The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach

Category: politics

  • The true America-haters

    —

    by

    mongreldogs
    in

    I’ve been meaning to write this for a long time, but it turns out that Cenk Uygur got there first and said it well: The people in power, who wrap themselves in the flag, don’t really love America. They don’t even understand America — and so, not understanding it, they hate it. They hate it…

  • Where’s Our Rosie?

    —

    by

    mongreldogs
    in ,

    For no particular good reason, I was trawling on the Net about Rosie the Riveter, an icon from World War II. If you don’t know about Rosie, you really should check out the Wikipedia article. Another good page on Rosie can be found at the eponymous website. I’ve always liked Rosie because she represented not…

  • Cross-comment: Does the Left “Hate” America?

    —

    by

    mongreldogs
    in

    Through the Daou Report, I wandered (against my better judgment) over to Dr. Sanity to read the post “Go Wide Mr. President“. Then I read the comments and I was shocked to see something I actually agreed with, posted by someone named GnuCarSmell replying to someone named Garry: You have it exactly right. It is…

  • Health of the Republic down 3.3%, to 30%

    —

    by

    mongreldogs
    in ,

    After hearing that the President of the United States has asserted his untrammeled power to read even physical mail, without warrant or other legal constraint, I have decided to move the Health of the Republic bar to 30%. It’s only a 3% shift because in the end this is only slightly more outrageous than the…

  • Congress, the Koran, and Oaths

    —

    by

    mongreldogs
    in

    So for about a month there’s been a tempest-in-a-teapot “raging” over the decision by newly elected Democratic Representative Keith Ellison to use a Koran in his private swearing-in ceremony. Some loudmouths, including Rep. Virgil Goode, have decried this and insisted that Mr. Ellison use the same traditional book as all previous representatives, to wit, the…

  • Saddan is Dead: Can We Go Home Now?

    —

    by

    mongreldogs
    in

    Today, Iraqui President and dictator Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging after a conviction for atrocities committed in his name. Before going any further, let me clarify something so willfully obscured by some commentators on the right: Saddam Hussein was a Very Bad Man. He did terrible things and — while I am myself still…

  • Death and The Pardon

    —

    by

    mongreldogs
    in

    It was announced yesterday (2006 Dec 27) that Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States, passed away at the age of 93. I will admit that I’ve always had a soft spot for the Ford presidency, derided in popular culture as one of the least effective in history. I generally root for the underdog,…

  • Review: Interface

    —

    by

    mongreldogs
    in ,

    Interface by Neal Stephenson and J. Frederick George (c) 1994 Bantam Dell InstaRating: 3.5 out of 5 An experimental biochip is implanted in a governor of Illinois after he suffers a massive stroke. Its stated purpose is to repair the connections in his brain, giving him access to speech and motor skills again. Unknown to…

  • Politics and Teaching

    —

    by

    mongreldogs
    in , ,

    So, Election Day has come and gone. I took time to talk about it in each of my classes today — and yes, I know I teach physics; more on that later — and I thought I’d ruminate some here. Full disclaimer: I am a lifelong Democrat who had been reasonably certain they’d find a…

  • From 2001 October 7: I Want to Speak Now

    —

    by

    mongreldogs
    in ,

    2001 October 7: I want to speak now. I have wanted to speak since September 11. The words would not come. The attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was, almost literally, unthinkable. And language is the substrate of thought. Scholars have often claimed that what you cannot say, you cannot think. I…