From the monthly archives: July 2010

Winger Phyllis Schlafly: Stop Handouts To Lazy Negroes and Unmarried Sluts

by Metavirus on 30 July 2010

Ah, the sickly, acrid tang of culture wars never-quite-gone-by:

Last week at a fundraiser for Michigan GOP congressional candidate Rocky Raczowski, conservative pundit Phyllis Schlafly added her voice to the chorus crying out against government assistance for the poor or unemployed:
One of the things Obama’s been doing is deliberately trying to increase the percentage of our population that is dependent on government for your living. For example, do you know what was the second biggest demographic group that voted for Obama? Obviously the blacks were the biggest demographic, y’all know what was the second biggest? Unmarried women. 70% of unmarried women voted for Obama. And this is because when you kick your husband out, you’ve got to have Big Brother Government to be your provider. And they know that. They’ve admitted it. And they have all kinds of bills to continue to subsidize illegitimacy…

The Obama administration wants to continue to subsidize this group because they know they are Democratic votes.

The puritanical hate that festers in the conservative heart is quite a thing to behold.

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A Template for Democrats to Once Again Find Their Balls

by Metavirus on 30 July 2010

I know that I would be a heck of a lot more excited about the Democrats right now if more of them would sack up and actually fight for what they believe in:



I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:  The only thing Democrats have to fear is themselves.

Update: Scott at the League gets it just about right*:

Weiner picked an issue he feels strongly about and in which it is hard to find fault: providing medical care for those rescue workers affected by 9-11. It doesn’t get much more altruistic than that in America these days. And Weiner’s point is not so much to argue about procedure, which puts voters to sleep, but rather to reassert the case that Democrats are on the right side of history here. That Democrats are the good guys.

There has been so much conceding and strong rhetoric followed by tepid incrementalism that I think a lot of the Democratic base has started to question just to what extent they are the good guys. And progressives’ full court press, as much as I’ve participated in and agree with it, doesn’t help with that doubt.

What Weiner is as much as saying here is, “We’re the good guys! You’re the bad guys!” And that, frankly, is what rank and file Democrats need to hear leading up to the midterms.

* Disclaimer: Yes, I think Scott’s point is a little too Manichean in the broader perspective, but he’s right on in terms of the value of highlighting the “You’re wrong and we’re RIGHT” contrast in the context of a particular legislative battle.

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Anti-Defamation League Piles On To Culturally Toxic Opposition to New York Mosque

by Metavirus on 30 July 2010
I’m actually fairly surprised that it took so long for Americans to start publicly demonizing Islam, either explicitly or implicitly:
When I heard that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) had issued a statement on the proposed Islamic Center near Ground Zero in Manhattan, I was relieved. [...] The ADL’s statement started off really well. It reiterated its commitment to religious liberty, “categorically” rejected the “appeals to bigotry,” and condemned those “whose opposition to this proposed Islamic Center is a manifestation of such bigotry.”

But then the ADL went badly off course.

“The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of an Islamic Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process. Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New York would be better served if an alternative location could be found.”

“Proponents of the Islamic Center may have every right to build at this site, and may even have chosen the site to send a positive message about Islam. The bigotry some have expressed in attacking them is unfair, and wrong. But ultimately this is not a question of rights, but a question of what is right. In our judgment, building an Islamic Center in the shadow of the World Trade Center will cause some victims more pain — unnecessarily — and that is not right.”

Adam Serwer had this to say:
Remarkable. An organization whose stated role is to “counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry” nonetheless opposes people building where they please simply because of the faith they adhere to. Sure “bigotry is unfair and wrong”, the ADL says, but we should give the bigots what they want anyway. It is inconceivable that the ADL would argue such a position if the building in question happened to be a synagogue, and the builders happened to be Jews. [...]

I learned a very important lesson in Hebrew School that I have retained my entire life. If they can deny freedom to a single individual because of who they are, they can do it to anyone. 


