Carnival of the Liberals, Edition #67

Welcome to the June 18, 2008 edition of The Carnival of the Liberals, hosted by my blog, Situation Awareness. I think that you'll agree with me that there are some great entries this week.

I have also included, at the bottom of this entry, a Blog Talk Radio player featuring my March 29, 2008 interview of Leo Lincourt, founder of The Carnival of the Liberals.

Enjoy!

- Hans

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general interest

• Only Three Notes presents Congratulations Obama! posted at Business & Controversy of Technology by Arnab Tagore.
  
  
• Gbariela Baron presents posted at Internet Business Blog.
  
  
• Joe Bechtold presents The Importance of Religion in America posted at Joe Bechtold's Political Journal.
  
  
• Niharika presents The Top 100 Civil Liberties Advocacy Blogs posted at Criminal Justice Degrees Guide.

current events

• Allen in Fort Worth presents QUEERS AND DYKES ARE GONNA GET MARRIED ! ! ! so don't worry about anything else posted at The Whited Sepulchre, saying, "the YouTube video in this post makes me ill."
  
  
• Gracie Passette presents Republicans Suffer From Dementia & Can't Understand Satire posted at Cult Of Gracie, saying, "This post is rather a mish-mosh or current events, opinion, and frankly (or Franken lol) humor. :)"
  
  
• John presents McCain and Obama Court Pro-War AIPAC posted at The Largest Minority.
  
  
• Andrew Heath presents What the Hell Got into the President's Pet??? posted at Andy, saying, "Why did Scotty write that awful book about Bush when everyone thought he was Bush's biggest fan?"
  
  
• Keith Wick presents Signs of Barack Obama posted at Weith Kick.
  
  
• Jon Rochetti presents Photo of the Week - Hillary Tees…3 for $10 posted at The DC Traveler – Washington DC travel & tourism information, saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words."
  
  
• Ian Welsh presents Clinton’s Legacy: Never Say Die posted at Firedoglake.
  
  
• Shan Siddiqi presents Howard Dean is the Light into Obama's Future posted at Globally Rational.
  
  
• Patrick Schwerdtfeger presents Check out my new Smart ForTwo Passion posted at Tactical Execution, saying, "The Smart Car is finally introduced in the USA! This post offers details about these tiny gas-powered fuel-efficient cars."
  
  
• Phil B. presents Why Demonstrations and Petitions Do Not Work posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "If demonstrations and petitions work, then the 1960s would have seen a lot more political, social, and environmental changes."

liberalism

• Phil B. presents Global Warming is Ruining the Earth posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "A list of how the world has changed so dramatically."
  
  
• Greta Christina presents Loading The Dice: Bisexuality And Choice posted at Greta Christina's Blog, saying, "This post is about bisexuality -- and how the gay political community's focus on the "It's not a choice" PR strategy about gay rights leaves bisexuals out in the cold."
  
  
• Greta Christina presents Greta Christina's Blog: The Amazing Mechanical Leftie: Reflexive Thinking in Alt Culture posted at Greta Christina's Blog, saying, "This piece is about the tendency alternative culture sometimes has to reflexively reject anything that's mainstream or conventional. It talks about how this tendency makes people just as controlled by the mainstream as they would be if they were going along with it. And more seriously, it talks about how it puts alt culture in common cause with the anti- intellectual, know- nothing strains of right wing American culture."
  

opinion

• Allen in Fort Worth presents Cal Thomas Says Barack Obama's Not A Christian posted at The Whited Sepulchre, saying, "here is an analysis of an idiotic Cal Thomas column."
  
  
• Andrew Heath presents How to Achieve Peace in the Middle East posted at Andy, saying, "An interesting and unconventional solution to our conflict in the Middle East."
  
  
• phil F. presents WEEKEND FEATURE: Globalization and the Small Business posted at E-News Daily: Articles Without Borders.
  
  
• Andrew Heath presents Why We Must Forgive President George W. Bush posted at Andy, saying, "There are some compelling reasons to forgive George W Bush, even if you currently hate him."
  
