February 29th, 2008
The news has been reporting for the last day or so on the plight of young Harry Windsor, Prince of Whateverthefuck and one of the few members of the British royal family who doesn’t turn your stomach merely by existing [oops - yes he is]. Bowing to his family’s destiny, Harry joined the Army, but it was made clear that his royal arse was much too precious ever to be exposed to combat. Legitimately, also, there were fears that the knowledge of his presence in a combat theater would subject his unit mates to increased danger as enemies from around the globe fell over each other to take the most exalted scalp since Mountbatten’s. The issue was especially poignant given the British Army’s long and less-than-exalted history in Afghanistan.
To his credit, he complained of being kept back, going so far as to threaten to resign his comission if he wasn’t allowed to play a full role. He was eventually shipped over - spending most of his time in a behind-the-lines role, but also going on patrols with his air-cav unit. The British press were briefed on his participation, under “embargo” conditions (they agree not to publish the information until given permission, in return for being informed). For less than three months, Harry was in the combat theater, if not exactly in frequent combat, and things were going OK.
Yesterday, Matt Drudge revealed these facts, and within 24 hours Harry was homeward-bound. It seems likely that Drudge was not subject to the embargo - that is, he did not personally agree to its terms - but likely got a leak and chose to publish the information anyway. That he was, in actual effect, working to get a prince of the British royal succession, and soldiers of the coalition forces in Afghanistan, killed, was apparently not a reason in his mind not to do so.
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Categories: Culture, Fiasco, General, Media, News & Current Events, Politics |
37 Comments
February 28th, 2008
I’ve been ambivalent as between Hillary and Obama - each has great strengths and also some flaws or weaknesses. But Obama impresses me more and more as a man whose principles are more than window-dressing, and sorely needed. Today, he proved it beyond question:
An Open Letter to LGBT Americans
I’m running for President to build an America that lives up to our founding promise of equality for all – a promise that extends to our gay brothers and sisters. It’s wrong to have millions of Americans living as second-class citizens in this nation. And I ask for your support in this election so that together we can bring about real change for all LGBT Americans.
Equality is a moral imperative. That’s why throughout my career, I have fought to eliminate discrimination against LGBT Americans. In Illinois, I co-sponsored a fully inclusive bill that prohibited discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity, extending protection to the workplace, housing, and places of public accommodation. In the U.S. Senate, I have co-sponsored bills that would equalize tax treatment for same-sex couples and provide benefits to domestic partners of federal employees. And as president, I will place the weight of my administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes and a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
As your President, I will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws. I personally believe that civil unions represent the best way to secure that equal treatment. But I also believe that the federal government should not stand in the way of states that want to decide on their own how best to pursue equality for gay and lesbian couples — whether that means a domestic partnership, a civil union, or a civil marriage. Unlike Senator Clinton, I support the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) – a position I have held since before arriving in the U.S. Senate. While some say we should repeal only part of the law, I believe we should get rid of that statute altogether. Federal law should not discriminate in any way against gay and lesbian couples, which is precisely what DOMA does. I have also called for us to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and I have worked to improve the Uniting American Families Act so we can afford same-sex couples the same rights and obligations as married couples in our immigration system.
The next president must also address the HIV/AIDS epidemic. When it comes to prevention, we do not have to choose between values and science. While abstinence education should be part of any strategy, we also need to use common sense. We should have age-appropriate sex education that includes information about contraception. We should pass the JUSTICE Act to combat infection within our prison population. And we should lift the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users. In addition, local governments can protect public health by distributing contraceptives.
We also need a president who’s willing to confront the stigma – too often tied to homophobia– that continues to surround HIV/AIDS. I confronted this stigma directly in a speech to evangelicals at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, and will continue to speak out as president. That is where I stand on the major issues of the day. But having the right positions on the issues is only half the battle. The other half is to win broad support for those positions. And winning broad support will require stepping outside our comfort zone. If we want to repeal DOMA, repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and implement fully inclusive laws outlawing hate crimes and discrimination in the workplace, we need to bring the message of LGBT equality to skeptical audiences as well as friendly ones – and that’s what I’ve done throughout my career. I brought this message of inclusiveness to all of America in my keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention. I talked about the need to fight homophobia when I announced my candidacy for President, and I have been talking about LGBT equality to a number of groups during this campaign – from local LGBT activists to rural farmers to parishioners at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Dr. Martin Luther King once preached.
