Category Archives for language / intentionalism
“And that’s the difference: intent”: on “racist” goats and racialist hermeneutics
TweetFinally. Someone with some journalistic balls points to the naked emperor and makes it quite clear, in a loud and unshakable voice, that what we’re all looking at isn’t a “smallish, fur-lined scepter.” Perhaps what’s been missing all these years … Continue reading
Who stole America, redux
TweetIt was by all accounts an experiment gone wrong, though not desperately so. It involved the mixing of household chemicals in a bottle. Which I’m not terribly interested in other than to expose how the school and school board reacted. … Continue reading
“Native Americans incensed over pro-gun rights billboard in Colorado”
TweetMe, I’m amused at their being incensed. But then, I tend not to let PC culture turn me into a ridiculous scold. Denver Post: Two billboards in which images of Native Americans are used to make a gun rights argument … Continue reading
A Nazi salute? It depends. What was the intent?
TweetWho needs hypotheticals? Here, what we have — at least, if you listen to the principals and their various positions — a real live instance of calling your dog “boy” within ear shot of a hyper-sensitive elderly black man. USA … Continue reading
“Pickle Company to Distraught Mom: Yes, We’ll Change Our Name”
Tweet“Cains Pickles removes a derogatory term from its labels after a mother’s protests,” Andri Antoniades informs us by way of editorializing — that “derogatory” term being “midget”, for those of you who didn’t know that any pickles short of, say, … Continue reading
Homophobolicious! Or, hatred, deliciously prepared, and laid lovingly on a bun
TweetI’ve been warning about this for years: the surrender of meaning to committed and politicized interpretive communities — which can only come about once we as a society have legitimated an incoherent idea about how language functions — will lead … Continue reading
“A conspiracy so immense”: ideological commitment and the timidity of pragmatic politics
Tweet“What will it take for the mainstream media to cover the progressive movement?” Washington Free Beacon: Let’s pretend that in the spring of 2012 Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, John Engler of the Business Roundtable, Tim Phillips of … Continue reading
The curse of right-wing textualism
TweetRevealed, yet again — and yet again by a “conservative” lawyer. Starting to see a trend? [H]ere’s what we’re talking about. 31 U.S.C. § 5112(k): The Secretary may mint and issue platinum bullion coins and proof platinum coins in accordance … Continue reading
Immersion criticism, intentionalism, and textualism
TweetThis is the first time I’ve heard the term immersion criticism, but as a descriptor of the interpretive methodology it’s trying to capture, it’s perfectly apt. Essentially, immersion criticism is nothing more, really, than intensive close reading of a text … Continue reading
“Justice Stevens: Second Amendment is ‘no obstacle’ to banning automatic weapons”
Tweet…and that’s because to “liberal” Justices who practice a form of Living Constitutional textualism whereby the intent of the founders and framers can be ignored and the application of signifiers can legitimately be rewritten — that is, turned into new … Continue reading