  
• Hans Meyer presents The Historically Challenged posted here at Situation Awareness, saying, "The right-wing noise machine tries to re-write history."
  
  
• Shan Siddiqi presents The Supreme Court has "legacies?" posted at Globally Rational.
  
  
• Phil B. presents A Plan to Destroy All Weapons of Mass Destruction posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "No leader and therefore no country can be trusted enough to control weapons of mass destruction."

politics

• Ames presents Fox News: A Trifecta of Racism posted at Submitted to a Candid World, saying, "Fox News may be playing into our hand, by running a racist smear campaign against Barack Obama."
  
  
• Jon Swift presents McCain: Make Sure You Have the Right Change posted at Jon Swift, saying, "We don't need to take a risk on a President who could make things even worse than they already are. We need a President like McCain who, when the telephone rings at 3:00 in the afternoon, waking him up from his nap, would be ready to answer it and solve whatever crisis needed to be solved."
  
  
• Holly Ord presents John McCain Doesn’t Support the Troops posted at Menstrual Poetry.
  
  
• Jason presents 1962: Adolf Eichmann posted at Executed Today, saying, "Adolf Eichmann remembered on the anniversary of his execution: the competent company man blithely earning his promotions by engineering mass-murder."
  
  
• KevinBBG presents McBush posted at DAILY BBG, saying, "This is a clear and somewhat harsh statement as to whether or not to vote for McCain or Obama with reasons outlined."
  
  
• Ron Britton presents Barack Obama is the Anti-Christ! posted at Bay of Fundie.

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That concludes this 67th edition of Carnival of the Liberals.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of Carnival of the Liberals using our Carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of the liberals, blog carnival.

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Words of Wisdom

"If by a 'Liberal' they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a 'Liberal,' then I'm proud to say I'm a 'Liberal.'" John F. Kennedy

