let's all stop doing that.

shiloh said...

No, please continue to compare mittens to Reagan as hilarity often ensues ...

KCFleming said...

Yeah, Drudge ain't nothin':

Traffic statistics
13.3 million monthly unique visitors
1.9 million daily unique visitors (weekday)
1 million daily unique visitors (weekend day)
797 million monthly page views
2.6 billion monthly ad impressions


Nothing. At. All.

sakredkow said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
shiloh said...

WWE Monday Night Raw averages close to (5) million viewers.

Indeed, compare and contrast lol.

Also, probably why the 'E' network is thriving! :-P

carry on

KCFleming said...

Drudge
Alexa US Rank #79,
lobal Rank #435


NYTimes
Alexa US Rank: #32
Global Rank #109

KCFleming said...

Drudge's got nuthin' I tells ya!!

Nuthin!!

garage mahal said...

Yeah, they completely ignored his unsourced and untrue story that Condi was at the top of the VP list.

You mean the MSM went full in on the Drudge/Romney Condi Rice headfake? What's bizarre is nobody cares that the scoop wasn't even true. It was made up. And they will bite on the next bullshit story from Drudge as this one never happened.

Matt Sablan said...

Journolist: When a conglomerate of influential journalists get together to force a media narrative in one direction. Totally cool.

Drudge: When a single guy aggregates stories and occasionally gets a headline (Lewinsky being the most famous). Totally not cool.

I see some people have interesting priorities.

KCFleming said...

Garage, have you ever been right?
Even once?
Even randomly?
Even in a clock-stopped way?

Seriously.

sakredkow said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Saint Croix said...

The Drudge article that leaped out at me was this one.

Gay sex, hooray! Straight sex, booooooo!

Apparently it's an Ancient Greek Olympics this year. Orgy at 11!

The couple has previously come under fire for Russell Mark’s claims that sleeping pills help him sleep, as well as for Lauren Mark’s provocative photo shoot showing her in a bikini on the cover of a magazine.

Oh these straight perverts drive me crazy. Showing your legs in a magazine. Whore! You and your drug-using husband need to go back to your cave. Hello! It's the UK. And the 21st century.

Oh, here's the photo that sent them into a tizzy.

Sarah Palin! Sarah Palin in the Olympics. And she wants to sleep with Todd!

Right-wing heterosexuals with guns. And bikinis! And sleeping pills!

Matt Sablan said...

Also, Rice was kicked around as a potential VP for McCain. It's really not that crazy a thought that a successful Republican appointee, who by the way, brings excellent credentials to the table, could be the VP. I doubt it is true, but kicking Drudge for media speculation seems kind of silly, when that is the primary means of the media making news most days.

Anonymous said...

but kicking Drudge for media speculation seems kind of silly, when that is the primary means of the media making news most days.

I wasn't kicking Drudge, I was kicking Althouse for pretending the MSM ignores Drudge.

And while Condi would make an interesting choice for VP, repeating Drudge's story and using it as a springboard for speculation was ridiculous because it was completely unsourced and Drudge is known to have a bias and his site is practically an arm of the Romney campaign.

Christopher in MA said...

and his site is practically an arm of the Romney campaign.

So what?

Michael K said...

"And they will bite on the next bullshit story from Drudge as this one never happened."

Yeah, that blue dress story was bullshit, to.

Er, wait.

Brian Brown said...

Freder Frederson said...
What does the London Olympics have to do with the Salt Lake City Olympics?


Remember how Obama personally tried to get the Olympics to be held in Chicago?

Another item in a long list of failures.

Cedarford said...

Freder Frederson said...
By the way, don't these London Olympics chaos stories help Romney, the man who saved the Salt Lake City Olympics?

Um . . .No!

You are really grasping at straws. What does the London Olympics have to do with the Salt Lake City Olympics?
================
Freder always brings the dumb, when he isn't putting the legal 'rights' of Muslim terrorist killers over the lives of US citizens.

Obviously, AA is referring to the serious planning, security, logistics troubles emerging about the upcoming Olympics - how the Brit heads of the Olympic effort have seriously mismanaged the effort.
Which have very good odds if they are a bungled muck-up...to reflect in American minds all summer with how well China did in Beijing, and how well Romney saving and making the Salt Lake City Games a stellar moment. A weeks long, inevitable contrast to the British stab at managing and leading a complex endeavor these days.

