Rush Limbaugh is easy to dismiss (or rather, to not “take seriously,” since his statements are so exuberant and grandiose — so obviously geared to foment certain primitive emotions in his listeners), but I think he’s very interesting. Limbaugh is absolutely crucial to those entrenched, institutional forces of injustice, malfeasance, and the corruption and exploitation [...]
Category: Politics
There’s a scene in Stephen King’s 1978 apocalyptic epic The Stand (in the 1990 extended edition, with the wonderful Berni Wrightson drawings and the lamentable Cyndi Lauper references) in which we are able to read several of the final top-secret reports by one of the United States government scientists who are desperately trying to contain [...]
It’s strange to realize that you’re old enough to have seen the world change. The idea comes out of nowhere when you don’t expect it and aren’t looking for it but the frisson of recognition is always very strong — we grew up hearing our parents and grandparents talk this way and dismissing it as [...]
For obvious reasons I’ve been thinking about Papal authority (moral, philosophical, financial, political and spiritual) in the past few weeks. Andrew Sullivan is among the loudest voices in the chorus excoriating Pope Benedict for “destroying the moral authority of the Catholic Church” (“The only word for that is evil“). But “Doctor Science” at Obsidian Wings [...]
If only one good thing comes out of the rhetorical cacophony surrounding this year’s election results, I hope it’s this: can we please, as a nation and as a society, reverse the inverted positions of “provider” and “taker” in our political language? Former Nixon economic adviser Herb Stein first used the term “supply side” in [...]
Of all the elements of American Conservatism that I dislike and/or disrespect (and it’s a long list), the worst might be Conservatives’ self-bestowed role as arbiters of who can and who cannot “politicize” tragedy. It’s not just the proscriptive, arch condescension of trying to do that — trying to police everyone else’s rhetoric in the [...]
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Not “trailers” as in “Coming Attractions” (or, the three-minute-no-second ads for movies that are a burgeoning art form in themselves) (I made one myself for my favorite movie). I’m talking about actual trailers, or “mobile homes” or “ten-wides” or “single-wides” depending on what sort of construction or zoning nomenclature you’re using. Would you ever want [...]
After finally watching Moneyball I realized what it’s got in common with David Fincher’s sublime, belatedly-appreciated tract Fight Club: Brad Pitt as an onscreen salesman for an abstract idea. In both movies, a reasonably subtle concept (that runs strongly against the cultural grain) has to be conveyed clearly to the audience, not as some ancillary [...]
A recent essay in Toronto Life magazine with the provocative title (the incendiary tone of which is probably invisible to the author, Jonathan Kay) “Almost Rich: an examination of the true cost of city living and why rich is never rich enough” has drawn the bilious scorn of Gawker editor Hamilton Nolan (and the commenters [...]
2012-02-10 ::
Jordan //
Politics
Religious politics vs. Hegelian “philosophy of right” in the courtroom
Religious politics vs. Hegelian “philosophy of right” in the courtroom
Thanks to the Indiana Senate (and their tactical regrouping over “creationism-in-all-but-name,” last month) I ended up “wasting” a spectacular amount of time poring over the actual court transcripts of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (the famous 2005 “Intelligent Design” Federal Case). (The rest of that site, talkorigins.org, is worth exploring in penetrating — or, [...]
2012-02-04 ::
Jordan //
Politics
The Indiana Senate forces “alternatives” to evolution into classrooms
The Indiana Senate forces “alternatives” to evolution into classrooms
According to Ars Technica (last Thursday), “Yesterday, after almost no debate, the Indiana State Senate approved a bill that would allow its schools to teach the origin stories of various religions when a class touches on the origin of life. It now moves on to the state’s House, where one of its cosponsors is currently [...]
Elizabeth Drew has a new piece in the New York Review of Books about Romney and the election, which deviates pretty far into the “Greenwaldian” zone of near-existential dread that used to be the exclusive province of Noam Chomsky types. I actually have loved Drew ever since she was in The New Yorker comparing Ed [...]
