From one shameful pastime to another...

I read an article close to ten years ago in George (remember JFK’s political magazine with that famous cover of Crawford dressed up as George Washington?) entitled “America’s Shameful Pastime.” The story featured several disturbing images of young black men (and some women, too) dangling from anything – a tree, a bridge – that could support the weight of America’s strange fruit: the dead, often mutilated, mangled, and castrated bodies of young black men. And almost every image, every gruesome death had a story. The characters changed, but the plot was predictable: an ‘inappropriate’ glance or display of pride, accusations of rape and other lascivious crimes, theft, etc. The crowds would converge to watch the public executions. Oh, and they would watch, their faces plastered with smiles. Most had a look of sheer unadulterated joy, blood lust.

I got to thinking about all of this – the terror and violence which, in its own way, articulated and quelled the fears of many white southerners – as I read articles and watched interviews regarding the scandal surrounding the dismissal of Shirley Sherrod. To be fair, lynching and unjustified public outrage and backlash are not the same. But her harsh treatment by the mainstream media, the careless response of the White House and the NAACP, and the shenanigans of the Tea Party should serve to remind us that, contrary to all this talk of a ‘post-racial America,’ we are an America mired in the discord and acrimony brought on by racism. And we’ve come to a dangerous place where racists – and let’s face it, the Tea Party is a racist organization – have become the arbiters of what’s racist and what’s not. They define racist. Then they sit back and watch as we punish the ‘racists’.

And I guess I can’t help but to wonder if we’ve become that crowd. Do we gather to look on as someone is metaphorically lynched and flogged because they’ve been accused of a crime they’re not guilty of? Is this how we articulate our unspoken fears about race (that it exists amongst blacks and whites, that it still matters, that we still don’t know the full and ugly history of the Jim Crow South, that many crimes from that era have gone unpunished, etc.)? If we are to become a post-racial America (electing Obama is not enough), mustn’t we also acknowledge that we have been, and sometimes still are, a racist America?

How long will this, our shameful pastime, last?

More Like This, Please

The Senate is going to vote today to extend unemployment benefits. With new West Virginia Senator Carte Goodwin being sworn in Democrats now have 60 votes to break a (mostly) Republican filibuster. However, the vote is also coming after President Obama decided to actually press the Senate to act and called out Republicans for blocking the extension.

As I've said before, even if more cannot be done regarding stimulus and aide to the unemployed due to the suckiness of the Senate, the President should at least let it be known what he wants done and where he stands.

That's so compassionate of you!

Shorter Christian Evangelicals: "We support immigration reform as long as it doesn't help the gays."

Some things never change.

Maybe people read my blog after all

Apparently I'm not the only one who sees parallels between the build up to the invasion of Iraq and the sudden onset of deficit-phobia gripping the nation's elites.

The baffling thing about this is that it seems like most Democrats in congress and even the White House know that this is wrong, but there seems to be no will to do anything about it. I understand that the filibuster in the senate limits the actions the government can take, but surely there are ways around this like budget reconciliation. And even if there isn't, the President could at least be sounding the alarm. He's comfortable telling the Europeans why they're being stupid, he should do that same to the senate. At least before the Iraq War there were plenty of Democrats raising hell. Now the White House's position of doing nothing is the better alternative to the Republicans' plan to cut spending resulting in higher unemployment or the Germans' commitment to tight money, destroying the economies of several major countries in the European Union.

Think I'll just move to Argentina. They have cheap steak and booze and let gays get married down there.

Whores

I fail to see what was so awful about what Eliot Spitzer did while governor of New York. So he saw some high class proostitoots? BFD.

He decided to resign in order to spare his state the trouble, I suppose, and for that his name is always preceded by the adjective: "disgraced."

Our New Retarded Economic Consensus

So the western democracies need to get their fiscal houses in order to increase confidence in the bond markets so these countries can keep borrowing at low interest rates, even though interest rates are at historic lows now. Seems to me it would be irresponsible to not keep borrowing now in order to bring the economy to a stage of robust growth and to maybe give some people some jobs. Furthermore, I'm not sure why it's become conventional wisdom that sky-high unemployment caused by a double-dip recession brought on by premature fiscal austerity is going to fill bond markets with confidence.