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Third-Tier Pundits, Part 1

The Unbearable Lightness of Third-Tier Pundits
by Mano Singham

In the educational system that existed in Sri Lanka when I was growing up, students had to decide in the eighth grade what direction their future education would take, Since I knew I wanted to do physics, I chose to go in that direction and the rest of my education consisted of heavy doses of physics and mathematics with absolutely nothing in history, geography, literature, and social studies. Naturally, this created huge gaps in my own knowledge base that later in life I have had to fill in as best as I can on my own. This is not entirely a bad thing. One benefit is that I have not developed a hatred for the omitted subjects that those who have had heavy doses of formal education sometimes get. I actually like history and read about historical events for fun. And as I get older, I find that I know a lot of recent history by default, as I have actually lived through events that my children must learn about from history texts. But the benefit that I value most is that this awareness of my gaps in knowledge has made me cautious about cavalierly challenging those people who have devoted their lives to studying these subjects. It is not that I accept their knowledge and conclusions unquestioningly. It is that I realize that the burden of responsibility is on me to study the issue carefully and be reasonably sure of my facts before I challenge these authorities. But no such concerns seem to exist in the mind of Third-Tier Pundits™ in the media who think that they can voice any opinion on the flimsiest of knowledge and escape unchallenged. But they do not always get away with this. We saw in a previous posting how Jonah Goldberg went a little too far is asserting his superior knowledge and judgment about the middle east and got slapped silly by University of Michigan professor of history Juan Cole, someone who has devoted his life to studying that region. But unfortunately Goldberg is far from alone in over-reaching in this way. Ann Coulter, another distinguished member of the Third-Tier Pundits™ Hall of Fame, recently made some typically inane comment on an American talk show about how Canada is an ungrateful neighbor and should be very careful about annoying the US by not always siding with the US in its foreign policy, since the US could squash it like a bug, or words to that effect. Coulter’s comments were noted in Canada where, needless to say, they did not go over well. She was interviewed by Bob McKeown of the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s news show The Fifth Estate, in the course of which she condescendingly scolded Canada for not sending troops to Iraq. And it was at this point that Coulter, like Goldberg, got stopped cold because she had come up against an interviewer who knew the facts of the case and was not going to let her escape unchallenged, the way she gets away in the US media. The transcript below of the exchange comes from Direland. The actual video clip is well worth seeing, especially the part where Coulter looks desperate and flails around trying to salvage her point. (Thanks to commenter Cathi for the tip.) ******* Coulter: "Canada used to be one of our most loyal friends and vice-versa. I mean Canada sent troops to Vietnam - was Vietnam less containable and more of a threat than Saddam Hussein?" McKeown interrupts: "Canada didn't send troops to Vietnam." Coulter: "I don't think that's right." McKeown: "Canada did not send troops to Vietnam." Coulter (looking desperate): "Indochina?" McKeown: "Uh no. Canada ...second World War of course. Korea. Yes. Vietnam No." Coulter: "I think you're wrong." McKeown: "No, took a pass on Vietnam." Coulter: "I think you're wrong." McKeown: "No, Australia was there, not Canada." Coulter: "I think Canada sent troops." McKeown: "No." Coulter: "Well. I'll get back to you on that." McKeown tags out in script: "Coulter never got back to us -- but for the record, like Iraq, Canada sent no troops to Vietnam." ********* Being wrong on the facts is sometimes excusable. We all make mistakes from time to time. What is interesting is that people like Coulter and Goldberg are brazen in their utterances, take extreme positions, are unapologetic about their ignorance (note that Coulter does not have the grace to later apologize to McKeown for wrongly challenging him repeatedly on the facts), and seem to have no internal sense that warns them that they are dealing with someone who might know more than them. I saw the interview clip. McKeown is a Canadian. He is a man in late middle age. He would have been in the exact age range to be eligible to be sent to Vietnam, if Canada had sent troops. He would have been acutely aware if fellow Canadians his age, including his friends and relatives, were fighting and dying in Vietnam. Surely warning bells should have rung in Coulter’s mind that this man might know more than her about this particular topic? But clearly she had no sense of caution and it is interesting to speculate as to why. I think it is because her kind of vacuous hit-and-run punditry has become commonplace in the US. People say absurd things on TV or in print, are not challenged by the interviewers in the conventional media, and then go on to make some new charge the next day. After doing this for years, it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that one is untouchable. Should we be concerned about this phenomenon? After all, who cares what Third-Tier Pundits™ like Coulter and Goldberg and Michelle Malkin think, since there is no evidence to suggest that they have anything useful to contribute on any important topic? How do they get such access to the airways anyway? In a later posting I will discuss why we should care.

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Reagan and Racism

November 13, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
Righting Reagan’s Wrongs?
By BOB HERBERT