Just as important, I have been listening to what all Americans have to say. I will never compromise on my commitment to equal rights for all LGBT Americans. But neither will I close my ears to the voices of those who still need to be convinced. That is the work we must do to move forward together. It is difficult. It is challenging. And it is necessary.
Americans are yearning for leadership that can empower us to reach for what we know is possible. I believe that we can achieve the goal of full equality for the millions of LGBT people in this country. To do that, we need leadership that can appeal to the best parts of the human spirit. Join with me, and I will provide that leadership. Together, we will achieve real equality for all Americans, gay and straight alike.
Barack Obama
It rankles a little that he still finds it necessary to equivocate on this “civil union” nonsense, but it’s important to remember that that was the progressive position on gay rights just a few years ago. No one in high office, in the history of this nation, has made so forthright and so morally upright a statement in favor of full and uncompromising equality - certainly none with the Presidency in their grasp, still less on the very issue that the haters and bigots had used to put one of their own into the Presidency at the very time it was said. He didn’t have to say it - he could have coasted into office while keeping this issue on the back burner - but he chose to stand up in a way that was so badly needed, and will cause such a vicious backlash, and that he could have so easily avoided.
Aside from simply being right on an important issue, Obama today showed remarkable moral depth. It was inspiring - in a way that has nothing to do with rhetoric or visionary exhortation, but with true moral courage and the dedication to govern his life and work by his ideals. It is impossible not to admire this.
Categories: Church & State, Culture, General, Legal Issues, News & Current Events, Politics, Religion |
72 Comments
February 28th, 2008
As if I needed another reason, the dumbass who owns that site asks:
Has anyone ever really shown that the allegations made by the Swift Boat Veterans against John F. Kerry were false?
Gee, Chuckie, I dunno. Has anyone ever really shown that the allegations were true? (Answer: An emphatic ‘no.’) I know you love you some good ole fashioned McCarthyism, but these days we tend to prefer a system where people are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
But now that he asks the question, I am forced to wonder: Has anyone ever really shown that Charles F. Johnson isn’t a child molester? I mean, the question deserves an answer…
H/T: Dan Collins at Protein Wisdom, a right-leaninging blogger who, to his credit, rightfully calls CFJ a “douchebag.”
UPDATE: I should have known better than to give credit where it isn’t due. As pointed out in comments, Collins is calling McCain a douchebag for distancing himself from the SBVT asshats; he’s wasn’t calling CFJ a douchebag for his “guilty until proven innocent beyond any possible doubt” routine. My mistake.
What was it, by the way, that McCain said, that makes him a “douchebag?” Only this:
“We’re aware of many of the things that 527s have done … where unlimited amounts of money can pour into negative campaigns such as we saw against John Kerry and his combat record, as we saw against (former Georgia Sen.) Max Cleland … they’re really very not accountable to anyone. At least I have to say ‘I’m John McCain and I approve this message.’”
Wow. That horrible egregious bastard. The nerve of that guy.
Categories: Bloggin, Politics |
9 Comments
February 27th, 2008
Every time I find myself agreeing with Xrlq, it reminds me that it’s time to reassess my views, the world, etc.
OK, I’m pretty sure it’s okay to agree with him on this one. 
Oh, and as a side note, this is funny, I don’t care who you are:
Don’t tell the Tennessee Republicans but his last name is only one letter off from another unpleasant moniker. That’s right[,] Bama. And nothing sucks more than Bama.
Although I do have to disagree on a point of detail: some things do, in fact, suck more than Bama.
Categories: Bloggin, Humor, Politics |
2 Comments
February 27th, 2008
Being #1 is a bitch, isn’t it?
Categories: College Hoops, Sports |
2 Comments
February 27th, 2008
Allow me to take this opportunity to stand athwart history yelling “Go!”
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Categories: Culture, General, Media, News & Current Events, Politics |
19 Comments
February 26th, 2008
Waaah! Most people don’t have as much of Teh Crazy as I do!
