The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach

Category: politics

  • Sometimes the worst thing is saying, “I’m sorry”.

    So, last Saturday (Sep 11), a paper in Maine ran a story about the local celebrations at the end of Ramadan the day before.  It was a pretty innocuous piece, a typical fluff article about local culture.

    Then the Internet happened.

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  • Nice metaphor

    Neil Irwin explains the current dilemma faced by the Fed by extending a metaphor promoted by guest host Christopher Hayes on Monday’s episode of The Rachel Maddow Show: The Fed is in charge of watering the fields but has exhausted its usual reservoir system.  Anything new will be risky and the Fed leaders tend to be conservative about risk.

    At this point, the economy is so anemic we should probably be considering nuclear-fueled desalinization plants (whatever their fiscal equivalent would be)…

  • Political snark of the day

    Regarding the fact that Fox News will now have a front-row seat at the White House briefing room:

    Fox News is a propaganda outlet, a detail everyone seems to know, but which is apparently impolite to say out loud. The network’s proponents will likely argue a front-row seat is warranted because Fox News has a lot of viewers. Perhaps. But Milli Vanilli sold a lot of records, and success didn’t make them legitimate recording artists.

    The quote comes from Steven Benen at Political Animal; the emphasis is mine.

  • Political snark of the day


    I stole the tagline from a commenter at Political Animal and the picture from a public domain image at Flickr, and put it together using the motivational poster generator at Big Huge Labs.

  • Quote of the Day

    Why did the stimulus go wrong?

    In the end, we took a soapbox racer to a go-kart track and then realized we were competing against actual cars.

    Great analogy — and better analysis — by Ezra Klein.

  • Quote of the Day

    From a post by Steve Benen over at Political Animal:

    In human history, it’s never been easier to get — and stay — well informed. Folks just have to take some responsibility. If they don’t, the result can be a dysfunctional democracy.

    It’s impolitic to say this but not all pastimes and passions are equal. And the next time you bemoan the state of the economy or your due taxes or your summons to jury duty or the latest idiocy out of Washington — just pause for a moment and think about how much time you spend reading gossip columns, or devouring “reality” TV, or watching one overgrown overdosed tribe of jocks beat up on a different overgrown overdosed tribe of jocks. Is it really true that you don’t have the time to keep informed?  Or is it that you just don’t want to invest that time?

    And if it’s the latter, do you really deserve the vote you’re accorded by virtue of your citizenship in an advanced democracy?

  • Wow. Just… wow.

    http://www.marktalk.com/blog/?p=10387

    (Also hosted at Political Correction, in case the original gets “disappeared”, and reproduced below the fold here — although apparently it’s already been edited.)

    I don’t really know really even to begin to comment on this “letter” from Tea Party Express chairman Mark Williams.  It takes something really, um, special to answer charges of racism by claiming that the N.A.A.C.P. is the one who’s racist. But the real kicker is the letter per se — a mock letter from N.A.A.C.P. president Benjamin Jealous, in which the mock-Jealous writes to Abraham Lincoln to request the repeal of the 13th and 14th amendments.  (Aside: What is it with these Tea Party fanatics and amendment repeal?)

    Now, the truly Crowning Moment of Jerkitude comes in signing the letter with “Tom’s nephew”.  It takes a certain gumption — but not the good kind — to label a civil rights leader with “Uncle Tom”.

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  • The Political Asymmetry of Weather

    So, the East Coast is in the middle of a record heat wave.  How come we haven’t heard any hyperventilating media types announce that this “proves” global warming is true?  After all, when we had a little snow in February, it was declared “snowmageddon” and offered as the final nail in the coffin of the “global warming conspiracy”.  So now that the thermometer is over 100 several days in a row, all those people will admit they were wrong, won’t they?

    ‘Cause otherwise, it’s a tacit admission that they made those statements only to score political points, degrading our discourse and endangering our children’s futures for nothing more than transient political advantage. And a disingenuous selfishness of that magnitude is too awful to be true, isn’t it?

    Isn’t it?

  • The Perils of Positive Thinking

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5um8QWWRvo

    I think the major point — that a unquestioning devotion to “positive thinking” is both dangerous and immoral — is a good one. We definitely allow suffering because we think everyone has a shot, so if they’re suffering, it must be their fault. It’s pretty easy to see how comforting this is, to people on top.

    There are poor people who are poor because they are lazy or bad.  There are rich people who are rich because they have worked hard and applied intelligence.  What we don’t like to recognize, however, is that there are also poor people who are poor despite living right and working hard, and there are rich people who are rich despite being lazy or stupid.

    Luck plays a huge role in our lives.  The part of our lives that result from forces outside our control — luck, history, social mores, etc. — probably dwarfs the fragment of our lives we can directly influence.  And that terrifies people.  It means that maybe, just maybe, their success isn’t really deserved.  Maybe the fact that they have a giant house and three cars and five iPhones doesn’t mean that they’re better people than someone who struggles to find food every day.  And if that’s the case, then maybe they should help out those who are struggling.

    But no one wants to hear that, so they prefer to imbibe The Secret and believe that they are the root cause of all they have.

    We are a sad, little species.

  • Classic no-win situation for the President

    Apparently, the Pentagon has recommended that a Medal of Honor be given to a living soldier, for the first time since Viet Nam.  The Washington Post article speculates that

    The presentation of a Medal of Honor to a living soldier would be an important moment for President Obama, whose relationship with the military has been complicated in recent months by controversy over the administration’s Afghan war deliberations in the fall and the recent firing of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal for remarks that belittled senior Obama administration officials.

    But I’ll make a prediction here:

    (a) If the President decides to not give the Medal, the rightwing media will erupt in feigned outrage and real fury over his “snub” of our valiant troops.

    (b) If the President instead decides to follow the Pentagon’s advice and give the Medal, the rightwing media will erupt in feigned outrage and real fury over his attempt to co-opt a military honor for political ends, thereby mocking the sacrifices of our valiant troops.

    It’s impossible for the President to make a call that won’t be mocked, denounced, or vilified.  So here’s to hoping that he chooses whatever he thinks is right, rather than expedient, and that he allows himself to be guided by the better angels of his nature rather than shouted down by the petty demons of his detractors.