May I present a new word to the MRWD contemplative lexicon?

Hathos: (HAY.thohs; TH as in thin) n. The attraction to something you really can't stand; it's the compulsion of revulsion. Feelings of pleasure derived from hating someone or something.
—hathotic adj.

Coined by Alex Heard, I think it could have a nice place here. It perfectly describes the love of bad folk media and the majority of works in our little archive.


Here's a jump to a Hathos homage. Also: An entry from Andrew Sullivan's blog illustrating a Christmas hathos.

I found this Nigerian plea on the blog of our friend Christopher Hayes. For those who don't know Chris, he's a feature writer for The Nation where he penned a fantastic cover article about the right-wing forward movement and this site in particular. Article here. Blog link here. -m

----begin urgent business proposal ----

Dear American:

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.

I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.

This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.

Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.

Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson

"A new study out of Yale University confirms what argumentative liberals have long-known: Offering reality-based rebuttals to conservative lies only makes conservatives cling to those lies even harder. In essence, schooling conservatives makes them more stupid. From the Washington Post article on the study, which came out yesterday"