Seriously, I wonder if it ever occurs to these folks that not everyone has the same bizarre definition of “freedom” that they do. At the risk of sounding like the “America, love it or leave it” folks, I’m not aware that anyone has taken away their right to leave if they think it’s so bad and so beyond hope…
Categories: Culture, Libertarian Problem Solving, Politics |
15 Comments
February 25th, 2008
I’ve repeatedly had a debate with Tennesseefree’s Glen Dean about this subject (most recently here), but I figured I’d toss the question out to the peanut gallery: Can demand be created, or can one only ever hope to respond to demand?
Have at it.
Categories: Education |
31 Comments
February 25th, 2008
Last week, I asked for help concerning frequent false alarms on my smoke detector. I believe I have the problem solved, and though nobody guessed exactly right, there was a theme in several of the suggestions that ultimately helped a great deal: location, location, location.
Bottom line, it appears that my smoke detector was too close to the attic access door. Moving it about three to four feet farther away seems to have resolved the issue. Not sure if there was an updraft contributing to the problem, or if it’s something else, but either way, thanks to everyone for their help.
Categories: Blegging, General |
No Comments
February 25th, 2008
And this one’s bound to draw some ire. Hilzoy:
Ralph Nader apparently feels the need to save us from our corporate overlords, just like he did in 2000.
Seriously, I’d be shocked if Nader got enough attention this year to make any difference at all. The 2000 election was a perfect storm, one that made Nader seem a lot more relevant than he actually is. I seriously doubt it will happen again.
Also, a bonus quote from publius:
The thing about the Malkin/Aces/Reynolds wing of the blogosphere is that wrongness is no obstacle to writing. In fact, it just makes them double down. If anything, the number of words they devote to a topic is directly proportional to their demonstrable wrongness.
UPDATE: You think I’m down on Nader? Check out this guy!
Categories: Humor, Politics |
4 Comments
February 25th, 2008
The Sunday “clash of the Titans and we’re not talking just politics” edition of the TennViews weekly blog roundup showcasing the best and brightest bloggers in Tennessee and what they are talking about…
• 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera: McCain: the Aftermath: The straight talk express hits a speed bump. Plus, the buzz on the Wisconsin and Hawaii primaries.
• 55-40 Memphis: Clinton supporters are “the Rottweilers of politics.” Plus: MO-bama!
• Ablogination: Hang it up, Hillary: Why Clinton should exit gracefully.
• Andy Axel (at KnoxViews): Home-Grown Terrorists Face Federal Charges: Charges pending in mosque firebombing, and how you donate to help rebuild it. Plus: McCain feels for the family.
• Aunt B.: Is helping take care of her dad and reminiscing.
• BlountViews: Liveblogging the TDOT Pellissippi Parkway Extension hearing, and commentary. Also, The Blount County Children’s Home is at risk because of politics and development, and new immigration laws are working to create an invisible fence.
• Carole Borges (a new addition to the blogroll and roundup): According to the League of Conservation Voters John McCain has earned himself a big fat zero. Also, the “poverty draft.”
• The Crone Speaks: Slave Labor: Moving Down the Economic Ladder: Growing poverty is creating a “slave labor” class. Plus: Some compelling reasons to vote for Hillary, and Bush’s support of Musharraf.
• Cup of Joe Powell: Are Connected Tennessee backers a front for AT&T? Plus, the immigration situation in Hamblen County prompts. Rep. David Davis (R, TN-1) to call for Homeland Security intervention. Also, check out this week’s Oscar edition of Joe Powell’s weekly Camera Obscura series on films and film making.
• Don Williams: An open letter to Hillary’s most ardent Obama bashers: Obama supporters have the high moral ground.
• The Donkey’s Mouth: Conservation Voters give high marks to Tennessee Congressional Dems, plus TNGOP’s Bill Hobbs says one thing on blogs and another in official press releases. Plus: The nominee must answer to TNGOP Chairwoman Robin Smith.
• Enclave: Questioning Bill O’Reilly’s lynching remarks, the Darwinian tone of reporting on Nashville’s homeless, and an unnoticed story about the Texas debate.
• Fletch: Gullscapes, Storms on the Horizon, A Dream and the Wind.
• KnoxViews: Campfield reports House wasting valuable time!, lively Texas debate discussion, and a convenience voting project in East Tennessee.
