2021 archive
“If We Don’t Talk about It, It Didn’t Happen” 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., gets to the core of the sudden wave of opposition to critical race theory. Here’s the gist; follow the link for the rest.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Once again (it’s a sad and boring refrain, is it not?), politeness is child’s play.
Maybe things like this wouldn’t happen were not so many guns lying around Whoops! That’s a forbidden thought in NRA Paradise.
Devolution 0
David speaks with Noam Chomsky about the devolution of today’s Republican Party and its use of cultural issues as a misdirection play.
Strike None! 0
At Above the Law, Elizabeth Dye argues that courts will bawk at Trumpettes’ attempt to sue Major League Baseball for moving the All-Star Game out of Georgia in response to the Georgia legislature’s voting suppression efforts.
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
John Feffer argues that we need some truth in labeling in political reporting and commentary.
Misdirection Play(s), Florida Man Dept. 0
The Orlando Sentinel’s Scott Maxwell takes a look at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s practice of building windmills just so he can tilt at them, with a focus on DeSantis’s latest shibboleth, Critical Race Theory. Here’s a bit; much more at the ink.
The declaration scored the governor the headlines he craved. (Washington Times: “Ron DeSantis vows action on critical race theory that teaches children to ‘hate their country’“)
Except for two key points:
1) That’s not what Critical Race Theory actually does.
2) No local school districts actually teach this theory as part of their curriculums.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
One more time, “accidental” and “negligent” are not synonyms.
The Lies of the Land 0
At the San Francisco Chronicle, David Morrell argues that Donald Trump’s big lie is not the first to bedevil (at least some of) the American people. Here’s a bit:
From my experience, the lies surrounding the Jan. 6 insurrection are no less blatant, no less absurd and no less grotesque than those that fueled the Vietnam War more than a half-century ago.
He was there in the command structure, not in combat, and he saw the lies being crafted first hand.
I was eligible for the draft back then. I knew that the Vietnamese War was, at best, a mistake and that my friends and I were subject to being drafted and sent to die for, at best, a mistake.
But, even then, I did not realize how big the lie was.
A Memorial Day Thought 0
My father was antifa.
He fought against Hitler.
Like most persons who actually see combat, he almost never talked about his experiences. I remember only two comments he made about it in my hearing, and both of them were spontaneous unintentional outbursts in response to scenes on television.
I recall that Bill Mauldin had a term for persons who might talk about combat. He called them “garritroopers” and described them as “too far forward to wear dress uniforms and and too far back to be shot at.”
Afterthought:
Every American should be proudly antifa. Being “fa” is antithetical to being American.
Vaccine Nation 0
At The Sacramento Bee, Catherine Flores-Martin is disturbed at the amount of anti-vaxx hooey being propagated on “social” media. Here’s a snippet; follow the link for the rest.
These individuals are not credible health experts or medical professionals. In truth, they are irresponsible “influencers” peddling disreputable medical advice that lacks evidence and scientific basis. By spreading disinformation that plays on people’s fears, they’ve created lucrative networks and channels of promotion from which to sell books, solicit donations and generate advertising revenue.
One more time, “social” media isn’t.