Let’s set the record straight on Ronald Reagan’s campaign kickoff in 1980. Early one morning in the late spring of 1964, Dr. Carolyn Goodman, her husband, Robert, and their 17-year-old son, David, said goodbye to David’s brother, Andrew, who was 20. They hugged in the family’s apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and Andrew left. He was on his way to the racial hell of Mississippi to join in the effort to encourage local blacks to register and vote. It was a dangerous mission, and Andrew’s parents were reluctant to let him go. But the family had always believed strongly in equal rights and the benefits of social activism. “I didn’t have the right,” Dr. Goodman would tell me many years later, “to tell him not to go.” After a brief stopover in Ohio, Andrew traveled to the town of Philadelphia in Neshoba County, Mississippi, a vicious white-supremacist stronghold. Just days earlier, members of the Ku Klux Klan had firebombed a black church in the county and had beaten terrified worshipers. Andrew would not survive very long. On June 21, one day after his arrival, he and fellow activists Michael Schwerner and James Chaney disappeared. Their bodies wouldn’t be found until August. All had been murdered, shot to death by whites enraged at the very idea of people trying to secure the rights of African-Americans. The murders were among the most notorious in American history. They constituted Neshoba County’s primary claim to fame when Reagan won the Republican Party’s nomination for president in 1980. The case was still a festering sore at that time. Some of the conspirators were still being protected by the local community. And white supremacy was still the order of the day. That was the atmosphere and that was the place that Reagan chose as the first stop in his general election campaign. The campaign debuted at the Neshoba County Fair in front of a white and, at times, raucous crowd of perhaps 10,000, chanting: “We want Reagan! We want Reagan!” Reagan was the first presidential candidate ever to appear at the fair, and he knew exactly what he was doing when he told that crowd, “I believe in states’ rights.” Reagan apologists have every right to be ashamed of that appearance by their hero, but they have no right to change the meaning of it, which was unmistakable. Commentators have been trying of late to put this appearance by Reagan into a racially benign context. That won’t wash. Reagan may have been blessed with a Hollywood smile and an avuncular delivery, but he was elbow deep in the same old race-baiting Southern strategy of Goldwater and Nixon. Everybody watching the 1980 campaign knew what Reagan was signaling at the fair. Whites and blacks, Democrats and Republicans — they all knew. The news media knew. The race haters and the people appalled by racial hatred knew. And Reagan knew. He was tapping out the code. It was understood that when politicians started chirping about “states’ rights” to white people in places like Neshoba County they were saying that when it comes down to you and the blacks, we’re with you. And Reagan meant it. He was opposed to the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was the same year that Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney were slaughtered. As president, he actually tried to weaken the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He opposed a national holiday for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He tried to get rid of the federal ban on tax exemptions for private schools that practiced racial discrimination. And in 1988, he vetoed a bill to expand the reach of federal civil rights legislation. Congress overrode the veto. Reagan also vetoed the imposition of sanctions on the apartheid regime in South Africa. Congress overrode that veto, too. Throughout his career, Reagan was wrong, insensitive and mean-spirited on civil rights and other issues important to black people. There is no way for the scribes of today to clean up that dismal record. To see Reagan’s appearance at the Neshoba County Fair in its proper context, it has to be placed between the murders of the civil rights workers that preceded it and the acknowledgment by the Republican strategist Lee Atwater that the use of code words like “states’ rights” in place of blatantly bigoted rhetoric was crucial to the success of the G.O.P.’s Southern strategy. That acknowledgment came in the very first year of the Reagan presidency. Ronald Reagan was an absolute master at the use of symbolism. It was one of the primary keys to his political success. The suggestion that the Gipper didn’t know exactly what message he was telegraphing in Neshoba County in 1980 is woefully wrong-headed. Wishful thinking would be the kindest way to characterize it.

Adobe Acrobat copy of Righting Reagan’s Wrongs?

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Ritual Defamation and Humiliation

The Art Of The Hissy Fit
By Digby on October 23, 2007 - 10:53pm.
From the article:

The political cost to progressives and liberals for their inability to properly deal with this tactic is greater than they realize. Just as Newt Gingrich was not truly offended by Bill Clinton's behavior (which mirrored his own) neither were conservative congressmen and Rush Limbaugh truly upset by the Move On ad --- and everyone knew it, which was the point. It is a potent demonstration of pure power to force others to insincerely condemn or apologize for something, particularly when the person who is forcing it is also insincerely outraged. For a political party that suffers from a reputation for weakness, it is extremely damaging to be so publicly cowed over and over again. It separates them from their most ardent supporters and makes them appear guilty and unprincipled to the public at large. (read the entire article)

My thanks to Michael Silliman for alerting me to this excellent and highly recommended article. Liberals and progressives everywhere should read this!

Adobe Acrobat copy of The Art Of The Hissy Fit

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Freedom of Speech Is Not Free

‘Dixie Chicking’: Post-9/11 Blacklisting in the Entertainment Industry
Posted on Oct 25, 2007