• Lean Left: Kevin: Mixing the Races is a Communist Plot!, KTK: Feeling Michele Obama’s frustration, and Tgirsch: Chris Matthew’s job is not journalism, it’s to stir up…
• Left of the Dial: “I’m glad Bruce Pearl isn’t a cult leader because otherwise I might be selling all my worldly possessions right now.”
• Left Wing Cracker: LWC goes to 11 in naming his ten favorite blogs and why.
• Liberadio: Bold general election predictions, Obama robbed in New York, and the year of the underdog in which Democrats growl.
• Loose TN Canon: Wisconsin primary says GAME OVER for Republicans.
• NewsComa: It’s not about the sex, it’s about the political favors. Plus, blogs are changing the rules.
• Pesky Fly: Nikki Tinker surrogate attacks against Cohen are the moral equivalent of receiving stolen goods, and more on the “are bloggers journalists” question. Plus: How to protest.
• Progressive Nashville: Life after Castro won’t begin just yet, psychology of the candidates, and NYT dropped the ball.
• Resonance: Revealing campaign website traffic. Plus, an Obama/Bloomberg insurgency?
• RoaneViews: Thoughts on The Game. Plus: Eclipse of Sanity?
• Russ McBee: Serbian punk nationalists on the rampage, plus some interesting numbers.
• Sean Braisted: It doesn’t look like Clinton intends to salvage her dignity. Plus: [R.] Neal over at Knox Views seems perplexed as to why Hillary couldn’t “bring on the wonk to expose Obama’s lack of depth on policy.” This is a fascinating quote to me, because I think it sums up the arrogance of the Clinton camp really well. [..] Hillary is banking on the uneducated white vote to boost her campaign.
• Sharon Cobb: Karl Rove trolling in Alabama, Obama wins the debate, and Clinton and McCain are trying to “boil the hope” out of you.
• Silence Isn’t Golden: Some working people are more important to Clinton than others. memo to Hobbs: Better Uses For $8 Million , On O’Reilly’s racist remarks silence is complicity, plus Act Now To Save RIF!. Oh, I almost forgot. GoldnI exclusive: Tuke in!
• Southern Beale: It seems John McCain’s “straight talk” is as crooked as a dog’s hind leg. Plus, a bright future for solar energy.
• Tennessee Guerilla Women: Clinton: Shame on you Barack Obama, Hillary’s accomplishments, and Women Have Seen this Movie, We Know the Drill
• TennViews: Pam Strickland is looking for leads for a project on how “health care and legal issues contribute to the cumulative problems of poor children, particularly children of color.” Plus: Student voter registration: Yes you can, and, Clinton at the State of the Black Union, and Brian’s Memphis showdown preview, with a rundown of what Tennessee had to do, which they did.
• Vibinc: Crunches the delegate numbers and comes to some interesting conclusions.
• Whites Creek Journal: Whites Creek Steve’s impressive Great Backyard Bird Count list, plus more commentary on the bill to require DNA testing of fathers listed on Tennessee birth certificates.
• Women’s Health News: Rachel critiques CNN’s Tips for Savvy Medical Web Surfing with some valuable tips of her own, plus more on DNA testing for birth certificates.
Categories: General |
No Comments
February 24th, 2008
And the bad guys won:
With America’s two open-wheel series finally unified, the calendar poses the next roadblock: The season-opening race is just five weeks away.
At this point, nobody knows how many teams and cars will move from the now-defunct Champ Car World Series to the Indy Racing League’s IndyCar Series in time for the March 29 opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
…snip…
Even before Friday’s announcement that IRL founder Tony George and Champ Car co-owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe had signed off on the agreement to close down Champ Car and run as a unified series, teams were preparing to make the move.
The open-wheel rivalry lasted 12 years. The peace process began several weeks ago when George, also president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, offered any Champ Car team interested in switching to the IndyCar Series a free Honda engine lease program, free Dallara chassis and $1.2 million in team incentives.
Champ Car team owner Derrick Walker said last week he already put his Champ Car equipment at the back of his Indianapolis garage and was beginning to work on new IRL cars in preparation for the move.
“The path won’t be easy in the beginning, but Walker Racing is ready for the challenge,” Walker said. “It’s going to be a rough old ride because we don’t have the familiarity with the Dallaras and it’s a more experienced formula. But the bottom line is that it’s great news to put this thing together.”