Brian Brown said...

Mitt Romney once saved the Olympics. Obama traveled to Denmark trying to bring the 2016 Olympic Games to Chicago. They won't be in Chicago.

Matt Sablan said...

If Drudge is an arm of the Romney campaign, I wonder what we should call the NYT as relates to the Obama campaign.

Anonymous said...

So what?

It makes his exclusive scoops about the inner workings of the Romney campaign suspect.

cubanbob said...

As for Romney's pick for VP, the one absolute certainty is whoever it is, that person won't be as dumb as Slow Joe Biden. Or as cheap as Biden.

Then there is Zero's comment about no one building a business on their own blah, blah, blah. Right because todays business creators are using tools paid for by previous business creators and their employee's taxes which came from salaries created by those business creators. Once again the democrats by their own mouths declare themselves the party of losers and moochers.

Romney ought to release his tax records as soon as (in no particular order) J Effin Kerry releases his (honorableable discharge papers,Zero his college transcripts, his renunciation of dual or triple citizenships and who actually paid for his education along with such luminaries as Wasserman-Schultz releasing her tax returns and foreign investments and same for J Effing Kerry, Boxer and other notable democrat-socialists like B & H Clinton.

And speaking of outsourcing and off shoring why isfundraiseraising in Europe? And why did he sell Chrysler to Fiat?

Matt Sablan said...

Wait. If he's an arm of the Romney campaign, isn't it more likely he'll have inside information? Shouldn't we be LESS suspicious of people with inside information? Or, is this Romney pulling a double secret trick on the world by duping his own arm? Truly, the left arm does not know what the Drudge arm is doing.

garage mahal said...

Remember how Obama personally tried to get the Olympics to be held in Chicago?

And the "patriotic" right cheered when the U.S. was denied. Seems love of their country comes with many preconditions. Oh well.

Matt Sablan said...

Garage: The right did not cheer. We kind of expected that no one in their right mind would want to host the Olympic games in Chicago. It was not a surprise to anyone.

---

Also, if Drudge is an arm of the Romney campaign, shouldn't his information be less (not more) suspect? Or, does the left arm not know what the right arm is doing?

Anonymous said...

A weeks long, inevitable contrast to the British stab at managing and leading a complex endeavor these days.

Which might be relevant if Romney were running for office in the U.K., but he's not. He is running in the U.S.A., how the British mismanage the London Olympics is completely irrelevant to the campaign in this country.

Oh yeah, you're a racist nazi! (since we are apparently adding gratuitous and completely off-topic insults)

Matt Sablan said...

Garage: The right did not cheer. We kind of expected that no one in their right mind would want to host the Olympic games in Chicago. It was not a surprise to anyone.

---

Also, if Drudge is an arm of the Romney campaign, shouldn't his information be less (not more) suspect? Or, does the left arm not know what the right arm is doing?

Matt Sablan said...

Garage: The right did not cheer. We kind of expected that no one in their right mind would want to host the Olympic games in Chicago. It was not a surprise to anyone.

---

Also, if Drudge is an arm of the Romney campaign, shouldn't his information be less (not more) suspect? Or, does the left arm not know what the right arm is doing? -- Last attempt at posting this

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I don't get the claim that Drudge is a journalist. He doesn't write anything other than the headline links to articles actually written by other people.

Sure, he has an interesting mix of links and creates a meme or underlying theme. The juxtaposition of photos and the mix of articles is creative and in a strange way artistic.

There is probably another word for what he does but in the strict sense of the word, Drudge is not a journalist.

shiloh said...

practically an arm of the Romney campaign.

Much like this blog, but on a much smaller scale. Plus Althouse is preaching to the choir!

Cedarford said...

'A weeks long, inevitable contrast to the British stab at managing and leading a complex endeavor these days.'

And maybe Althouse, Drudge, other commentors will see spillover into other comparisons...

While the Brits seemed to have bungled it, their leaders Olympics are less of a bungle than Obama's many mistakes on the US economy...Korean visitors said.

Yes, London is in gridlock, the rain is every other day.....but at least these Olympics were not held in Chicago...where there would be piles of dead bodies and the whole bloody Chicago Olympic Committee under indictment.

Ah, look, there is Michelle and Sash and Malia with some of the Royals and billionaires at the Opening Ceremony. Was that a old fawning Royal that just kissed her hand, or an aged rock star?

