Culture Warriors category archive
King of the “Subgroups” 0
In The Des Moines Register, Reka Basu challenges Congressman Steve King’s statement that no “subgroup” has contributed anything to civilization matching the contributions of European Christians. With some help, she compiled a list of contributions from others:
Here is some of what they shared:
Algebra. The number zero. Peanut butter. Accounting. Cotton. Gunpowder. Fireworks. Meritocracy. Language. Law. Government. Philosophy. Building construction. Wine. Food. Religion. Philosophy. Corn. Agriculture. Silk. Plumbing. Tools. Jazz. Blues. Beer. Pasta. Paper. Arabic numerals. Books. Writing. Gandhi. Buddha. Astronomy. Chess. Herbal medicine. Bread. Soap. Surgery. Ayurveda. Math. Wireless (Bose). Silicon Valley (largely Indians). Sanskrit. Banking. Money. Insurance. Lacrosse. Music. Hospitals. Optics. Voting. Woodblock type. Stirrups. Art. Philosophy. Farming. Human rights. Blood transfusions (African-American Dr. Charles Drew). Blood banks. Aqueducts. The compass. Porcelain. Massage. Tea. Rock ‘n’ Roll. Chocolate. Coffee. Architecture. Philosophy. Athletics. Tai Chi. Carnatic music. Bharat Natyam dance. Papyrus. The modern state. The public library. Gynecology. Universities. Acupuncture. Sewer systems. Engineering. Democracy. Original thought. Clocks. Maps. Yoga. The Sabbath.
Fear and Loathing (and Delusion) in Cleveland 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., can only shake his head and sigh at the Republican Hate-Fest in their fact-free Never Never Land:
Did Silicon Valley entrepreneur Peter Thiel really say, “It’s time to end the era of stupid wars,” as if it were Democrats who dragged Republicans into Iraq with promises of flowers strewn beneath American tanks?
Did Ben Carson really link Hillary Clinton to Satan? Did the crowd really chant, repeatedly and vociferously, for her to be jailed? Did at least two Republicans actually call for her execution?
Follow the link for more.
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*Remember, in white-wing world, these are not examples of “terrorism.” These are examples of “putting them in their place.”
Coddled Yeggs 0
Catherine Rampell notes that, despite their small-government protestations, what Republicans truly want is a nanny state, one that mops their tears, protects them from the real world, and coos over their booboos, all the while keeping them swaddled in their bigotry and prejudice. A snippet:
(snip)
They . . . want policymakers to bar transgender Americans from using the public bathroom of their choice, lest those in neighboring bathroom stalls feel vaguely threatened.
They want government to protect religious freedom, yet they also want government to expel holders of select religious beliefs — a policy that couldn’t possibly pass constitutional muster even if you could figure out a way to implement it.
They also want their small, spartan government to round up and deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, quickly and on the cheap, but “in a very humane way, a very nice way.”
Follow the link for more on the liturgy of white-wing whining.
American Taliban 0
Shorter Newt Gingrich: Sharia and Sharia alike.
Misdirection Play, Shilling for Pence Dept. 0
The punditocracy are united in marketing Mike Pence as somehow a sane and safe choice for vice president, a calm and cultured counterweight to Trump’s trumpeting boorishness.
Erika D. Smith begs to differ. Here’s a bit of her column:
(snip)
On paper, the two men are very different – in an ulcer-relieving way, if you’re an establishment Republican or a social conservative. But look a little closer, as I have in meetings with him as member of the editorial board of The Indianapolis Star, and you’ll see that they’re really just two sides of the same crazy coin.
Like Trump, Pence is tone deaf and uninterested in learning what he doesn’t know. He’s an ideologue who surrounds himself with people who tell him what he wants to hear. His bubble is so airtight that differing opinions often come as a complete shock to him.
Think of your Bond villains: which is more dangerous, the quiet one stroking a cat or the loud one brandishing a gat?
Remember, a soft-spoken fanatic is still a fanatic.
“Barefoot and Pregnant” 0
At the Boston Review, Kate Manne starts with Donald Trump’s overt contempt for women (even as he lusts after them) and reasons backwards to the more subtle and common aspects of misogyny and what it means. She concludes it’s all about keeping women in their place, their place, that is, as defined by the misogynists. A snippet:
The answer, all too often, is that it is transformed into moralistic forms—which are not, as (right wing apologist and professional misdirection player David–ed.) Brooks seems to imply, historical artifacts. What unites these varieties of misogyny, past and present, and moralistic and non-moralistic alike, is that they enforce the patriarchal order by lifting men up and taking down women.
The Platform of the Pervy Party 0
The Republican Party is still preoccupied with sex.
Honestly, can’t they think of anything else?
Misdirection Play, the Cost of Culture Wars 0
Charlotte Rampell points out that Republican culture wars are getting expensive. Here’s some examples from her list of culture wars. She makes the “misdirection” in the “plays” quite clear:
Is your state so broke it’s shaving days off the school year? Copy Kansas and implement some draconian antiabortion legislation.
Have the highest uninsured population of any state? Look to Texas and pass even more draconian antiabortion legislation.
Are your constituents unhappy with declining economic opportunities? Check out Indiana, Arkansas and Georgia, among others, and introduce legislation to make it easier to discriminate against gay men and lesbians.
Has your state’s credit been downgraded nine times? Is your governor facing a sex scandal? Have you become the nation’s tragicomic punch line?
Find role models in New Jersey, Alabama and Florida, respectively, and join the crusade against Planned Parenthood.
Follow the link for the expense report.
Grill of My Dreams 0
I never have quite gotten this notion that a grill is somehow a man’s domain (probably some notion propagated by men who think a big grill makes up fo–never mind).
My father’s mother cooked on a wood-fired stove. It don’t get much grillier than that.
Tales of the Tarheel Potty Police 0
It’s a disaster!
“The governor asked for it,” said state Senate Budget Chair Harry Brown (R).
In other words, they want to move the money from a disaster relief fund to a new disaster no relief fund.