Anyone heading down to the First Annual Burn a Quran Day?
On September 11, 2010, the extremist evangelical Dove World Church — whose pastor, Terry Jones, has written a book called “Islam Is Of The Devil” — plans to host “International Burn A Quran Day,” when it will burn Muslims’ sacred text and encourage others across the world to do so as well. Churchmember Wayne Sapp has even posted an instructional video that explains how and why to burn the Islamic text.
In my view there’s no better way to prevent Muslim youth in this country from becoming sympathetic to terrorism than by demonizing their religion.

Bravo, Americans. Brav-o.

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Can a nation remain a superpower if its internal politics are incorrigibly stupid?

by Metavirus on 29 July 2010
Right on, E.J. Dionne:
When our republic was created, the population ratio between the largest and smallest state was 13 to 1. Now, it’s 68 to 1. Because of the abuse of the filibuster, 41 senators representing less than 11 percent of the nation’s population can, in principle, block action supported by 59 senators representing more than 89 percent of our population. And you wonder why it’s so hard to get anything done in Washington?

I’m a chronic optimist about America. But we are letting stupid politics, irrational ideas on fiscal policy and an antiquated political structure undermine our power. 

We need a new conservatism in our country that is worthy of the name. We need liberals willing to speak out on the threat our daft politics poses to our influence in the world. We need moderates who do more than stick their fingers in the wind to calculate the halfway point between two political poles.

And, yes, we need to reform a Senate that has become an embarrassment to our democratic claims.

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Megan McArdle Has Been Dishing Out a Lot of Fail Lately

by Metavirus on 29 July 2010
I really don’t know what prompted Megan McArdle to write an emotional screed about the evils of the thirty-year fixed mortgage but this post at the Irvine Housing Blog, which lays into her bullshit with its entire tactical nuclear arsenal, is just brutal.

I especially loved this bit.   McMegan:

Until the Great Depression, the mortgage was a very, very different product. There was no amortization, and down-payments were often massive–half or more of a home’s value. They lasted perhaps 3 or 5 years, and were rolled over if borrowers could not meet the balloon payment. The default crisis of the 1930s resulted from the inability to roll those loans, and so the government stepped in, causing the fifteen year self-amortizing loan to proliferate. This process was especially accelerated by the VA loans that were offered to returning veterans. Eventually, the payment terms stretched out to allow more and more people to buy homes.
This had some curious effects. As aforementioned, it was ultimately not good for banks that were restricted to the kind of boring business many commentators would like to see banks return to: loaning money to consumers and small businesses, and taking deposits.
The riposte:
Yes, that is exactly what banks are supposed to do. Is that boring? Are we supposed to have an exciting banking system? Did everyone enjoy the volatility in our economy over the last several years? It was certainly exciting. Financial innovation is a fallacy. Banks are supposed to be boring, stable institutions. What does she want?

What the fuck is up with McMegan recently?

For all the bitching that conservatives do about empathy and emotion, she is really just writing from her gut at this point.

Also, too: Megan McArdle’s Hack Post on Elizabeth Warren’s Scholarship

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Anyone Else Have a Hiccup When Identifying East and West?

by Metavirus on 28 July 2010

Just a random question but does anyone have to take a second before describing something as being either east or west of something else?  I don’t know what the deal is but I’ve always had this affliction.  North and south are obviously ok but the east-west axis always makes me pause.  Am I just weird?

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We Are Righteous While You Are Evil. Now, Let’s Have a Civil Conversation, Shall We?

by Metavirus on 26 July 2010
I just saw this Facebook ad pop up today and I think it perfectly encapsulates what disgusts me about the right wing today.

In sum:
We are right – you are wrong.

We are patriotic – you are traitors.

We support things that are constitutional – you are subverting the Constitution.

Only our points are valid – yours are invalid.

Only we have the gateway to the Truth – you are agents of [the Devil]/[Communism]/[Hitler].

We are righteous – you are evil.
How is one supposed to find common ground with such a rabidly Manichean outlook?

You’d have better luck trying to negotiate with a bear on the question of whether eating you is a good idea.
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