March, 2016 archive
The Galt and the Lamers 0
When you start with wrong assumptions, you invariably reach wrong conclusions.
The “Online Commenters’ Campaign” 2
Peter St. Onge once dismissed Trumpery. As he considers how wrong he was, he struggles to understand its appeal and finds inspiration in what happens in newspapers’ online comment sections, where unleashing ugly is ubiquitous.
Racism and bigotry, I believe, play a larger role than he seems to imply in this short piece. White folks like me often fail to perceive the pervasiveness of racism in this society. We forget ignore that racism doesn’t necessarily wear a hood and announce its presence; it also wears formal evening dress and sips its cognac most delicately in the parlor, while speaking in dulcet tones of the opera and the art exhibit.
Nevertheless, I think he does accurately describe part of the elephant (I’ll leave it to you to determine which part). Follow the link and give it a read.
Cowboy Cosplay 0
Balloon Juice has the latest on the Bundy Bund.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
If he had had more guns, perhaps this would not have happened.
QOTD 0
William Makepeace Thackery:
Kindnesses are easily forgotten; but injuries! What worthy man does not keep those in mind?
The Scalias of Justice 0
The Booman looks askance at those who are protesting that President Obama should have nominated a woman or a minority or even a minority woman for the vacancy on the Supreme Court and that nominating Merrick Garland was somehow a misstep. A nugget:
Secondly, racial animus and religious bigotry are not what is driving the Republican strategy of obstruction here. They actually like Merrick Garland despite him not being a follower of Jesus Christ. What picking a candidate the Republicans like has done is highlight that this isn’t about anything other than power politics. And that’s precisely what makes their position so indefensible. After all, progressives aren’t solely disappointed that Merrick Garland is an “old white dude;” they’re primarily disappointed that he’s seen as a moderate, centrist judge. Had Obama picked Leondra Kruger or Jane Kelly instead, their ideology would have been the main subject of debate rather than the tactic of total obstruction.
From the standpoint of the politics of the nomination–and there’s always politics involved in a Supreme Court nomination, sometimes moreso than others, and this is definitely a moreso time–nominating Merrick Garland was a brilliant move. It highlights Republican intransigence by putting the party in the position of having to choose whether to betray one of its own.
Follow the link for the rest of the Booman’s analysis.
Profiles in Cowardice 0
Shaun Mullen tries to make sense of the Trumping of the Republican Party and finds himself with a case of the vapors. In a depressing spiral universe, he suggests that each side, Trump and the Republican establishment (whatever that is) is worse than the other. Here’s a bit:
Do please read the rest.
Twits on Twitter 0
(As Peter Sagal said on Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me a few weeks ago, “Chipotle is a Mexican word meaning ‘oops!’“)
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Still under 300k, still not terrible.
(snip)
The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure than the weekly figures, rose to 268,000 from 267,250. . . .
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits rose by 8,000 to 2.24 million in the week ended March 5.
Bloomberg’s headline asserts that Jobless Claims in U.S. Climbed Less Than Forecast Last Week. A more accurate rendition would be Jobless Claims in U.S. Climbed Less Than Bloomberg Forecast Last Week.
In reference to Bloomberg’s forecasts of the unemployment rate, if Bloomberg tells you to bet on Teabiscuit in the ninth at Belmont, don’t be surprised if Teabiscuit comes in seventh in a field of five.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Treat your parents with courtesy.
At the hospital, officers found a 51-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his right foot, she said.
Investigators with the Criminal Investigations Division determined the shooting was accidental after it was explained that David Avant was showing his father a gun in a home on the 800 block of Morrow St., Janvier said. The gun was accidentally fired when Avant was showing the man the gun, hitting him in the foot, she said.
The Year of Living Disconnectedly 2
James McWillians recounts the experience of one person who ditched his smartphone for a year. It was not pretty. Here’s a bit:
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Solomon Jones looks at the violence of Trump’s supporters and finds that it’s deju vu all over again. Recalling the man who sucker-punched Rakeem Jones, he writes in part:
“The next time we see him we might have to kill him.”
Such was the price of dissent.
And in Trump’s America, that could very well be the price again.
Read the rest.