I feel now about the same way I felt on the run up to the Iraq War. I haven't felt very bloggy lately because it seems that the Great Minds of our society have all gone batshit-crazy, and even my mighty blog posts are powerless to turn the tide.

My greatest hope is that the midterms, whatever happens, will let some of the steam out and the Very Serious People will realize that 10% is not something the country just has to "live with for a while."

But I'm not optimistic.

They have a Wendy's

CNNMoney decided it would make a listicle about the 100 BEST PLACES TO LIVE 2010!...whatever that means. I perused the list and found it to be the usual mix of boring small towns and strip mall banality, but what caught my attention is that Missouri City, TX made the list...at 21!

I'm so old I remember when Mo' City was just a shitty hellhole wedged between Houston and Sugar Land. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against hellholes, in fact I often prefer them, but Missouri City combines the worst attributes of suburbia and southwest Houston. Apparently now this is what communities should strive to become.

Drill, Baby, Drill

Offshore drilling is now completely safe and environmentally friendly.

Why Sovereign Default In The Eurozone Will Be Bad For The United States

One effect of the possible sovereign default of Greece could be a major decline in the value of the Euro compared with the dollar. While this might please the dollar fearmongers of the world (it's fallinggggg!!!!!), it's actually a very bad thing. Yes European travel might be more affordable, but it will do major damage to our attempts to raise exports because the Eurozone is our biggest trading partner.

I would like to echo Matt Yglesias in placing the blame for the possible collapse of the Eurozone on tight-ass, inflation-phobic German bankers. He also does a good job of showing the idea that Greece, Spain, and Portugal are paying for past sins is bullshit. They're in this position because of German deflationary bias.

The Price Of Progress

A straight man laments the decline of the gayborhood.

I believe there will always be areas of cities where weirdos live and congregate. While they might not be as explicitly "gay" as in the past, they serve the same general purpose and have the same vibe.

More Insipid False Equivalencies

Glenn Greenwald rightly takes down Ross Douthat for claiming that Rachel Maddow only has conservatives on her show who want to bash other conservaties. Maddow always tries to get adversarial conservatives on her show but they hardly ever agree to be on.

As a side note, this shows how appearances can lead to uninformed judgements. I've noticed that most conservatives who don't watch Maddow's show assume she is some sort of militant feminist separatist because she has a butch haircut and wears pants, but that's not how she is at all! She's actually very mild mannered and funny, and her show is one of the most informative news programs on the teevee.

John McCain: Man Of Principle

or not.

I've never really been much of a John McCain fan, really. Sure back in 2000 I thought he was better than Bush but I still wouldn't have voted for him (had I been old enough to vote.) However, watching him walk back every instance in which he's broken with Republican party orthodoxy due to his primary challenge from the right has been a rather sad and pathetic sight. All politicians adjust their views to keep in favor with the electorate, but this is ridiculous.

They're All Bad

One of the most irritating things about our stupid political discourse in this country is the elevation of "centrism" above all else, as if having deeply held beliefs about certain issues is a character flaw.

One of the favorite tools of these purveyors of moderation above all else is to draw moronic, often false equivalencies between both sides of a debate. Charles Lane of the Washington Post brings this art to its apotheosis with his comparison of shouting abolitionists with confederate slave-owners. They were both bad because they were both rude!!!!

Islamic Culture Is So Strange

Apparently when a Muslim woman's husband is killed by a foreign country's army she becomes desperate and seeks revenge on said country. Crazy culture!

Yurp

Generally I'm in favor of greater international cooperation, but I still maintain the Eurozone was a bad idea. It's great that Greece is getting bailed out but it's not great that they are having a series of austerity measures shoved down their throat that threaten political stability as prerequisite.

Greece and Spain and Italy are very different than Germany and Sweden and the Netherlands. The former set are bad with money but have great food and beautiful languages and culture. The latter are very judicious about fiscal policy but are filled with boring people living atop barren hellscapes of countries. Greece and Spain need their own currency so they can devalue the hell out of it and pump up exports.

Maybe this whole conditioned bailout process is exactly what the EU founding fathers envisioned, but it doesn't seem worth it.

