Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
by John Cole| 16 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Ward Churchill’s jackassery has been overshadowed recently, but the report on his behavior is now out at the Blogger News Network. The Instapundit comments that “the bottom line is that he’s in trouble for research fraud, etc., but not for his ‘little Eichmanns’ statement.”
Which is, IMHO, as it should be. Academic tenure should protect all speech, however controversial, however idiotic, however offensive. The real question should be how he got tenure in the first damned place.
by John Cole| 29 Comments
This post is in: Popular Culture
Saw this via Outside the Beltway:
Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George Greer left his church last week after the pastor wrote him a letter suggesting “it might be easier for all of us” if he leave.
Greer, whose orders on the Terri Schiavo case have brought him criticism, is a Southern Baptist who attended Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater.
Though he had other unrelated problems with the church, Greer’s attendance faltered after a Baptist publication the church supported criticized his decisions in the Schiavo case. He stopped his donations to the church, but remained a member. He briefly discussed his relationship with the church in a March 6 St. Petersburg Times article.
Four days later, Calvary Pastor William Rice wrote Greer a letter: “I am not asking you to do this, but since you have taken the initiative of withdrawal, and since your connection with Calvary continues to be a point of concern, it would seem the logical and, I would say, biblical course.”
Rice’s letter became public when he sent a copy to the Clearwater courthouse. Rice also said the church supports keeping Schiavo alive, though he said he was “truly saddened and embarrassed by the level of harassment and vitriolic nature of so many comments that purportedly come from people of faith.”
Rice, who has been pastor at the church for five months, added: “But you must know that in all likelihood it is this case which will define your career and this case that you will remember in the waning days of life. I hope you can find a way to side with the angels and become an answer to the prayers of thousands.”
Greer responded with a letter severing his relationship with the church.
by John Cole| 7 Comments
This post is in: Republican Stupidity
David Winston, a Republican ‘Strategist,’ was just on Connected Coast to Coast, and started his opposition to allowing Terri to die with the following:
“I think we can all agree that Michael Schaivo is a questionable character…”
No. NO! AND NO, DAMNIT! I don’t f-ing agree he is a questionable character. I think he is a normal guy who was very in love with his wife. His wife hid her bulimia from him, it is a disease that thrives on secrecy, and then had a heart attack which caused grievous amounts of brain damage. I think he then, for years, held out hope that she would recover, but then decided this was not possible, and has tried to carry through with what he believed, through conversation and experience, were his wife’s intent.
Along the way, he fell in love with someone else- not out of infidelity, because Terri is for all intents dead and always will be, but because he just did. Someone being a loving husband, decent caretaker, and good father- that is how these jackasses define ‘questionable character.’
None of us can live up to these standards. Lying hacks. All of them.
Fortunately, Ron Reagan and Craig Crawford jumped in and shut this crap down right quick.
Crawfor just had him for lunch again, when Winston tried to say this wasn’t a right-to-die case. It most certainly is- it is not a euthanasia case, Mr. Winston.
by John Cole| 11 Comments
This post is in: Democratic Stupidity
Let’s just keep in mind that depsite my recent distaste for the behavior of Republicans, stupidity is still a bi-partisan issue. Exhibit A:
Does the “culture of life” extend to the victims of gun violence?
That’s the question critics are asking after President Bush’s contrasting responses to the two events dominating national attention this week.
Although Bush made a special trip back to Washington from vacation to sign legislation offering a new federal right of appeal to Terri Schiavo’s parents, the president and his aides have said almost nothing about the mass shooting in Red Lake, Minn.
by John Cole| 16 Comments
This post is in: Popular Culture
I am depressed and have a headache, and I am thinking seriously about going out and getting a bottle of Laphroiag and a couple Padrons. IN that spirit, I ask you:
What are you reading?
What is in your DVD player?
CD Player?
X-Box (or other console- I have X-box)?
What are your plans for the Easter weekend?
*** Update ***
Forgot to add this:
Reading: Some crappy pulp fiction by Robert Ludlum, the name of which I don’t remember.
DVD Player: Deadline (documentary about Death Row)
CD Player: Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerels
X-Box: Just finished Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republic II, which may be the greatest RPG games since the original Deus Ex (PC) and one of my all-time favorites, Vampire: The Masquerade. I am eagerly awaiting Jade Empire and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, but right now I am just biding time with Star Wars: Battlefront and the exceptionally made Brothers in Arms. If any of you have any games that were like KOTOR, please let me know. I hated Morrowind.