Brit tabs report that Obama, a week into the Olympics, has offered the Brits help with security and logistics...he did not like the response...send us Romney instead if he can come!

Brian Brown said...

garage mahal said...


And the "patriotic" right cheered when the U.S. was denied


I bet they did, Idiot.

Really. They did!

Anonymous said...

Also, if Drudge is an arm of the Romney campaign, shouldn't his information be less (not more) suspect?

Have you never heard of disinformation? If you haven't, the Condi Rice as VP story was a classic example.

Known Unknown said...

how the British mismanage the London Olympics is completely irrelevant to the campaign in this country.

Perhaps, but it's still funny.

Known Unknown said...

Blogger is great, isn't it?

Whenever you preview a comment and have entered the correct captcha thing, Blogger assumes it's wrong and makes you enter a new one.

It's only 2012, why would anyone desire nested commentary, HTML formatting buttons, Quotation buttons, Easy linking, etc?

Alex said...

How about Dubya as VP? That will really burn the liberals.

Matt Sablan said...

Ah. So, he is clearly an arm of the Romney campaign being used to spread disinformation, because he linked to a story that Condi Rice -- who has been routinely mentioned as a possible VP candidate for... nearly 6 or 7 years -- was being potentially considered for the VP slot.

What a crafty ruse! So good you were able to see through his disinformation campaign to realize that he also may NOT choose someone who he may choose. Truly, you have seen through this vile, tricky -- nay, almost Rovian -- ploy.

Unknown said...

Mitt Romney once saved the Olympics.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HA

Idiot.

Cedarford said...

Remember how Obama personally tried to get the Olympics to be held in Chicago?

Garage mahal - And the "patriotic" right cheered when the U.S. was denied. Seems love of their country comes with many preconditions. Oh well.

I think it was more relief than cheering. Besides the fact that Rio is way cooler....Chicago promised to be a serious embarassment.
A near-bankrupt city in a near-bankrupt State. A city legendary for Democrat corruption, kickbacks, dead voters. When the hearings happened, black thugs were running the streets beating people to death with 2X4s...everyone in Chicago leadership was under some form of criminal investigation, Blogo and a host of black Congressmen and state senators discussed regarding the ongiong scandal of selling off Obama's Senate Seat.

It wasn't cheering Chicago didn't get the Olympics...It was a sigh of relief.
America had already had some huge blows to our reputation.
Why bring Chicago in, and make it even worse?

Cedarford said...

Alex said...
How about Dubya as VP? That will really burn the liberals.

------------
How about reading the Constitution sometime.

Scott said...

"...they all look to see what he's elevated to his iconic page." [emphasis added]

"Iconic" is such a tired cliche. Were you being ironic, or laconic, or merely moronic?

Anonymous said...

because he linked to a story that Condi Rice -- who has been routinely mentioned as a possible VP candidate for... nearly 6 or 7 years -- was being potentially considered for the VP slot.

Did you read the story he linked to? Please show where in that article it is even implied that Rice is a potential VP choice.

garage mahal said...

I bet they did, Idiot.

Really. They did!


Actually, they did!

"Cheers erupt at Weekly Standard world headquarters," wrote editor John McCormack in a post titled "Chicago Loses! Chicago Loses!"

"Please, please let me break this news to you. It's so sweet," said Glenn Beck on his radio show.

The Drudge Report announced the news like so: "WORLD REJECTS OBAMA: CHICAGO OUT IN FIRST ROUND. THE EGO HAS LANDED."

"For those of you ... who are upset that I sound gleeful, I am. I don't deny it. I'm happy," Limbaugh said. "Anything that gets in the way of Barack Obama accomplishing his domestic agenda is fine with me."

"Hahahahaha," wrote Red State's Erick Erickson. "So Obama's pimped us to every two bit thug and dictator in the world, made promises to half the Olympic committee, and they did not even kiss him. So much for improving America's standing in the world, Barry O."

Lots more where that came from, let me know if you need more proof.

Matt Sablan said...

Freder: If you're unaware that Rice has been kicked around as a potential VP (heck, some people speculated about her for McCain!), then it is your own fault for just not knowing enough about the right. Speculation about Rice is... blase. Calling her a front runner is sensationalistic, but suggesting she's in the running is... realistic.

Brian Brown said...

garage mahal said...


