Brain in a Nutshell

[elfs]

Really, if you offend easily, don't drop into the PASWO block. Michael Medved says American whites are genetically superior to everyone else, Rumsfeld hopes for more American deaths to help his party, Bush says stupid things and his lawyer says he's above the law anyway, and as McCain turns toward the center The Family threatens to stab him in the back. But first, the good news:

Another school principal smackdown!

Back in Feburary I blogged a school principal who banned all mentions of homosexuality, down to rainbow stickers, claiming that merely talking about it or showing support was disruptive to his school and indicated "membership in an illegal organization" or "a secret society." (Cool, gays are like Masons now!) When students pushed back, the principal had a "Morality Assembly", and even suspended some students.

Well, a judge has now told him that his lawyer is a moron, that the school board was incompetent and derelict in its duty, and injoined the school against any further harassment. Cool!

We are in the hands monsters.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld suggested that America, having voted the Democrats back into Congressional power, could benefit from suffering another terrorist attack.

Michael Medved: Americans are Genetically Superior

The stupid, it burns! Michael Medved writes that Americans, because our recent ancestors were restless, leave home to conquer a new land types, have inherited genes that make us risk-takers and successful. Except for blacks, of course, whos ancestors were brought here forcibly and were probably the slowest runners of their tribes when the slave-takers came.

No, really. He writes that American blacks are no longer "disadvanted" because race-mixing has given their intrinsically shiftless genes "a less decisive influence."

The Sacrifice Bush Made To Keep The Nation Great

President George Bush said Tuesday night that, in solidarity with the moms, dads, and children who will never again see their loved ones killed in Iraq, he has chosen himself to make his own sacrifices.

He has given up golf.

He really has no idea how stupid that sounds.

Bush's Newest Power Grab

Wait, it's World Net Daily saying something sensible? (Checks window.) Nope, no pigs flying outside. But yes, Nat Hentoff at WND brings us testimony from the White House's chief lawyer that he believes "The president could ignore or modify existing executive orders that he or other presidents have issued without disclosing the new interpretation."

It's not-- yet-- the same as "secret law." (We have those too; try and find out why you're on a TSA watchlist, for example.) What is my country coming to?

McCain flirts with "political suicide."

John McCain, showing his political savvy, is aware that he could get certain one-issue voters to vote for him if his party's platform weren't quite so reactionary, and would accept abortions in cases of rape, incest, and the threatened health of the woman. Trouble is, he attacked Bush when Bush said he was willing to do the same thing, and the entire Christian coalition is now telling him that to flip-flop and change the platform would be "political suicide."

Sixteen Tips For Good Sleep.

Still working on this, but I'm getting better at it.

Comments

[lucky-otter.livejournal.com]

Rummy hoping for another attack seems to be just continuing a theme. They were writing about that in the 90s, plotting out a new American Empire. It's a big part of why many people have proposed that the US government was in favor of the attacks - because the people running it demonstrably were.

[doodlesthegreat.livejournal.com]

1. Why am I not shocked the school is in Florida?

2. If another terrorist attack occurred any time in the next four years, I think the Republicans would be blamed for it. And wishing for it like The Shrub & Co is the sort of asinine actions that's de regur for that clan.

3. Michael Medved is a nutjob? How shocking.

4. I hope you heard Kieth Olberman last night. If you haven't, Crooksandliars.com has his Special Commentary on the topic. I had an orgasm listening to it.

5. I think at this point, being John McCain is political suicide.

[starbog.livejournal.com]

I hope you heard Kieth Olberman last night. If you haven't, Crooksandliars.com has his Special Commentary on the topic. I had an orgasm listening to it.

Olberman is as big a nutjob as Medved.

[doodlesthegreat.livejournal.com]

Perhaps, but he's OUR nutjob! =};-3

[starbog.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to doubt your ownership of him. ;-)

[mikstera.livejournal.com]

What I've heard of Olberman's oratory certainly has him coming off as passionate and unapologetic (something "the Left" certainly needs more of), but nothing he's said or done says "nutjob" to me, certainly nothing on the order of the ideological idiocy spewing from Medved's mouth.

So, what's "nutty" about Olberman?

[elfs.livejournal.com]

So far, Olbermann hasn't acknowledged a belief in Bigfoot, discussed the genetic superiority of one race or people over another, or shilled for anything quite so idiotic as Intelligent Design.