Ed Rampell

The HUAC/McCarthy era and Hollywood blacklist may be over, but the not-so-grand inquisitors are still among us. On March 31, 2007, activist/actor Mike Farrell, who co-starred in TV’s “M*A*S*H” and co-founded Artists United to Win Without War, told Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting’s “CounterSpin” radio program, “There’s a price to be paid for speaking out, and some have paid a fairly serious price.” Around that same time, at a March 24, 2007, anti-war Oakland town meeting called by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, actor Sean Penn stated: “we are encouraged to self-censor any words that might be perceived as inflammatory—if our belief is that this war should stop today. We cower as you point fingers telling us to ‘support our troops.’ ” There are other examples of creative people suffering the consequences of their outspokenness since 9/11, but none are as compelling as the saga of the Dixie Chicks, the top-selling “girl group” of all time. Indeed, the red, white and bluegrass band’s name became a verb meaning censoring and punishing dissenters: “Dixie Chicking.” The Chicks’ story was turned into a documentary by two-time Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple (1976’s “Harlan County USA” and 1990’s “American Dream") and Cecilia Peck. Cecilia’s father, Gregory Peck, won the Oscar for portraying the screen’s archetypal fighting liberal, Atticus Finch, in 1962’s anti-racist “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and produced the 1972 anti-Vietnam-War film “The Trial of the Catonsville Nine,” about the Berrigan brothers’ anti-draft activities. (In August 2007, Tim Robbins’ L.A.-based Actors Gang troupe presented a reading of the “Catonsville Nine” drama as a fundraiser.) (read the entire article)

Adobe Acrobat copy of ‘Dixie Chicking’: Post-9/11 Blacklisting in the Entertainment Industry

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Al Gore Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Gore and U.N. Panel Win Peace Prize

OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it. (read the entire article)

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Shoot the Messenger on OpEdNews.com

October 11, 2007

Shoot the Messenger
by Brian Wolf
http://www.opednews.com/

Michelle Malkin and Fox “News” have finally gone off the deep end. George Bush pulled out the veto stamp for only the 4th time in 7 yrs to veto a bill that would have given children’s healthcare a modest increase. According to Republican and Fox logic, $1 trillion for Iraq is a wise investment; $35 billion over 7 yrs for children’s healthcare is not.

Is it just me or have the Republicans and The 30% finally and irrevocably lost their collective minds? Instead have having a rational debate about it; they immediately set about attacking, smearing, and swiftboating the messenger, who in this case turns out to be a 12 year old boy. And as if turning the full throated hysteria of the Republican attack machine against a 12 yr old wasn’t enough, Michelle Malkin decided to do some dumpster diving and released the address of the family. Much like she released the names and contact information of UC Santa Cruz students who protested against military recruiters on campus, who then received death threats. I guess she feels a 12 yr old boy can handle it.

Of course Fox and the Republicans are also attacking the Democrats for using a 12 yr old boy to rebut the President’s address. They probably figured the kid had an unfair advantage when debating Dubya. In any event, they have apparently forgotten the “snowflake” babies George trotted out in The Rose Garden after he vetoed Stem Cell Research.

Illegally invading sovereign nations based on a lie, no bid contracts to cronies to rebuild said sovereign nation, record oil profits, and ignoring the wishes of 70% of the American people are apparently alright with Malkin and her ilk. But God forbid we try to help the children, heck they’re not even old enough to fight yet!

Adobe Acrobat copy of Shoot the Messenger

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Dear Progressives: Organize or Squabble, Which Is It? on OpEdNews.com

July 26, 2007

Dear Progressives: Organize or Squabble, Which Is It?
by John R Moffett
http://www.opednews.com/

There is an enormous chasm forming among liberals, progressives, and leftists, and the reason why is obvious.

(read the entire article)

Adobe Acrobat copy of Dear Progressives: Organize or Squabble, Which Is It?

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Every day should be...

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The Security State

Image © Austin Cline
Original Poster: National Archives
Click for full-sized Image

Warrantless Surveillance, Government Eavesdropping, and the Security State
posted by Austin Cline on Jesus' General