Long-term, it’s in the best interests of open wheel racing to have a single series. The problem is, the inferior series is the one that survives. Gone is the sleek Panoz chassis. Gone is the turbocharged Cosworth engine. Gone is “Power To Pass” (P2P), one of the most interesting innovations in racing in a long time. Gone is the Portland race, which was preparing to host its 25th anniversary. Gone are two of the best road courses in North America: Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI and Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.
Instead, we’re left with the bulky Dallara chassis, the naturally-aspirated V-8 Honda, and a series dominated by ovals.
I wish I could be more excited about this, but I really don’t see how this is much different than if Champ Car had simply folded. They’re calling it a “merged” series, but it just looks like the same old IRL to me.
Categories: Auto Racing, Sports |
2 Comments
February 22nd, 2008
SayUncle is a lot of things, but racist bastard isn’t one of them. He’s right. Racism, sexism, and religious bigotry aren’t by any means things of the past. Not by a long shot.
Uncle does still insist on calling Obama a socialist, however. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
[Side note: I almost made "racist bastard" the link, but then had visions of SayUncle becoming the top google for "racist bastard" and changed it.]
UPDATE: It would seem that the same cannot be said for a lot of his commenters, however…
Categories: Politics, Race, Religion |
27 Comments
February 22nd, 2008
I have a confession: For the better part of the last three years, I’ve been without a working smoke detector in my house.
I bought the house about five years ago, and it was equipped with a smoke alarm in the hallway connecting the bedrooms. But we started getting false alarms — a lot of them. Tried changing to a new battery, same result. The result was ultimately to remove the battery from the detector. Realizing this is a Very Bad Idea, I put the battery back, and we started getting false alarms again. There was no visible dirt in the detector, so I figured the detector itself must be the problem. I went out and bought a brand-spanking-new battery-operated smoke detector, and installed it. Different detector, same problem: relatively frequent false alarms. I’ve even tried moving the detector to a different part of the hallway, with no change in results.
So this leads to two questions:
1: WTF?!
and
2: What can I do to fix this? I really need a working smoke detector in the house.
Any and all serious suggestions are appreciated.
Categories: Blegging |
19 Comments
February 21st, 2008
In the wake of the Kirk Watson Hardball implosion, over at Obsidian Wings, hilzoy issues a challenge:
So here’s a challenge for Chris Matthews, or anyone else in the media who wants to take it up. Go over Clinton and Obama’s actual legislative records. Find the genuine legislative accomplishments that each has to his or her name. Report to the American people on what you find. Until you do, don’t accept statements from either side about who has substance and who does not, or who traffics in “speeches” and who offers “solutions”. That’s lazy, unprofessional, and a disservice to your audience.
Do your jobs. Don’t leave it to bloggers like me to do it for you.
It’s a good read, but I will say this: If you think journalism, or anything even remotely approaching it, is Chris Matthews’ job, you must not watch him very much. He’s not paid to know anything, or to fact check anything, or to engage in anything like what we’d call journalism. He’s paid to stir up shit, and lately, he’s been pretty good at it. I’m not saying it’s right mind you, but to overuse the cliche of the year, it is what it is.
Categories: Media, Politics |
2 Comments
February 20th, 2008
No, seriously, that’s her argument:
But maybe it’s not so simple. Obama and I are roughly the same age. I grew up in liberal circles in New York City — a place to which people who wished to rebel against their upbringings had gravitated for generations. And yet, all of my mixed race, black/white classmates throughout my youth, some of whom I am still in contact with, were the product of very culturally specific unions. They were always the offspring of a white mother, (in my circles, she was usually Jewish, but elsewhere not necessarily) and usually a highly educated black father. And how had these two come together at a time when it was neither natural nor easy for such relationships to flourish? Always through politics. No, not the young Republicans. Usually the Communist Youth League. Or maybe a different arm of the CPUSA. But, for a white woman to marry a black man in 1958, or 60, there was almost inevitably a connection to explicit Communist politics. (During the Clinton Administration we were all introduced to then U. of Pennsylvania Professor Lani Guinier — also a half black/half Jewish, red diaper baby.)