He's shrill, sure. I've seen him go over the line and go all reducito ad absurdam to make a point. But when he's been verifiably wrong, he's been the first to get on the air and admit it, unlike his nemesis Bill O'Reilly.

The real difference between the Republicans and the Democrats is that, for the Republicans ever since Nixon, when the center falls apart the soldiers are left blustering, bewildered, and bereft. When the center falls apart on the Dems side, each little group maintains enough cohesion to evidence some semblance of competency. We may disagree with them vehemently-- and I often do-- but they at least continue to muddle through. The Republicans are the Cathedral, and the Democrats are the Bazaar.

These people have never read Hayek.

[starbog.livejournal.com]

vSo far, Olbermann hasn't acknowledged a belief in Bigfoot, discussed the genetic superiority of one race or people over another, or shilled for anything quite so idiotic as Intelligent Design.

He's shrill, sure. I've seen him go over the line and go all reducito ad absurdam to make a point. But when he's been verifiably wrong, he's been the first to get on the air and admit it, unlike his nemesis Bill O'Reilly.

What do you make of this (http://www.olbermannwatch.com/archives/2006/12/keith_olbermann_2.php) then?


The real difference between the Republicans and the Democrats is that, for the Republicans ever since Nixon, when the center falls apart the soldiers are left blustering, bewildered, and bereft. When the center falls apart on the Dems side, each little group maintains enough cohesion to evidence some semblance of competency. We may disagree with them vehemently-- and I often do-- but they at least continue to muddle through. The Republicans are the Cathedral, and the Democrats are the Bazaar.

I'm not sure. After a traumatic electoral defeat, parties of both political persuations tend to spend quite a lot of time (decades actually) intellectually rebuilding and reinventing themselves. This has happened on both sides of the pond - on your side, on the right, from Goldwater through to the Contract with America, and on the left, from Carter through to Clinton.

Here in the UK, Labour went from the aptly-called "Longest Suicide Note in History' in 1983 through to the triumph of Tony Blair in 1997, and the Conservatives have taken a decade to gain the ascendency now after the trauma of 1997. The real intellectual energy is now on the right here in the UK (compare and contrast for example, the two main right and left political websites here in the UK, ConservativeHome and LabourHome), and Gordon Brown et al are behaving much like John Major's doomed government of the mid 90s.

I think maybe it is a function of being in government - it seems that in western democracies, administrations have a natural lifespan (perhaps 8-10 years or so?) and the corridors of power need a, to use a crude analogy, regular metaphorical enemas. As to where this puts the next US election, normally, I wouldn't care. The actual domestic differences between McCain, Obama and Clinton are in the great scheme of things, miniscule (and will be once your equivalent of Sir Humphrey Appleby gets their hands on policy). However, the West is at war with Islamofascism, and whilst both Clinton and McCain appear to have the necessary cojones to deal with this fact, Obama (and certainly the people he surrounds himself with) reeks of appeasement and surrender.


These people have never read Hayek.

On this, I will say a hearty Amen (to both Friedrich and Salma!)

[elfs.livejournal.com]

On the Olbermann thing, I went and read the rant you linked to. At random, the first link I hit went to a 404. The second was lovingly spun to misquote Olbermann, which I found interesting. (O'Reilly claimed FOX's viewership was 9:1 over MSNBC, Olbermann claimed it was more like 3:1, the reviewer said O'Reilly was right, and then linked to an article that showed that it was more like 5:1, so O'Reilly was right, but the reviewer lied about how Olbermann was wrong.)

I did track a few down and you're right, he's blustery and willing to play with the truth to make his points, and I'm disappointed by those.

[starbog.livejournal.com]

Demagogues are Demagogues, no matter what politics they hold.

[gromm.livejournal.com]

We are in the hands monsters.

Sounds like reverse psychology to me. Perhaps Rumsfeld is hoping that Osama is reading his newspaper right now and saying "well fuck, that plan's out the window".

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Nah, I doubt it. After all, if Osama really attacked the US, both would get what they want: The US would redouble its efforts to break its own army, and Rummy's people would get to convince the American people that voting in the Dems was a bad idea.

[starbog.livejournal.com]

Bin Laden is probably dead. Someone as insanely publicity seeking as him, and all we've had for years are dodgy-looking videos and alledged audio tapes? The parsimonious explanation is that he is toast.