Plus the Euro is the most boring-looking currency on earth.

Romanticism

I'll admit that back in my undergrad days I had my own fantasies of running off somewhere to pick fruit with migrant workers. That was until I saw video of how quickly migrant workers have to pick fruit.

I'm aware that this arrangement makes it so the oranges in my grocery store are affordable, but it's still depressing.

Felons' Rights

I have a sneaking suspicion the issue will be demagogued and the bill wont pass, but I applaud some members of Congress for introducing a bill to restore voting rights to felons once they've paid their debt to society. I understand the argument for not allowing them to vote (they forfeited that right, blah, blah, blah), but we should be focusing on ways to integrate ex-convicts into society after prison, not continually holding it over their heads that they screwed up. I'm such a dirty hippy I think prison inmates should be allowed to vote, but I know that's just crazy talk.

Comedy

Republicans are now starting to take credit for Obamacare. Many are also walking back all the repeal talk.

I hope democrats have finally learned that nothing breeds success like success. Americans may have been divided about health care reform, but one thing that's clear is that they like winners.

politicsoffear(revised).ppt

What we knew all along. Thanks to the folks at Salon.com and Politico, we see exactly how our friends at the GOP are using fear to help their fundraising efforts. To be fair (as the folks at Politico put it): "Manipulating donors with crude caricatures and playing on their fears is hardly unique to Republicans or to the RNC – Democrats raised millions off George W. Bush in similar terms – but rarely is it practiced in such cartoonish terms." Still, this is shocking to see. Common sense conservatism? Compassionate conservatism? Nah. How's about we go with cynical conservatism?

Theocons

One interesting, and not so bad, thing about the Great Recession and the rise of the Teabaggers is that the "social issues" have sort of fallen by the wayside. It's not that I agree with Republicans on economic issues, but I feel I can discuss these issues with them and we can have substantive debates. That's really not the case with abortion, prayer in school, or they gay stuff. There just isn't much room for give and take.

However, I never believed the folks who got off on those sorts of issues went away. They're still around, waiting in the wings to piss me off.

Shorter Michael Walsh:

All Jewish, Italian, and Irish politicians are just "the bastard idiot children of the Tammany Hall ethnic groups."

Apparently the only people fit to govern are white protestants and conservative black people. Also, Democrats are racists. That's why a black guy is the President.

It May Have Been the Warmest January Ever Recorded...

...but Al Gore is still fat.

I Got Nothin'

But this always bothered me too.

TX Governor Candidate Debra Medina: 9/11 Troofer

Well that's the end of her.

And without her sucking a significant chunk of the teabagger vote in the primary, I don't see how Kay Bailey Hutchinson can win.

Catharsis

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Full video of the President's tête à tête with House Republicans can be found here.

It's a good thing they were able to put all those responses into his teleprompter beforehand.

"Let's have a war! Give guns to the queers!"

One thing I've always found interesting about the debate over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is how those who defend the policy do so by characterizing the military in quite insulting terms. I'm sure there are some knuckleheads but to think the thought process of the average man serving in the armed forces is "HULK SMASH GAY" doesn't seem fair to me.

Another strange notion about repealing this policy is that it would somehow put us in dangerous uncharted territory mankind has never entered and would take years to adapt to. Arguing this implies that we have more in common with countries like Iran, China, North Korea, and Venezuela than we do with the United Kingdom, Israel, France, Italy, Canada, and Australia, which allow gays in the military.

UPDATE: Glenn Greenwald updated the post I linked to with a very astute observation:

It should go without saying that debates over homosexuality, the military, warriors, masculinity and the like are suffuse with all sorts of complex psychological influences. But one thing is clear: in American culture, there has long been a group of men (typified by Kristol and O'Hanlon) who equate toughness and masculinity with fighting wars, yet who also know that they lack the courage of their own convictions, and thus confine themselves to cheerleading for wars from afar and sending others off to fight but never fighting those wars themselves (Digby wrote the seminal post on that sorry faction back in 2005). It seems that individuals plagued by that affliction are eager to avoid having it rubbed in their faces that there are large numbers of homosexualwarriors who possess the courage (the "testosterone-laden tough-guyness") which the O'Hanlons and Kristols, deep down, know they lack. Banning gay people from serving openly in the military as warriors is an excellent way of being able to deny that reality to themselves.

