case in point- March 22, 2008 Here's a great example of where using moral language in a political context not only unhelpfully muddies the debate, but makes James Carville look like a pompous assclown at the same time. I remember when I admired Carville. It's embarrassing to have to admit that I did.http://www.pushby.com/forrest/arc/008618.html Politicians: plz stop using "evil" kthxbai- March 22, 2008 While I'm on the subject of John McCain: the use of "evil" in a political context is rarely edifying, and everybody needs to knock it off. "Evil" is a moral, not political or ideological, term, and to introduce it into political discourse is to cast the discussion in stark, Manichean terms. True, it is an antonym to "good", but since "good" is a heavily overloaded term, it has many antonyms. By definition, evil is "profoundly immoral and malevolent", and when we, for example, brand Iran's...http://www.pushby.com/forrest/arc/008617.html Remember McCain- March 22, 2008 John McCain had a bad week, although you'd never know it from reading the New York Times. His position on the Iraq War is ignorant and wrong, and every time he opens his mouth to talk about foreign policy, he reveals a new, startling and dangerous facet to his oddball and pitifully incomplete understanding of geopolitics. Hillary Clinton's use of McCain as a comparative pillar of strength in foreign policy allows the Republicans to control the parameters of the Democratic nomination fight,...http://www.pushby.com/forrest/arc/008616.html OK, this is dumb.- March 17, 2008 My music blog is going swimmingly (although I could use some commenters &8211; come on over, everbody!), but I have a whole bunch of rantin' to do about the Jello-wrestling match we have masquerading as an election year. I recently created a LiveJournal account so I could keep track of all of my nerd friends, and have been using that as sort of a scratchpad for my half-formed political bloviation, but the mockery of some of my friends ("what, another blog") has caused me to reconsider that...http://www.pushby.com/forrest/arc/008607.html WAYS TO SETTLE THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION FIGHT- March 17, 2008 Winner-takes-all Uno match. Bake-off. Best show goat at the Clackamas County Fair. Hot-dog eating contest. Tag-team ladders, tables and chairs match with each candidate paired with one of the Brothers of Destruction (ed. note: potentially profitable after pay-per-view receipts). Trivial Pursuit &8211; All Star Sports Edition. Skeet shooting competition in John McCain's back yard. Marathon Monopoly game, original rules with no exceptions (ed. note: no claiming Free Parking money). Beer...http://www.pushby.com/forrest/arc/008612.html it's funny cuz it's true- March 14, 2008 The Democratic generational divide, in full effect, can be seen over on NPR's news blog. Point and counterpoint from the Clinton and Obama campaign spinners! In the last few weeks, questions have arisen about Obama's readiness to be president. In Virginia, 56% of Democratic primary voters said Obama was most qualified to be commander-in-chief. That number fell to 37% in Ohio, 35% in Rhode Island and 39% in Texas. Only the Clinton campaign could cherry pick states like this. But in contrast...http://www.pushby.com/forrest/arc/008611.html Obama as black man, not Obama as candidate- March 12, 2008 Obama has undoubtedly gotten some extra attention because he's black, but his race wouldn't have helped him were it not for the many other ways in which he's a distinctive candidate. His race is inextricable from the larger story of his public character: his optimism; his recognition that America is still not the nation it ought to be without being bitter, reactionary, or beholden to traditional identity politics; his personal history and how it amplifies the message of his campaign. He's a...http://www.pushby.com/forrest/arc/008610.html your national press corps- March 12, 2008 This story is pretty good supporting evidence that the political press have started losing their marbles unusually early in the campaign season: We are now in the strange season of Democratic pretense -- pretend that everything will work out smoothly even though you suspect that everything won't. "The Democratic Party is going to have gum on its shoes that it can't get off," says Edgell, a former veteran congressional staffer. "There are going to be bruises that will last through...http://www.pushby.com/forrest/arc/008609.html Geraldine Ferraro is a racist assclown- March 12, 2008 I'm going to let Representative Ferraro do most of the speaking here, because she's already so eloquently made her case: If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept. followed by Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let’s address reality and the problems we’re...http://www.pushby.com/forrest/arc/008608.html |