Lots more where that came from, let me know if you need more proof.


You haven't posted any proof.

Notice you didn't post any links.

Want to guess why that is?

Matt Sablan said...

Garage: That all looks more to me like smirking at the president's hubris. Chicago was never a real contender. The fact Obama thought otherwise is amusing though.

Seeing Red said...

Thanks, GM, I'm glad to see I was in good company when Chicago lost.

I laughed myself silly.

It's all gonna turn to dust, the sad thing is our kids & grandkids will pay because we did not keep the Republic.

Brian Brown said...

Actually, they did!

Actually, they didn't.

Your lack of reading comprehension and inability to source information is a poor reflection on you.

Anonymous said...

Calling her a front runner is sensationalistic, but suggesting she's in the running is... realistic.

more like silly and pathetic. She has repeatedly stated that she has no interest in elective politics. As much as certain Republicans constantly tout her, it is nothing but fantasy.

Matt Sablan said...

Lots of people say they aren't considering elective office. In fact, Obama, at one point, said he had no intention of being president. Do you really think these things through?

Matt Sablan said...

PS: I knew you would say that and had the Obama example ready as a counter. I am letting you know this because it, hopefully, means you'll think through your next response more fully.

garage mahal said...

Actually, they didn't.

"Cheers erupt at Weekly Standard world headquarters," wrote editor John McCormack in a post titled "Chicago Loses! Chicago Loses!"

When cheers aren't cheers!

You're a LOLCopter that never quits flying, Jaybird.

Unknown said...

Jay relies on denial to keep facts from entering the bubble in which he lives.

wyo sis said...

I laughed when Obama lost his bid for a Chicago Olympics. It was funny. I laughed when Weiner posted pictures of his penis. It was funny. I laughed when George Bush tried to go out the wrong door. It was funny. It' funny when a person who isn't supposed to make mistakes makes a mistake.
It's even funnier when partisans get all huffy about it.

Michael K said...

The Chicago Olympics story is interesting in that it shows how Obama thinks he is all powerful and can reverse a decision that is already made. Chicago had no chance. The fact that he made a fool of himself was the source of the snickering.

AllenS said...

Rice for VP has been predicted for a long time.

Here is Altscott on March 2, 2006 from the DailyKos.stupid:

Some of you will think this is a stretch but I think this is the start of BushCo's attempt to sell Rice as the next VP as a way of cementing her bid on the 2008 presidential election. Bush gained some respect having the first black female Secretary of State and with Cheney facing so much heat, offsetting it with the first female (and black to boot) VP would wag a lot of dogs.

Christopher in MA said...

and the 'patriotic' right cheered when the US was denied.

So what? The Olympics are a huge pain in the ass to any city that holds them, and generally end up racking up millions of dollars of debt. They're more trouble than they're worth.

And yes, I was glad your Little Black Crackhead got his teeth kicked in. As if a hack like you would refrain from gloating had W been in the same position.

AllenS said...

Freder, one word, waterboard.

Anonymous said...

Some of you will think this is a stretch but I think this is the start of BushCo's attempt to sell Rice as the next VP as a way of cementing her bid on the 2008 presidential election.

Oh yeah, that was back when there was a ridiculous rumor that Bush was going to replace Cheney with Rice for the 2004 campaign.

And how did that Rice 2008 campaign turn out?

Gee, that was a stunningly prescient prediction (the stretch part, not the part that Rice would run for President in 2008)

Brian Brown said...

garage mahal said...


"Cheers erupt at Weekly Standard world headquarters," wrote editor John McCormack in a post titled "Chicago Loses! Chicago Loses!"

When cheers aren't cheers!


Please provide the link to the Weekly Standard story on this.

Thanks.

Brian Brown said...

Jake Diamond said...
Jay relies on denial to keep facts from entering the bubble in which he lives.


You've presented no facts.

Idiot.

garage mahal said...

And yes, I was glad your Little Black Crackhead got his teeth kicked in.

Your hatred of Obama is stronger than your love of country. Confirmed.


I demand an apology from Jay. And Pogo.

jungatheart said...

Cedarford said...

...Obviously, AA is referring to the serious planning, security, logistics troubles emerging about the upcoming Olympics - how the Brit heads of the Olympic effort have seriously mismanaged the effort.
Which have very good odds if they are a bungled muck-up...