All attempts to defend or justify government monitoring of our communications without warrants or any other serious judicial oversight ultimately depend upon one important premise: the inherent goodness of those doing the monitoring. We are supposed to trust those given the authority to run such operations to only do so in the interests of the nation, to act only when appropriate, to never abuse their power, and to never injure the rights or privileges of the people. It's depressing that conservatives are making these arguments because this premise is contrary to the very basis of conservative political philosophy. Conservatism differs from nation to nation and culture to culture — they all have different traditions, social structures, and so forth which some wish to conserve. One thing which is common to political conservatism in the West, though, is distrust of concentrated power and authority. To put it simplistically, one of the premises political conservatism starts from is that people are basically bad and/or selfish and shouldn't be trusted too far. Often this entails erecting and maintaining strong institutions with sufficient power and authority to force people to adhere to strict standards. The further along this line of thinking a person happily goes, the more authoritarian they are. (read the entire article)

Adobe Acrobat copy of Warrantless Surveillance, Government Eavesdropping, and the Security State

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"Bush Derangement Syndrome"

Crazy Critics, Krauthammer, Noonan and the Death of BDS
Commentary By Lee Russ
Watching the Watchers

Do you have to be crazy to really be bothered by President Bush's actions, attitudes, and policies? Charles Krauthammer seemed to think so, when he apparently coined the phrase "Bush Derangement Syndrome" to describe people who were rabidly critical of Bush. Specifically, Krauthammer defined "BDS" as "the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency—nay—the very existence of George W. Bush." Krauthammer's creation seems to me to be part and parcel of the attempt by conservatives to paint all critics, especially those dread "liberals" as insane. If they can convince the populace that critics of conservatism are nuts, they don't have to bother refuting all the specific criticisms. We're taught early and often in this country that it is bad to "hate." Just plain bad. So what better way to convince America that a group of people is so insane, unhinged, over-the-top, that they can be wholly ignored than to paint them as "hate mongers." I've run into this in several contexts, including the 2006 elections when I volunteered for Bernie Sanders in Vermont. Letter writers to the Vermont newspapers several times described pro-Bernie folks as hate-filled based on our criticism of his opponent, Rich Tarrant. A conservative on a message board has recently told me that I am over the top in my vilification of the right, and overly filled with partisan hate. The one and only Kevin McCullough wrote a Town Hall column titled "Why liberals hate Christians." And there are countless other examples. This little sleight of hand--to criticize me is to hate me, but it's okay for me to criticize you for hating me--is starting to fail, though, based on recent evidence. For example, Peggy Noonan of all people wrote last month that "I'm not referring to what used to be called Bush Derangement Syndrome. That phrase suggested that to passionately dislike the president was to be somewhat unhinged. No one thinks that anymore." So things are looking up just a bit in sanity land. Though I will always wonder, over and over, how such a "crazy" theory could have held sway as long as it did, when it was the conservatives who said such sweet and gentle things about their critics as Ann Coulter wrote in "Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism." So no more BDS. We've reduced it to good old fashioned BS, just in time for Tom DeLay, who says in his new book "No Retreat, No Surrender" that “liberals have finally joined the ranks of scoundrels like Hitler.” A truly love-filled observation from a man of Jesus. (read the original post)

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Joe Middle-Class Republican

Day in the Life of Joe Middle-Class Republican
A TvNewsLIES Reader contribution.
By John Gray Cincinnati, Ohio

Joe gets up at 6:00am to prepare his morning coffee. He fills his pot full of good clean drinking water because some liberal fought for minimum water quality standards. He takes his daily medication with his first swallow of coffee. His medications are safe to take because some liberal fought to insure their safety and work as advertised. All but $10.00 of his medications are paid for by his employers medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance, now Joe gets it too. He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs this day. Joe’s bacon is safe to eat because some liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry. (read the entire article)

Adobe Acrobat copy of Day in the Life of Joe Middle-Class Republican

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Purity Trolls and Baby Sausage Trolls

Progressive Strategy, Illustrated: The Pincer Movement, from Corrente (Boldy shrill...).

