Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
Via Weaselzippers.
Psst, Microsoft? “Obama” is not a misspelling. And suggesting “Osama” is bad form.
Moulitsas’ ranting can be found here.
Speaking of…that guy whose name we’re trying like the dickens not to mention…
It’s interesting that Kos is offended in the exact opposite direction by the end of the Tuesday Midday Open Thread.
Given the dearth of diversity at the Washington Post editorial page, it’s offensive that one of the few women on their pages is this one.
That would be Anne Applebaum, being dutifully taken apart by liberal blog, Sadly, No! Her crime? Asking the question that is the moonbats’ favorite rhetorical this year — is there racism behind every otherwise legitimate complaint about our Messiah? — but pointing it in the wrong direction.
Fred Hiatt’s Concubine Speaks. You Listen.
Republicans have started wracking their brains for clever ways to say, without appearing racist, that Obama’s skin color is a reason not to vote for him. Not so long ago we had Tony Blankley saying that not voting for someone because of their skin color wasn’t bigotry or racism, it was “demographic consciousness.” Now the loathsome Anne Applebaum, a distinguished member of the WaPo editorial board, hits it out of the park with this column where she argues that people shouldn’t vote for Obama because some foreigners are racist.
Permit me a bunny trail here.
Anne Applebaum never said people shouldn’t vote for Obama…not for any reason. Not within this column, in any case. She lays on the accusation good and thick, and carves even-handedly with a double-edged sword insofar as what the political consequences overseas from an Obama presidency; she’s silent on what we ought to do about that.
But — she has accused people of being racists, who aren’t Americans. Kos and Sadly have decided the R-word is to be thrown around this year only to make Obama the next President, and for no other reason, and so they start throwing it at her. Interesting.
This engine which drags us, like a tugboat dragging an aircraft carrier, toward voting for the least qualified candidate by calling us racists if we dare show an ounce of skepticism — it’s an interesting construct, that engine is. It’s a powerful little beast, but it runs hot. Applebaum’s column could be interpreted, reasonably, as an exhortation to vote for Obama because once he gets in we’ll show those racist Europeans that change is in the air and there’s no stopping it. But the hot-running engine chugs away, burning itself out, as all the finger-wagglers start waggling their fingers at each other, feeding on their own.
It brings to mind a comment I made here & there about the supposedly-upcoming Wonder Woman movie. The dormant status of the picture, now, is a direct result of “creative differences” that emerged when it was a moving, vibrant project that enjoyed funding and talent. My idea is, therefore, that the movie will not be made any time soon and probably cannot be made in our current eon. Simply re-designing Wonder Woman’s uniform, let alone re-thinking the more complicated components — what powers does she have, anyway, and are we going to get rid of that invisible jet? — elicits accusations of sexism in all directions, for whatever reason. Another powerful engine running hot, burning itself out before it accomplishes anything.
The real tragedy, of course, is that this creates an environment in which it’s exceedingly difficult for anything to be done except by one of those dreaded white guys. Someone of a designated minority group achieves a position of prominence, and likelihood for better things…and behind him arises a battalion of nanny-do-gooders screeching away, essentially, “Do Everything My Way Or Else You’re A –Ist!” And before anything gets done, they turn on themselves. We saw it with Hillary: You’re a sexist if you point out she’s crying, and you’re a sexist if you tell people it doesn’t matter.
So. Now you’re a racist if you don’t have the word “Obama” loaded into your spellchecker. (I added it to mine weeks ago, so my test with Microsoft Word didn’t get anywhere.)
I think the lesson here is that accusing people of things is a great way to stop something, but a lousy way to keep it going. If you want to get something done, and you’re working with other people to get it done, sooner or later you’re going to have to resign yourself to the idea that some things aren’t going to be done your way. Obama is very promising as a candidate for our next President — even now, you’d be nuts to bet anything against him — but there’s a powerful argument for calling the whole thing for McCain right this very minute. When his own supporters can be counted on to call each other racists any time they disagree on how this-or-that should be done, it becomes a lot like the Wonder Woman movie. A cancellation “due to creative differences” becomes not only easy, but inevitable.
Oh well. Better that kind of stalling-out and seizing-up happen to the Obama candidacy, than to the entire nation.
Now excuse me. I’m going to go run my spellchecker. If you want to accuse me of something, please be gentle.
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