Sunday, November 21, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
RepubliCorp - Turning good American Jobs into Bad Chinese Jobs!!!
My friends at RepubliCorp are OPEN FOR BUSINESS!!!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Juan Williams defines himself as a racist. NPR agrees.
Does Bill O'Reilly in a Burqua make Juan Williams nervous?
In 1986, Williams mentions only skin color. In 2010 Williams pretends to apply that same standard simply to garb (not when coupled with skin color - which is as clumsy an argument as it is lazy).
What Williams is saying now is that people who appear muslim AND who ALSO wear what he deems to be "muslim garb" make him nervous. Bill O'Reilly would have been wise to ask if muslim garb on a white person would make him nervous. How about an Asian? We are now getting to the crux of NPRs decision. A somewhat layered reasoning that is lost among the media right.
The Williams of 2010 would argue that it's not about the skin color, but about what people wear. Does he forget what the hijackers of 9/11 wore? If we pretend to "never forget" we know they wore "white-christian garb." Dockers and a nicely pressed buttom down shirt. Convention casual. So why hasn't anyone asked Williams what is "muslim garb?"
If 9/11 changed things, a smart and aware Williams should get nervous around all young, swarthy, hirsute males. Of course that is what he is truly is scared of. Are we really to believe that Williams gets nervous from garb alone (whatever that means)? Not plausible.
And Williams takes it one-step beyond. His nervousness is based on "muslim" garb when worn on an airplane. Would he make the argument that his irrational fear is not also awakened when on a subway, in a crowded mall, on the street corner? If not, why not? Because it's not the garb he fears.
Williams fears the visage of the media construct of what a muslim terrorist looks like: young, unshaven with dark skin. By the way, how many of us have flown with muslim wearing a hijab, burqua or niqab?
The only means for Williams to gain cover from his own fateful words of 1986 is to say that all visibly identifiable white muslims also make him nervous. That's a slim ledge to sit. But one that Fox News will gladly give him.
Common sense becomes racism when skin color becomes a formula for figuring out who is a danger to me.Juan Williams 1986
But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.Juan Williams 2010
In 1986, Williams mentions only skin color. In 2010 Williams pretends to apply that same standard simply to garb (not when coupled with skin color - which is as clumsy an argument as it is lazy).
What Williams is saying now is that people who appear muslim AND who ALSO wear what he deems to be "muslim garb" make him nervous. Bill O'Reilly would have been wise to ask if muslim garb on a white person would make him nervous. How about an Asian? We are now getting to the crux of NPRs decision. A somewhat layered reasoning that is lost among the media right.
The Williams of 2010 would argue that it's not about the skin color, but about what people wear. Does he forget what the hijackers of 9/11 wore? If we pretend to "never forget" we know they wore "white-christian garb." Dockers and a nicely pressed buttom down shirt. Convention casual. So why hasn't anyone asked Williams what is "muslim garb?"
If 9/11 changed things, a smart and aware Williams should get nervous around all young, swarthy, hirsute males. Of course that is what he is truly is scared of. Are we really to believe that Williams gets nervous from garb alone (whatever that means)? Not plausible.
And Williams takes it one-step beyond. His nervousness is based on "muslim" garb when worn on an airplane. Would he make the argument that his irrational fear is not also awakened when on a subway, in a crowded mall, on the street corner? If not, why not? Because it's not the garb he fears.
Williams fears the visage of the media construct of what a muslim terrorist looks like: young, unshaven with dark skin. By the way, how many of us have flown with muslim wearing a hijab, burqua or niqab?
The only means for Williams to gain cover from his own fateful words of 1986 is to say that all visibly identifiable white muslims also make him nervous. That's a slim ledge to sit. But one that Fox News will gladly give him.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Drudge's new man crush....Obama???!?
Judging my Matt Drudge's incoherent Obama infatuation, we can only conclude that a bromance is brewing...
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Witness Rupert Murdoch squirm after major grilling by his stockholders.
Murdoch squeezed over News Corp massive political contributions by shareholders. http://mediamatters.org/blog/201010150017
MLP STOCKHOLDER: And going forward, then, would you be willing to have greater disclosure to shareholders around political contributions, both the policies and the actual dollar amounts? It's particularly troubling to shareholders that, in particular, the U.S. Chamber contribution was only learned of by shareholders because of a leak to the press. Would the board consider much broader disclosure around shareholder -- around political spending?
MURDOCH: We've considered it from time to time. I don't believe we'll [inaudible] it again, but we'll see.
MLP STOCKHOLDER: Would you be willing to engage shareholders in that process?
MURDOCH: No. Sorry, you have the right to vote us off the board if you don't like that.
MLP STOCKHOLDER: Thank you very much.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Park51, Koran burning - wtf is going on?
Andrew Sullivan helps me understand.
But you reap what you sow. You turn a benign Muslim community center into a "stab in the heart" of Americans (in Sarah Palin's words) and someone soon will up the ante. Which is why this summer has felt so ominous to me; and the forces itching for full-scale religious warfare more powerful and more unstoppable than any of the restraints in between - from the West Bank to Kandahar and Gainesville and Wasilla. One can hope and pray that this flare-up will be a warning prevented in time for the culture to take a deep breath and understand the consequences of religious fundamentalism openly embraced in the public square. But hope is scarce in this environment.
But you reap what you sow. You turn a benign Muslim community center into a "stab in the heart" of Americans (in Sarah Palin's words) and someone soon will up the ante. Which is why this summer has felt so ominous to me; and the forces itching for full-scale religious warfare more powerful and more unstoppable than any of the restraints in between - from the West Bank to Kandahar and Gainesville and Wasilla. One can hope and pray that this flare-up will be a warning prevented in time for the culture to take a deep breath and understand the consequences of religious fundamentalism openly embraced in the public square. But hope is scarce in this environment.
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