Culture Warriors category archive
Republican Family Values 0
Yet another exhibit in the pile of evidence that mean for the sake of mean is a Republican family value.
Signings of the Times, Rule of Lawless Dept. 0
I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that, if Donald Trump thinks he can single-handedly amend the Constitution by executive order, the rule of law may be on shaky ground under his sewership.
Along those lines, AL.com’s Roy S. Johnson looks at Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day executive order signature spasm and finds himself less than impressed. A snippet:
I’m not sure any single signature made us better — let alone great.
He renamed a body of water and a mountain (snore); contradicted his own “efficiency” quest by ordering all federal workers into the office; poured white-out over all references to diversity, equity and inclusion in the federal government, resuscitated the government-sanctioned murder (the death penalty); did a Simone Biles-backflip with TikTok; yanked us from vital international organizations; tried to pour more white-out on the birthright constitutional amendment; and pen-swiped a lot of jargon-salad decrees declaring “protection,” “America first,” and various “emergencies” allowing him potentially to weaponize the U.S. military against, well, any of us.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Donald Trump, a second-generation American citizen who benefited from Americans’ constitutional right to birthright citizenship, wants to strip away the right to birthright citizenship.
At Above the Law, Elie Mystal reprises an article laying bare the underlying intent. A snippet:
Today’s Republican Party has truly become the party of the New Secesh, as America’s original sin of chattel slavery and the doctrine of racism created to rationalize it continue to wield their curse.
Broligarchy, Reprise 0
At AL.com, Kyle Whitmire sees a precedent–and it ain’t a pretty one.
The Privatization Scam 0
At the Idaho State Journal, Randyu Sttapilus argues that it’s all about the Benjamins.
Macho, Macho Men* 0
At the Tampa Bay Times, Stephanie Harris reacts to Mark Zuckerberg’s claim that we need a more masculine culture. A snippet:
So true. Men have been ignored for too long. As the nation writes this next chapter, it is crucial to refocus our attention on them. After all, we have been allowed to have credit cards in our own names since, what, 1974? And women run a whole 10% of Fortune 500 companies. What are we even whining about?
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*Methinks the text-speak shorthand for this term in this context is “WATB.”
“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0
In the current kerfuffle over kids and cell phones, Peter Gray, writing at Psychology Today Blogs, hears many rhymes with “moral panics” in the past. Here’s the ones he mentions specifically:
- Penny Dreadfuls and Dime Novels in the Victorian Era
- The Motion Picture Panic of the 1930s
- The Post-WWII Comic Book Panic
- The Video Game Panic of the 1990s and Early 21st Century
Follow the link for a detailed discussion of each.
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*Mark Twain.
Still Rising Again after All These Years,
Republican Thought Police Dept.
0
Scott Maxwell parses the perfidy of Florida AG Ashley Moody.
No excerpt or summary can do his article justice. Just go read it.
Republican Family Values 0
As has been noted before in these electrons, mean for the sake of mean appears to be a pirmary, if not the primary, Republican family value.
David has more. in this case, regarding the fires in California:
Driving Defensively on the Disinformation Superhighway 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Bill Eddy notes that (emphasis added):
- Social media and some news outlets often include false information which can feel true from repetition.
- Research shows that false and emotional information spreads farther and faster than the truth.
He then suggests ten questions that can be helpful in parsing perfidy. Here’s a snippet; follow the link for the full list.
Will the speaker/writer personally benefit by saying what they are saying . . . .
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Monnica T Williams explores the harm done by racist (and, by extension, other bigoted) microaggressions. She points that their being “micro” doesn’t make them any less “aggressions.” A snippet:
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Among other things, Thom and former FBI agent Mike German discuss the origins of the Second Amendment. It’s likely not what you expect it to be and certainly not what the NRA and its dupes, symps, and fellow travelers would want you to think.
Frankly (I do everything frankly), it rather took me aback, but it did not surprise me.
A Notion of Immigrants 0
Farron runs the numbers that show that the invasion of illegal immigrants wasn’t.
It was a talking based on a lie.
It’s a simple formula. Hate sells.