Culture Warriors category archive
Dis Dishonorable Discourse 0
For Veterans Day, Frances Coleman shared some memories of her father, who fought in World War II (as did my own father).
She mused about what he fought for–and about what he didn’t fight for.
Especially, they didn’t die so that this country’s worst enemy could become its own people.
Follow the link for the rest of her article.
Facebook Frolics 0
Yet more hate-full frolics.
Twits Own Twitter 0
Sam and his crew discuss the most fragile ego of them all.
Afterthought:
If Elon Musk destroys Twitter, as seems quite likely at this point, he will have quite inadvertently performed a positive public service.
People of the Book 0
At Chron.com, University of Texas at Austin Professor Eric MacDaniel examines what’s behing the emergence of “Christian nationalism” as a political force. Frankly, I do not find his findings at all surprising; it goes back to original sin–America’s original sin of chattel slavery justified by racism, that is. A snippet:
Follow the link for a detailed and thorough analysis.
Originalist Sin 0
At AL.com, Auburn University Professor Colin Gabler parses the phraseology that makes some rights seem less inalienable than others.
(Stupid writing error corrected.)
Lies and Lying Liars 0
Gordon Weil comments on persons’ willingness to believe what they want to believe, regardless of facts and evidence, and how “social” media, though it did not create this willingness, feeds into it.
No excerpt or summary can do his piece justice; I commend it to your attention.
I Think I No the Answer 0
Michael in Norfolk has a question:
Follow the link for his thoughts on the matter.
Underground Railroad Redux 0
Thanks to Der Spiegel, we are again reminded of Mark Twain’s statement that history does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.
Facebook Frolics 0
Merchants of hate who frolic on Facebook.
Honest to Betsy, Facebook is where all the cess goes to pool.
The New Translation 0
The “Christian conservative” revision:
The Graham Cracker Grumbles 0
Emma and the crew discuss Lindsey’s Graham’s defense of Herschel Walker’s Republican Family Values.
The Privatization Scam 0
Martin A. Davis, Jr., takes issue with Virginia Governor Trumpkin’s maligning the efficacy of Virginia public schools by misrepresenting the meaning of certain national test data. He points out that, despite the Governor’s spin, the numbers show that “Virginia is performing as well as most every other state in the union, and better than a significant number.”
It’s a cynical ploy based on the faulty belief that competition makes everything better.
Education is not a business. It is a public good. And public education in Virginia is doing quite well relative to other states.
Follow the link for more details about the data.
Courting Disaster 0
The writer of a letter to the editor of The Roanoke Times confesses that he was wrong.
Stray Thought 0
I suspect that, meny times, when persons complain about “cancel culture,” what they are actually complaining about is consequences.
(I doubt that I’m the first person who’s thought this, because, in retrospect, it’s pretty honking obvious.)
Dis Increasingly Coarse Discourse 0
Methinks Atrios has a point.
Afterthought:
Back in the olden days, when I was a young ‘un, Walter Cronkite on CBS and Huntley and Brinkley on NBC could bring us the day’s important news in half an hour.
KYW-AM in Philadelphia, one of the first “all news” stations, advertised “Give us 48 minutes and we’ll give you the world” (I used to catch KYW on the skip while I threw the weights around in the back yard at Pine View Farm; before the station moved to Philly, back when it was still in Cleveland, I would listen to Harv Morgan on KYW Cleveland in the evenings on my first transistor radio which Santa Claus had given me as a Christmas present).
There’s just not that much significant news in a day–a lot, but not 24-hours worth–so the 24-hour television news channels fill the void time with vapidity and with vile (and, natch, some are more vapid and vile than others).
A Notion of Immigrants, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Dept. 0
At my local rag, Tom Wallace reminds us that theft of labor is as American as apple pie (though he does not use that precise term).
After reminding us of America’s original sin of chattel slavery, theft of labor at its most brazen, he discusses the Reagan era escape clause for those who wish to employ exploit undocumented immigrants. An excerpt (emphasis added):
But how could millions of undocumented immigrants avoid deportation? The answer: Congress created the necessary legislation. The Reagan administration’s Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 made it illegal to recruit or hire undocumented immigrants. However, it also provided a loophole for employers to hire while not violating the law by simply neglecting to ask or verify citizenship.
And, ironically, those who most willing to exploit undocumented immigrants seem to also be those most willing to demonize them when it suits their fancy . . . .