State of the Union

A way to evaluate if your drinking game was successful:

iPad

I have no desire to own this thing.

Masochism

A New York Times food writer gets the urge to replicate The Olive Garden's spaghetti and meatballs at home.

I'm not sure why anybody would want to do such a thing. I don't mind eating at bad Italian restaurants every now and then but spaghetti and meatballs is the last thing I'd order or want to reproduce. At most restaurants the red sauce tastes like it has sweet n' low in it, and when you just order pasta, there's really nothing else to conceal that awfulness.

Maybe next week I'll try to make a Taco Bell Gordita Supreme from scratch and tell y'all about it!

Well, Well, Well...

Guess who got caught trying to bug the phones in a Democratic senator's office?

He may have played a pimp for the cameras, but I'd bet it's more likely he'll play the bottom bitch in prison. Idiot.

UPDATE: Now this is really bad news for Mr. O'Keefe.

Why can't we do both?

I've always found this apparently unavoidable dichotomy a little ridiculous.

It seems to me the sensible thing to do is both. Tell teens they should avoid having sex if only to avoid the very real threat of pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease, and at the same time, inform them about effective birth control methods because a good number of teenagers are going to have sex anyway despite anything we do or say. Further, don't demonize those who want to wait for marriage, and don't demonize those who find waiting for marriage antiquated.

Once they get to college, or at least out of the halls of our high schools, let them do whatever the hell they want, just as we do now.

Holy Hell

Prepare to be terrified.

FACT!

Jay Leno is history's greatest monster.

Today's My Friday

Dance 'til you're dead!

Nobody Could Have Predicted...

...that John Edwards would be an asshat.

More Great News For John McCain!

Today the Supreme Court handed down it's long awaited decision in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, eliminating restrictions on corporate donations to politicians dealing a huge blow to McCain-Feingold (hence the title of this post).

If the negotiations over healthcare have taught us anything, it's that corporations do not have enough of a voice in the political process. This is truly our generation's Brown v. Board of Education.

Nobel Peace Prizes for Everyone...

I don't disagree with the fact that climates change. I just think creating science to back up a belief should be shunned not awarded. And, along with the hacked emails from a few months ago, the blocks keep falling...

Oscar Goodman: Great Politician or the Greatest Politician?

Originally I was going to give this post a cute title about how Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman is one Republican I could support, but then I found out he's an independent...

Still, you should read about Oscar Goodman's controversies while in office.

Know hope...and always drink smooth, refreshing Bombay Sapphire Gin.

"Have you seen this? Have you heard about this, Kevin?"

I was never a big Jimmy Kimmel fan, mostly because I hated "The Man Show," but this makes me love him.

Deep Thought

All of this cold weather proves Al Gore is fat.

Rick Perry Is Not A Smart Man

It was a sad day when George Walker Bush became President, but one of the lesser noted horrors of that occurrence is that it stuck Texas with Rick Perry.

Perry believes that the solution to our problems is to put the federal government in the same dire position that state governments are in, where they are forced to raise taxes and drop people from their payrolls.

Yes, the solution to our problems is more unemployment. Luckily Perry doesn't seem to realize that governors don't really play a big roll in amending the federal constitution.

Behold What the Underpants Bomber Hath Wrought

As the TSA engages in it's usual pointless, barn door-closing measures after the latest failed terrorist attack, it's useful to maintain some perspective.

The bombing of passenger jets is a bad thing, and effective measures such as maintaining and distributing accurate databases of people we shouldn't let on planes, and possibly the use of full body scanners should be considered. However, despite what Cheneyites would like you to believe, we are not living in the most dangerous times mankind has ever known. In fact, it was a lot more dangerous to travel on a plane in the 70s and 80s than it is now.

This Thing On?

Back from vacation. Glad nothing important happened while I was gone.

Africa has been in the news a lot lately, what with the antics of the Underpants Bomber, and now the MSM is starting to pay attention to American conservative evangelicals' role in crafting Uganda's Kill-the-Gays bill.

Welcome to the teens!