Easter plans- nothing special.
by John Cole| 12 Comments
This post is in: Politics
I knew I was going to get comments and emails like this:
I’ve enjoyed your site in the past, John, but despite the fact that I’m satisfied if not 100% comfortable with the outcome of the case, your latest diatribe is so hateful and indefensibly stupid that I’m afraid you’ve lost me as a reader. The commentary at INDC and Protein Wisdom has a similar ideological flavor to yours, but lacks the utter contempt for religious conservatives who’ve in good faith come down on a different side of a difficult issue.
First things first- INDC and Protein Wisdom are great sites- I think Jeff Goldstein is a frigging genius.
Now, on to the real point of the comment:
…your latest diatribe is so hateful and indefensibly stupid that I’m afraid you’ve lost me as a reader. The commentary at INDC and Protein Wisdom has a similar ideological flavor to yours, but lacks the utter contempt for religious conservatives who’ve in good faith come down on a different side of a difficult issue.
My commentary may be perceived as hateful, but it shouldn’t be. I have a deep respect for the deeply religious. My father is deeply religious, and I have worked with and been taught by and befriended numerous deeply religious people. In fact, if you read all of the posts I have made on the Schiavo issue, I have repeatedly pointed out that there are, in my opinion, a great number of deeply religious people who probably do care about Terri Schaivo.
The post below is not about them, but rather, it is about he statist theocrats like Rick Santorum, Tom Delay, Randall Terry, Pat Robertson, who are now trying to impose their version of morality on the rest of us, and ruining our system of democracy in the process.
I recognize a distinction- if I am wrong, nad there is no distinction, well, then never mind. They can all go to hell and I don’t care how many of you are offended, because this is not, and will not become, a theocracy. But I think there is a distinction between the power-grabbing holy rollers I have mentioned and your average church-going individual.
Just like I think there is a distinction between ‘killing Terri Schiavo’ and letting her die. Just like I think there is a difference between life and being alive.
And the reason I think that is because I am right. Religious people are just that- religious people. Big government statist theocrats are the people I am railing against. Some more evidence:
The 11th Hour Coalition to Save Terri Schiavo’s Life has issued the following statement in response to the latest news regarding the efforts to save Terri Schiavo’s life:
Gov. Jeb Bush should stop entertaining the obstructionist actions of Judge George Greer and take immediate action as the head of Florida’s executive branch to stop the premeditated murder of Terri Schiavo. Judge Greer is in contempt of a congressional subpoena and has ignored a federal law. His recent decisions regarding Terri’s best interests continue to demonstrate that he is, at best, prejudiced, and, at worst, a judicial tyrant.
Jeb Bush does not need Judge Greer’s permission to execute his duties as governor. The U.S. Constitution and Florida’s Constitution provide for a balance of power between the judicial, legislative and executive branches. There should be little question as to the activist nature of Florida’s judicial branch. Therefore, Gov. Bush has the duty, the power and the absolute obligation to immediately take Terri in protective custody and restore her access to nutrition and hydration.
It is more than simply ironic that Terri’s plight unfolds during the holiest week on the Christian calendar. In President Bush’s recent attempt to wash his hands of this matter, he stated he can do no more as the head of the executive branch. This is simply untrue. President Bush not only has the power, but the obligation to use his police powers to put an end to this national tragedy.
Holy Thursday marks the beginning of Christ’s Passion, and we are reminded of His warning that half measures are simply not enough; we must stand guard against the enemy. The blood of this innocent woman will be on those who had the power to save her, but did not.
We implore Gov. Jeb Bush to act decisively by ordering the Florida state troopers to take Terri Schiavo into protective custody and restore her food and water. It is hardly unique that this type of action be taken; the Civil Rights struggle of the 1960s serves as just one example.
On the original Good Friday, Jesus — the Lamb of God — was put to death for the sins of others. As we commemorate Good Friday, let us prevent the death of another innocent lamb because of the inaction of others.
I am not the one out of line or unhinged, here. My sin is seeing these people for what they are.
This post is in: Sports
Spring is in the air, and something is a happening down in Georgia.