… Political correctness was invented precisely to prevent the mainstream liberal media from persuing the questions which might arise about how Senator Obama’s mother, from Kansas, came to marry an African graduate student. Love? Sure, why not? But what else was going on around them that made it feasible? Before readers level cheap accusations of racism — let’s recall that the very question of interracial marriage only became a big issue later in the 1960s. The notion of a large group of mixed race Americans became an issue during and after the Vietnam War. Even the civil-rights movement kept this culturally explosive matter at arm’s distance.
It was, of course, an explicit tactic of the Communist party to stir up discontent among American blacks, with an eye toward using them as the leading edge of the revolution.
Like the little bit about how it was almost always a Jewish woman marrying the Black man? This rolls up all the dark demons of the far right wing id n one place: Jews, Blacks, race mixing and communists, oh my! And, of course, Obama is not to be trusted becasue his parents were obviously inter-racial at a time when interracial couples got together for not other reason to advance the communist plot for world-wide domination!
This smear has it all: hints of antisemitism, racism, the implication that Obama’s parents are huge phonies who only got together to advance Marxism, and, of course, that peculiar aristocratic/racist obsession with a person’s parentage. In one short blog posting, this moron has dumped every bit of insecurity and warped nonsense that festers in the minds of some on the far right all over the internet, like a baby who takes off his diaper and smears feces on the nursery wall.
God, what disgusting people.
Via Balloon Juice.
UPDATE [tgirsch]: TPM has a great take on this. Go read.
Categories: General, Politics, Race, Religion |
36 Comments
February 20th, 2008
The interesting thing to me about last night, where Obama won pretty handily in both Hawaii and Wisconsin, was that Obama seems to be taking the “all fluff” criticism to heart. A good deal of his victory speech dealt with detailed policy points. It seems that the Obama camp thinks that might be a fertile avenue of attack. The all fluff stuff was always a lie — Obama has had some of the most detailed, in some areas the most innovative, policy proposals around — but its interesting to me that the Obama team is worried enough about it to respond. I don’t think it matters that much. If policy mattered a great deal than the incoherence of Bush’s policy statements in 2000 would have been the story instead of the bullshit the GOP made up about Gore. It will be interesting to see how much these attacks change Obama’s stump speech approach.
Categories: General, Politics |
9 Comments
February 20th, 2008
I’m back from vacation. Now comes the catching up part. I paid almost no attention to news, sports, or anything else while on vacation (which is, as far as I’m concerned, as it should be). I hope to have some travel blogging up later in the week, and should get back to political blogging soon.
As a side note, I was glad to see that my preferred candidate easily won my native state.
Categories: Bloggin |
1 Comment
February 19th, 2008
The wingnut brigade is falling over itself today because Michelle Obama is proud of her country. They think it’s a bad thing. Specifically, Obama said:
[F]or the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment. I’ve seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic common issues, and it’s made me proud.
They can’t stand the implication that she hasn’t had much to feel proud of in the past. Naturally they think that’s her fault, and naturally they’re ginning up their slavering noise machine, complete with screaming Drudge headlines and oleaginous crap from repulsive loons like John Podhoretz and Michelle Malkin.
But, really, what is questionable, or even surprising, about such a sentiment? What decent American hasn’t been frustrated and disappointed by the country’s many inequities, its many failures to make good on its own promise, and the repeated disasters engendered by lack of decency among its leadership? Who hasn’t been hungry for the chance to claim the birthright of true equality, true freedom, and political and material largesse that America portends, without making excuses or sweeping historical travesties and abuses under the rug? And for black Americans especially, who but a fool would imagine that the American dream and promise has been anything but a mockery of partial fulfillment and cynical denial? If you have any decency or sympathy at all, how can you not feel unsatisfied with America’s halting and incomplete fulfillment of its promise?
[more after the jump]
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Categories: Culture, General, Media, News & Current Events, Politics, Race |
23 Comments
February 19th, 2008
The only question that concerns me is whether or not the embargo is going to be lifted. The embargo is a terrible policy and it has probably done a great deal to prop up the Castro regime. It made the privation of the Cuban people seem like part of a great struggle agaisnt an overwhemlingly powerful foe. It was stupid and counter-productive, but it was an easy means to look “tough”. And in our foreign policy environment, looking tough trumps acting smart every single time. This stupid embargo will probably out live me.
Categories: General |
11 Comments
