It’s a brave new world, people — one where threats are asserted more by partisans and their lawyers than jackbooted thugs breaking down the doors of Cuban refugees. Which, it turns out, wasn’t particularly media friendly, from a standpoint of visual impact, to those who deployed that method. Think of this improved tactic as fascism with a smiley face. (h/t CJ Burch)
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March 24, 2009
“Go back into hiding, GOP begs Dick Cheney “
From the Hill: Congressional Republicans are telling Dick Cheney to go back to his undisclosed location and leave them alone to rebuild the Republican Party without his input. Displeased with the former vice-president’s recent media appearances, Republican lawmakers say he’s hurting GOP efforts to reinvent itself after back-to-back electoral drubbings. The veep, who showed a penchant for secrecy during eight years in the White House,has popped up in media interviews
March 24, 2009
Intellectual elitism and the case of the missing author
Over at Edge of the West, where SEK’s critically flawed post on my engagement with Patterico has been subsequently removed, there remains a number of comments that I find troubling for a number of reasons. First, there is an peculiar, but obvious, attempt there to try to dismiss my intentionalist argument without addressing it at all; second, there is the desire to strengthen this dismissal by diminishing me, either by
March 23, 2009
Just in
…by way of Amazon, Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole. Somehow, the story of an amoral newpaper reporter who manipulates the news for his own selfish benefit seems so…fitting, in these days of the JournoList… Perhaps I’ll watch it nude, as a kind of metaphor. And because, well, I’d get to be nude. OUTLAW!
March 23, 2009
“A Good Man is Hard to Find,” 2
From the Boston Herald: The honeymoon is over, a national poll will signal tomorrow as President Obama’s job approval stumbles to about 50 percent over the lack of improvement with the crippled economy. The sobering numbers come as the president backpedals from two prime-time gaffes – one comparing his bowling score to a Special Olympian and another awkwardly laughing about the economy, which prompted Steve Kroft of “60 Minutes†to
March 22, 2009
Postmodernism and its discontents
I was going to post on Stephen Hicks’s critique of postmodernism — doing so seems apropos, given how language and its importance is finally gaining traction in conservative circles — but Dan has already done so, which saves me the trouble of having to go too into depth. Still, be sure to read Hicks and David Thompson on the intersection of postmodernism’s ideas of language and their role in political
March 21, 2009
On pretend common sense and consistent misunderstanding: an OUTLAW rebuttal
Ever more typical of Patterico, in his latest in a series of neverending posts and hypotheticals, he now characterizes my linguistic “approach” thusly: I stand by my position that Jeff is wrong as a matter of his approach. We need not walk on eggshells to avoid offending those who will take offense no matter what we say. But we can’t use that as an excuse to say to hell with
March 21, 2009
POST-RACIAL EXCLUSIVE! MUST CREDIT PROTEIN WISDOM: partial transcript of the “Newsmaker of the Year” award ceremony, given at the behest of a trade group of black newspaper publishers, to which none in the “white press” was “invited”
[leaked to me from a friend inside the ceremony who managed to record this bit on his Blackberry] President Obama: … Black Newspaper publishers trade group members: … President Obama: “So.” Black Newspaper publishers trade group members: “So…” President Obama: … Black Newspaper publishers trade group members: … President Obama: “Whasssssssssssssssssup….?” Black Newspaper publishers trade group members: “Whassssssssssssup!” President Obama: “WHASSSSSSSSSSSSSUP…?” Black Newspaper publishers trade group members: “WHASSSSSSSSSSSSSUP!” President Obama:
March 21, 2009
CU Cultural Studies Professor Ben Whitmer: “Why I Support Ward Churchill” [UPDATED]
Just in time for the Ward Churchill Support Rallies, here’s what passes for “intellectual” support for an academic suing to get his job back — the result of which, should his suit prove successful, would be that students or faculty engaging in plagiarism can always point to the Churchill precedent as dispositive should disciplinary action be taken against them. Ben Whitmer: I’ve spent four years defending Ward Churchill in every