Maybe I wrote this because I just finished reading A History of Warfare (h/t Bird), or maybe because I just like making diagrams. The pincer movement or double envelopment is a basic element of military strategy which has been used, to some extent, in nearly every war. The flanks of the opponent are attacked simultaneously in a pinching motion after the opponent has advanced towards the center of an army which is responding by moving its outside forces to the enemy’s flanks, in order to surround it. The Key Word is Simultaneously Over the past years, I’ve heard the argument that Democratic electoral victory must happen first, and only after that can Progressives really push for better policy. Everything that has taken place since the 2006 elections proves that this strategy is wrong. (read the entire article)

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In the Spotlight: Putting the faux religionists in their place

Welcome to In the Spotlight, a semi-regular feature of this blog, where I highlight one or more of the links on my personal Web site, www.HansMeyer.net.

On Friday I posted The Great I Am Says Vote For Sam, with a graphic/link to Baptists for Brownback. Yesterday it was What Would Jesus Wear. These are two excellent examples of the links I'm highlighting (easy URL: www.HansMeyer.net/Links).

Today we'll look at three Web sites which use humor, satire and sarcasm to thoroughly expose the hypocrisy of the so-called conservative Christians. The kind of faux religionists who deify the blastocyst, who think Chick Publications are the Word of God, and who wallow in sadomasochistic pleasure watching "religious" snuff films. The end-timers who can, quite frankly, Kiss My Left Behind* (read the author's blog).

First up, Jesus' General, who I read every day:


Next, America's Best Christian, Betty Bowers:

And, finally, Landover Baptist Church, where the worthwhile worship:


All three sites are, well, worthwhile! And all three sites can be found in my Humor section (go to www.HansMeyer.net/Links, then click on Humor)

* - Beware the Antichrist: Nickelay Dubyah, ruler of the former Soviet Republik of Texrectumstan.

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How Idiotic Arguments Enter the Political Mainstream...

The Overton Window, Illustrated, from Corrente (Boldy shrill...) and other sources.

Or: How extremists play a role in setting public policy.

(click on image for larger view)
As the Overton Window shifts along the spectrum, a specific policy (a notch in the graph) goes through the following phases of public acceptance:

• Unthinkable


• Radical


• Acceptable


• Sensible


• Popular


• Policy

"The Overton Window, in my opinion, is basically the key to the Republicans' success over the past twenty years--and it comes straight from the Republican think tanks. "...the GOP knows that the middle DOES matter. They know that by playing to their base in very well-crafted ways, they can shift the very definition of what the middle is. By introducing radicalism into the public discourse (and taking initial heat for it), whatever used to be radical within this context becomes moderate by comparison." Why the Right-Wing Gets It--and Why Dems Don't by thereisnospoon

This cartoon (© Tom Tomorrow) says it all:

(click on image for larger view)

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The Failure of Antigovernment Conservatism

The Failure of Antigovernment Conservatism

by Paul Waldman August 8, 2007

Issues like children's health insurance and maintaining our infrastructure offer progressives the opportunity to finally say, without fear of disastrous political consequences, that sometimes government is not the problem, it's the solution. (read the entire article)

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Fear and Loathing in Middle America

An article from the July 20, 2007 edition of The American Prospect:

Sasha Abramsky reviews Deer Hunting With Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War by Joe Bageant (Crown, 288 pages)

Every so often, you pick up a book and two pages in your nose is glued to it. Not necessarily because of the subject matter per se -- though good subject matter certainly helps -- but because the prose is so damned electric.

Usually, I've found, when it comes to reportage like this, the book's author has a single name: Hunter S. Thompson. Recently, though, I've added another name to my stuck-nose lexicon, having been utterly ensnared by Joe Bageant's Deer Hunting With Jesus.

Bageant grew up in a fundamentalist Christian, ultra-working-class family in a claustrophobic little Virginia town named Winchester. Then, in his own terminology, he made his escape. He moved west and made a pretty decent career for himself in the world of journalism. A few years ago, though, he felt a craving for his childhood home and, now deep into middle-age, decided to relocate once more.

So the self-proclaimed socialist, atheist, heavy-drinking, three-times-married Joe returned home ... (Read the entire article)

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The Real Reason The Wingnuts Hate YearlyKos

Posted on OpEdNews.com.

This is an excellent article (here or here) by journalist Marc McDonald, the inspiration behind BeggarsCanBeChoosers.com.

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