March, 2022 archive
Authoritarians on the Couch 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Edward Hoffman looks into the minds of despots.
It is a worthwhile read, not only for what it says about the persons mentioned in his post (notably Hitler and Putin), but also for the light it sheds on our own homegrown wannabe despots and their dupes, symps, and fellow travelers.
Freedom of Screech 0
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States says, in part,
Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech . . . .
It does not go on to say
. . . and such speech shall be immune from critique or criticism in perpetuity.
The Republicans Play The Only Card Left in Their Deck 0
The racist card, that is.
Hell, I grew up under Jim Crow and went to segregated schools. I know racists when I see them. But I digress . . . .
Elie Mystal comments on the Republicans who are questioning Biden’s nominee for the Supreme Court.
Via C&L, which takes issue with some of Mystal’s comments. (Personally, I think that is a matter of unconscious vx. conscious motivation.)
The Quisling 0
Aside:
I don’t know the word “Soviet” is appropriate. Methinks Vladimir Putin is looking farther into Russia’s past for his inspiration. But that’s just me.
Collateral Damage (in Addition to the Intended Damage) 0
Writing at Jacksonville.com, Anderson Dodd argues that Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill could result in banning works of Shakespeare, Home, Plato, and many others considered classic literature. A snippet (emphasis added):
But with Florida’s new bill, the very foundations of our democracy will be removed from school libraries and classrooms as educators teach with an eye to litigation instead of education.
Race Is a Fiction 0
At the Hartford Courant, Trinity University professor Johnny Williams writes powerfully of the fiction called “race.”
The blunt truth is that race is a construct created by English settlers in the American colonies to justify chattel slavery and continues to poison our polity today. It was founded in greed and exploitation and nourishes them still. Until we as a society are willing to face that–and we clearly aren’t–it will continue to pollute our polity.
Here’s a bit:
But there is no “white race.”
Whiteness is a shared conglomeration of fabricated meanings and ideas about biologically insignificant human differences. Whiteness only exists in relation or opposition to blackness and other fictitious racial categories created by whiteness adherents for the purpose of cementing a higher status and material advantage over other people that are excluded from being white.
Read the whole thing.
Devolution 0
Honest to Pete, you can’t make this stuff up.
False Idols 0
Lutheran Pastor Tim Wright calls out those who preach a gospel of hate.
Meta: Blogroll 0
I’ve added a new site to the blogroll, over there —-> on the sidebar: Yellowdog Grannie.
It’s a hoot!
“Americans Fall For It Too” 0
Given the news reports about disinformation in Russia, David points out that it’s not just Russians who can fall for fakery. (Warning: Short commercial at the end.)
The Climates, They Are a-Changing 0
Water, water, everywhere disappears, nor any drop to drink.
Many years ago, I went tubing on the Colorado below Lake Powell. That was long before its level dropped below the “critical level.”
I fear for my grandchildren.