Culture Warriors category archive
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 . . . .
The Lake Effect 0
Thom and Dean Obeidallah discuss Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, plus a couple of other topics.
Courting Disaster 0
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gene Collier is less than sanguine about how the Supreme Supremacist Court might act in a case involving the “Independent State Legislature Theory,” if they choose to hear it, especially in the light of some of their recent decisions. An excerpt; follow the link for his reasoning.
The Mind Closers 0
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Maureen Downey decided to talk with some students to find out what they think about parents and others exercising their freedom of screech to keep said students from actually learning stuff about life. Here’s a bit of her column (emphasis added):
“I would ask them not even to change their viewpoint, but to keep an open mind. Even though I didn’t agree with what the parents were saying, I still listened. They refused to listen. Whenever someone would speak against book bans, they would start yelling,” said Sachdeva. “I also wish they were more informed. They were taking so many things out of context.”
The Mechanics of Hate 0
Bernard Cohen, writing at Psychology Today Blogs, explores the work of Aaron Beck, considered the father of cognitive therapy. Among the topics Beck explored was “the cognitive basis of anger, hostility, and violence”; Cohen focuses on that aspect of his work. Given the current state of dis coarse discourse, in which many folks don’t seem happy unless they are hating, I found this a worthwhile read. Here’s a bit (emphasis in the original):
Sounds familiar, does it not?
Follow the link for the rest.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Helen Ubinas is less than sanguine. She argues that
Follow the link for her reasoning.
Backfire, a Notion of Immigrants Dept. 0
It’s almost poetic . . . .
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar’s certifications allow the mostly Venezuelan migrants to apply for special U-visas pending his department’s investigation of the Sept. 14 flight to Martha’s Vineyard, according to an ACLU Massachusetts statement Thursday. U-visas would allow the migrants to remain in the U.S. lawfully as the criminal investigation by Salazar’s department and the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office proceeds.
In another statement, Salazar said that “based upon the claims of migrants being transported from Bexar County under false pretenses, we are investigating this case as possible unlawful restraint,” a misdemeanor.
Follow the link for the complete report.
“The Vapors” 0
PoliticalProf clutches his pearls and falls upon his fainting couch.
Republican Family Values . . . 0
. . . have always been a con to ensnare the gullible, but, when you look closely, there’s no there there.
Dis Coarse Discourse, the Gulled and the Gullible Dept. 0
Sam and his crew discuss the Republicans’ demonizing of trans persons (who, again, are a minuscule portion of the population).
We will remain in peril as long as a significant portion of our polity eagerly laps up lies. And as long as “social” media persists in propogating prevarication.
Aside:
Why are Republicans so obsessed with sex?