Culture Warriors category archive

When the Salk vaccine against poleo became available, my parents hied me to the doctor immediately because we had seen too many pictures like this on our telly vision.

We are a society awash in stupid.

If you have ever wondered whether they are only in it for the money, well, yes, at least some of them are.

Chauncey Devega cuts to the Chait about those who moan that there is too much “political correctness.”

Of course, the central problem with the white male victimologist “anti-p.c.” crowd is that they want the exclusive right to beat and stab people–especially people of color, women, gays and lesbians, and the Other, more generally–around the head and body with cold and sharp steel while the latter are either 1) disarmed or 2) only allowed to respond with “kid friendly” and safe weapons. Here, the privileged and the in-group are hypocrites; their hypocrisy is most readily apparent when a member of the powerful and the privileged group cry about how they are somehow “oppressed” or “disadvantaged.”

Do read the rest.

Afterthought:

The dirty little secret of the “anti-PC” crowd is this:

They want to be rude and crude, by Heavens, your feelings be damned. If they hurt your feelings, it must be your own damned fault for having feelings.

Via Raw Story.

A political tactic is not a “value.”

I’m with John Cole. I hope they call her bluff and find out that it’s not a bluff.

Werner Herzog’s Bear sees parallels between today and the 1830s. A snippet:

Of course, just as Jackson and modern day conservatives champion “small government” out of one side of their mouth, they just love using the military to expand territory and reward the vested interests backing them. Jackson moved to remove Native Americans against the will of the Supreme Court, just as the “War on Terror” has relied on illegal and extralegal means. Jackson’s closest imitator, James K Polk, sparked war with Mexico with terms just as illegitimate as those formulated by George W Bush for his invasion of Iraq. Jacksonians of all era scorn the notion that government can improve people’s lives, but have little restraint when using it to further the goals of nationalist expansion.

. . . He and his supporters denigrated the educated, much as conservatives today scorn climate scientists, academics, and teachers. All three have committed the cardinal sin of having expertise and thinking that means they know more than the average yahoo. One of Jackson’s most toxic legacies has been the extremely anti-intellectual tenor of American public life, something routinely exploited by conservatives.

Sean Mullen peers though the smoke and sees some good news.

. . . by the Booman.

. . . and this one demands that the government require that others hate right along with him.

The reasoning is as twisted (“If you don’t hate along with me, you are discriminating against me”) as the chutzpah is impressive.

Because Bubbas are a good thing.

Yeah. Right.

Via Raw Story.

Bankruptcy of the pocketbook, meet bankruptcy of the spirit.

In declaring bankruptcy, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis joins about a dozen others nationwide that have done the same.

Often, the filings have come on the eve of a trial. In Portland, the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy before jury selection for a negligence trial. In San Diego, the filing came hours before the start of the first of more than 40 sexual abuse lawsuits.

Here, the bankruptcy filing freezes more than 20 lawsuits against the church, as well as three abuse trials scheduled to begin Jan. 26. And with more than a year before the window closes on the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which lifted the civil statute of limitations for child abuse cases, more cases could emerge.

I’m so old that I can remember when Christians, Jews, and Muslims were all “People of the Book.”

I’m so old that I can remember when the central tenets of Christianity were love, charity, and forgiveness, not hate, persecution, and nastiness.

“Christians” who loudly proclaim their “Christianity” while wallowing in hate make atheism look ever so reasonable.

Pah!

Via Raw Story.

Via Juanita Jean.

Yee-haw!

The Sweater-Vest of Sanctimonious Self-Righteousness shall not be denied.

Via Raw Story.

Gary Younge reminds us that events are not that simple, however much some may want them to be.

If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.

The Republican Party, party of dirty old men and young men who are just waiting to become dirty old men: