SC Democrats

My email to Carol Fowler, chair of the Democratic Party of South Carolina:

Dear Ms. Fowler:

I read on salon.com that you had "commented that John McCain had picked a running mate 'whose primary qualification seems to be that she hasn't had an abortion'." Then, further down in the article, I read your clarification/apology.

Stop apologizing! You were right the first time and you should have stood by your words. It was funny and while hyperbolic, it was an accurate metaphor for the realities of Republican politics.

Democrats should stop apologizing. Republicans routinely torture and murder the truth, and are never even called on it, forget being expected to apologize. It's time Democrats met their standard. This "above the fray" b.s. will cost us election after election. The party needs people who will say what's on their minds and stick to it. I was amazed and pleased when I read your statement, but then I read the update, and dismay set in.

The Democratic Party in South Carolina is the biggest underdog since David, and it's time we fought like underdogs: with ferocity and an attitude that we have nothing to lose, because in this state, it's true.

UPDATE: Got a response: "Thanks" (with no punctuation--and no comment)

What's more important?

Any so-called Hillary "supporter" who won't vote for Obama or who will vote for McCain is a traitor--not just to party but to country. They aren't really supporting anything but four more years of insanity, a perpetuation of the worst presidency in American history. Voting for McCain out of a heartfelt belief that he's better for the country is bad enough, but to do so out of spite--Spite?!--is absolutely beyond the pale. Not only does it devalue politics--a depreciated asset already--it devalues their entire belief system to the point that there are no beliefs remaining, just bile.

George W. Batman?

There was a lot of talk in the couple of weeks after the opening of The Dark Knight about how Batman represents George W. Bush. The talk was based on Batman's "rendition" of one of the bad guys and his use of technology to locate the Joker--by spying on everyone's cell phone.

A couple of ideas occurred to me as I thought about that after finally getting to see the film Friday night. First, we like our fictional heroes to be like Batman, or even Jack Bauer, heroes who will do anything to achieve their noble objective of protecting the vast ignorant citizenry. That includes me. I like Jack Bauer, and I like Batman, but I think I'm like a lot of Americans in being able to distinguish fact from fiction, and knowing that a fictional hero who can take out the bad guys without being held to standards of the law isn't the same as a president who operates as if he was above the law. At least, I hope so.

The second idea I had was how people like to take ideas from fiction and portray them as fact. There was a similar development following The Incredibles, which some took as a parable of present-day political correctness in the educational system. In it, the protagonists have to submerge their special abilities in order to fit into "normal" society, because their extra-ordinariness was considered a danger to regular folks--until a greater danger arose.

But as parables, movies don't always work. The person who sees a call for elitism in The Incredibles is missing the call for acceptance of difference as we witness the struggles of people outside the norm to fit in. The person who sees George W. Bush in Batman completely misunderstands the character He excuses the crimes of a troubled fictional character in order to excuse the crimes of a troubling real person.

History Detectives

I really like the History Detectives show on PBS, but I really think they should hire a historian. Currently, they have two appraisers (one of whom has a Ph.D. in Anthropology), a Sociologist, and an Art Historian. They do a great job and the stories are really interesting--I wish I could find some interesting artifact that would be worthy of the show in my father's attic, but he'd have to have an attic first--but the show is, paradoxically, a traveling version of the antiques "road show." As a historians, I deal with documents more often than with artifacts, but I think a deeper historical context would make this show more interesting.

I couldn't resist. Sorry about the Flash delay.

I couldn't resist entering this contest. I'd rather drive something efficient or even electric, but I can always sell it if I win.

Torture and the rule of law

Glenn Greenwald of salon.com reviews The Dark Side, by Jane Mayer of The New Yorker and comments on how the U.S. is no longer a nation of laws but a nation of men. "One cannot coherently sanction or even acquiesce to serious government lawbreaking and then feign outrage over illegal torture and other war crimes. The sanctioning of government illegality is precisely what leads to abuses like the American torture regime."

I am Spider-Man

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 70% Hulk 65% Robin 62% Superman 60% Green Lantern 60% Batman 55% Iron Man 50% Supergirl 45% The Flash 45% Catwoman 30% Wonder Woman 25%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

Liberal Arts Undervalued? Umm, Duh?

Liberal Arts Undervalued by Education Department, Official Says After Quitting - Chronicle.com

You'll need a site pass or subscription to read this in its entirety, but here's the first sentence:

The Education Department is controlled by advisers who have insufficient regard for the liberal arts and instead are intent on judging colleges largely by their ability to provide economically measurable talent for industry, a recently departed top official told The Chronicle.

I don't know why the liberal arts are so disparaged--maybe because of the word "liberal"--but it would seem to me that the ability to think critically, to analyze data, to write well, and to be able to understand and convey information effectively would all be skills that the business community values.

It's a debate, says Terry W. Hartle, who is a senior v.p. for government and public affairs at the American Council on Education, between the liberal arts and "employment-specific education," a debate, he said, "that people have been having for centuries."

I still use semicolons; do you?

Has modern life killed the semicolon? - By Paul Collins - Slate Magazine recalls the history of the point-virgule and its lamented demise, except in its usual role as a winking emoticon.

CNN/ABC reporter: Corporate executives forced pro-Bush, pro-war narrative - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

One of the best news media analysts around, Glenn Greenwald, does it again with this list of atrocities, detailing multiple instances of corporate interference with reporting the run-up to war in Iraq and subsequent ass-covering by the media mush-heads themselves.

Expelled Exposed: Why Expelled Flunks

Just got around to listening to the Skepticality podcast interview with Eugenie Scott (4/29). Good stuff on the Ben Stein propaganda piece, Expelled. See Expelled Exposed: Why Expelled Flunks for more.

Equal time for the willfully ignorant | Philly | 05/22/2008

People who insist on remaining ignorant and their voting preferences--What a country!? Equal time for the willfully ignorant | Philly | 05/22/2008

Rudeness (the Rude Pundit)

It's rude, but goddamn if he ain't right:

You ever been to the mythical "rural communities" of Appalachia? The Rude Pundit has, hanging out with mule farm owners and miners and others. And they are xenophobic, suspicious, and poor - hell, these redneck fuckers hate white outsiders. Just about every Deliverance-style, Hatfield and McCoy, Ma and Pa Kettle inbred backwards ass country fuck stereotype you ever imagined exists there, complete with their trashed front yards and about a mouth of teeth for every three or four households. And they have every right to hate people who have ripped away the jobs and kept them in deep poverty and ignorance. There's been so many promises broken to the people of Appalachia that they may as well be Indians. Hell, the last time anyone in the federal government gave a happy rat fuck about the region was in the LBJ administration.

See the whole post here.

China's story: putting the PR into the PRC | openDemocracy

This is a great short article on China's public image problem as the Olympics cast a brighter light on that nation. There are some interesting solutions that are both pragmatic and relatively easy.

Megan McArdle and Dan Drezner's defense of the media - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

Click the link for another dismemberment of the press by the inimitable Glenn Greenwald.

We are Iron Man!

We are Iron Man! A lowbrow literary mystery. - Brainiac - The Boston Globe

This article covers the origins of the Marvel character (who has a movie coming out soon) and Iron Man's connections with Black Sabbath and Ted Hughes. It has a wonderful anti-war twist at the end of the piece, too.

Bill Clinton

is a dick.

Treason and the Religious Right

This article from the Huffington Post argues that 1) the religious right have said and continue to say things far worse than Jeremiah Wright and 2) that the Clinton campaign is abetting the right-wing's smear against Obama. Good stuff.

The world's 50 most powerful blogs | Technology | The Observer

The world's 50 most powerful blogs
Alas, Historic Alley is not among them.

Hillary Clinton

I've pretty much decided that I'm not going to vote for Hillary Clinton should she win the Democratic nomination. It probably wouldn't have an impact anyway, as I live in South Carolina, which will be "in the tank" for McCain, but I voted in 2000 for Ralph Nader and even though it didn't have an impact on the "election" of Bush, I said I'd never vote for a third party candidate again. Now, I'm in a quandary, as Hillary's negative campaign has disheartened me so incredibly. If anyone who stumbles upon this entry can make a persuasive argument for why I should write in their name for President (should Hillary Clinton become the nominee), I will do so in November.

No links in this entry, but I'll be posting some about Clinton's negative campaign in the next few days. For the time being, though, I'll just put up this video from Countdown Monday night:



UPDATE (April 12, 2008): That was, obviously, posted in the heat of battle, and of course blog posts are like that. So what? Well, I've decided that even if Clinton were to win--though that increasingly less likely at this point--I will vote for her, or any Democratic nominee in November.

The Dungeon Master

I'm saddened today by the death of Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons and Dragons and thief of many of my waking hours (many of which should have been spent sleeping or going to class) during my high school and college years.

The Lizard Man Returns!

Lizard Man attacks car in South Carolina? - Boing Boing

Writer William F. Buckley dies at 82

Although I shared very few (read: almost no) political beliefs with William F. Buckley, I admired his wit and his facility with language. He was one of the few true intellectuals. The public is rarely exposed to any depth of analysis, instead being subjected to endless streams of brainless pundits, some of whom have the audacity to consider themselves the spiritual and intellectual offspring of Mr. Buckley. I grew up, at least partially because of nothing else being on TV, watching Firing Line, and I learned a lot from it.

Stuff White People Like

This--Stuff White People Like--is a great blog. The LA Times says it grew from 0 to 300k daily hits in six weeks. It's really excellent.

BIL Conference - Minds Set Free.

The BIL Conference - Minds Set Free. looks interesting. Alas, I'm stuck on the other coast.

Salon.com | News Wires

I think Castro stepped down because he won.
Salon.com: Court Rejects Domestic Spying Appeal

Cultographies

I love it when academe and one of my other loves come together, so see Cultographies, a new series of monographs about cult movies!

will.i.am video for Obama

On Wealth

Philip Slater: It's the Pathology, Stupid - Business on The Huffington Post is one of the best short analyses of wealth and the wealthy I've seen. I've not thought about the idea of the continuous pursuit of wealth as a pathology before, but it's an interesting argument.

Cinematic Titanic

Cinematic Titanic is the return of one of my all-time faves, Mystery Science Theatre 3000, or MST3K. Here's a link on the return. Yay!