-----

Before you posted this I was considering what unforseen incident could occur in the remaining 3 1/2 months before the election...but would a Muslim terrorist incident help or hurt Obama?

MayBee said...

Didn't the official White House blog declare Glenn Beck (by name) unpatriotic for chuckling at the Obamas' failed Olympic sales job?

Oh, here is a taste of it. Remember, this wass the .gov blog.

shiloh said...

Little Black Crackhead

Obama certainly has Chris in MA panties in a bunch.

Alas, such racial hatred is the norm at Althouse.

MayBee said...

Anyway, that Official White House blog entry possibly explains why Glenn Beck might have felt personal glee when Michelle's stories about watching the Olympics on her dad's lap didn't sway the international community.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

shiloh,

Interesting MSM never mentions Drudge.

Not so. I could swear that Drudge came up on ABC's This Week literally yesterday.

edutcher said...

One wonders if it's in relation to this column, which simply points out that, for all the trolls and all the screaming, Axelrod hasn't moved Choom an inch ahead.

As Ms Rubin notes, pretty soon, he'll have to run on his record.

PS I see bathtub swabbie and Freder are keeping the Lefty circle jerk going.

They're either getting paid by the stupid comment

OR

They're auditioning to become the replacement for MSLSD.

shiloh said...

edutcher, I check in every now and then to see if you're still Althouse's #1 sycophant.

Admittedly a total waste of time lol.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

garage mahal,

"Cheers erupt at Weekly Standard world headquarters"

The Weekly Standard, garage, is a small conservative magazine whose writers number twenty or so, and whose total staff I doubt breaks triple digits. It does not have a "world headquarters." Someone was trying to be funny.

wv: 36 ohBar. I'm envisioning a chocolatey Obama-themed edible something in a plastic wrapper. But gluten- and peanut-free.

edutcher said...

Sockpuppets always waste their time.

Christopher in MA said...

I see, garage. Hating Obama means I hate America, too? By that "logic," you should have been executed for treason years ago.

And no, Shiloh, I'm not racist. I hate the Choomster's white half, too.

But do keep it up, you two. You're like Althouse's own Amos and Andy, though not nearly as funny, nor as clever.

jacksonjay said...

Listen to Garage sounding all Romney! "I demand an apology!"

shiloh said...

Chris in MA

Your eyes are full of hate, forty-one. That's good. Hate keeps a man alive. It gives him strength ...

So row well and live.

shiloh said...

jacksonjay

garage was being sarcastic!

take care, blessings

garage mahal said...

Listen to Garage sounding all Romney! "I demand an apology!"

Hahahaha. Fish on!

Christopher in MA said...

The difference, shiloh, is that if I were Judah Ben-Hur and you Quintus Arrius, I'd wrap the chains around your neck and let you drown.

shiloh said...

C in MA

Indeed!

And then you'd be dead and rotting in hell!

btw, thanx for sharing ...

Sal said...

Running mate (Noun) - New friend who can help one flee an uncomfortable news cycle.

dbp said...

That picture of Obama with his skinny arms and balled-up fists makes him look effete and impotent.

garage mahal said...

Christopher in MA is definitely not one of those happy conservatives we talked about the other day. Lovely sentiment.

jacksonjay said...

I got it, Leonard!

edutcher said...

Christopher in MA said...

I see, garage. Hating Obama means I hate America, too? By that "logic," you should have been executed for treason years ago.

Remember, dissent is the highest form of patriotism.

As long as there's a Republican in the White House.

Or there's a war going on.

Or both.

shiloh said...

edutcher has joined the conservative whining parade. Perfect! :)

sakredkow said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Mitt Romney once saved the Olympics.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HA

Idiot."

7/16/12 12:09 PM

Jake Diamond, superb Jay impression!

Rusty said...

garage mahal said...
Remember how Obama personally tried to get the Olympics to be held in Chicago?

And the "patriotic" right cheered when the U.S. was denied. Seems love of their country comes with many preconditions. Oh well.


No. Just laughed at the overweaning hubris. I was embarassed for my country that these machine pols thought that an olympics in Chicago was a foregone conclusion.
You, pathetically, actually believed chicago would get it, didn't you.

leslyn said...

Do I care about Drudge?

On consideration, no.

Drudge, just to put you on notice, I do not prostrate myself in your direction five times a day.

leslyn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
leslyn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.