Month: November 2004

Today’s vocabulary word: madrassas

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UPDATE: This nonsense is spreading:

Alternate Evolution Theory OK’d for Teaching

With a vote last month, the school board in rural south-central Pennsylvania community is believed to have become the first in the nation to mandate the teaching of "intelligent design", which holds that the universe is so complex that it must have been created by an unspecified higher power.

Critics call the change in the ninth-grade biology curriculum a veiled attempt to require public schoolchildren to learn creationism, a biblical-based view that credits the origin of species to God.

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From Texas and Georgia come disturbing stories of how religious beliefs are changing what students in public shools are being taught. From Pharyngula:

It must be sad and hard to be a textbook in Texas.

Last year, the school board was trying to cut evolution out of them.

This year, they’re removing references to pollution, global warming, and overpopulation.

Oh, and the phrase “married partners” is not to be used, because it’s too general and could include gay couples.

And health/sex ed books contain no mention of contraception. At all. Did you know that Texas is the #1 ranked state for teen pregnancy? I guess it’s like football: they’re going to hang onto that championship.

Continue reading that story. It’s an alarming tale of one fanatic’s (Terri Leo) crusade to rewrite the state’s textbooks with her own religious views. (My personal favorite is: She’s been working like a maniac to gut textbooks; she’s even tried to get publishers to add little “facts”, like “Opinions vary on why homosexuals, lesbians and bisexuals as a group are more prone to self-destructive behaviors like depression, illegal drug use, and suicide.”)

But things in Georgia are little better:

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To Kill A Whooping Crane

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“Atticus said to Jem, “I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds.  Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” That was the only time I ever hear Atticus say it was a … Read more

“Automatically Reinstated in Washington”

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Via Instapundit~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ According to David Broder in the Washington Post, outside of Texas, where there had been agressive gerrymandering, 99% of the incumbents running for re-election to the House of Representatives won their seats. Most in landslides. The case of Congressman John Mica (R. Florida) was told to Broder by a former journalist who had … Read more

When the Blue say “I Do” They Actually Mean It

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Via a website with a name that violates the posting rules (warning, site is highly offensive…click through at your own risk). And for the record, the author of that site is a lunatic…I just believe in citing my sources.
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As the culture wars rage on, one of the themes we hear again and again is that conservatives place more importance on family values than liberals do. That’s why conservatives are more likely to want to ban gay marriage, in order to protect their families, or so they say. The fact that Massachusetts, the state the conservatives love to hate, has the lowest divorce rate in the nation has been making the rounds lately, but as divorcemag.com illustrates with this table, it’s not just Massachusetts. Nine of the 10 states with the lowest divorce rates are Blue states:

  1. Massachusetts
  2. Connecticut
  3. New Jersey
  4. Rhode Island
  5. New York
  6. Pennsylvania
  7. Wisconsin
  8. North Dakota
  9. Maryland
  10. Minnesota

But wait…there’s more. Ten of the bottom 10 states are Red states.

  1. Florida
  2. New Mexico
  3. Idaho
  4. Alabama
  5. Indiana
  6. Wyoming
  7. Tennessee
  8. Oklahoma
  9. Arkansas
  10. Nevada

And more than just Red states, nine* at least 5 of the bottom 10 are Bible Belt States.

Aside from the quickie-divorce Mecca of Nevada, no region of the United States has a higher divorce rate than the Bible Belt. Nearly half of all marriages break up, but the divorce rates in these southern states are roughly 50 percent above the national average.

These are the same people who claim that my marrying my fiance will threaten their marriages. Any scapegoat in a storm, eh?

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Alberto Gonzales: “Strong, Principled Leadership.”

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Here is part of President Bush’s statement on nominating Alberto Gonzales to be attorney General: “His sharp intellect and sound judgment have helped shape our policies in the war on terror — policies designed to protect the security of all Americans, while protecting the rights of all Americans. As the top legal official on the … Read more

An Issue of Integrity

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The arguments against drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) are many, but most are idealistic. The arguments in favor of drilling for oil in ANWR are many, but most are practical or economic (not always the same thing). Having suffered defeat in the Senate last time around, the Bush Adminstration now feels safe to announce it’s renewing efforts to open up for drilling the area represented by Section 1002 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980. I say "safe," because we heard little to nothing about this during the campaign. But the campaign is over, and Bush never said he’d drop the matter, so it’s no surprise. The only mystery at this point is how much of his new found political capital he’ll spend to see this happen.

Strongest among the arguments against drilling are the effects it could have on the environment there. Those anxious to take the oil argue that "We have the technology to develop oil without harming the environment and wildlife." But they don’t argue that they’ll use that technology. In fact, there are precedents to suggest that once they have the go ahead, the Bush administration will let industry drop their green facades.

But the question for me has never been how greenly the oil can be extracted, but rather how much integrity the concept of a National Wildlife Refuge has for the people of the United States. Pro-drilling enthusiasts like to argue that "The debate in Congress today centers solely on this small section [1.9 million acres]; the remaining 17.5 million acres of ANWR lie in the protected enclave that cannot be developed." Or they faithlessly argue that section 1002 is not pristine (the it’s-ugly-so-why-do-you-care argument). This argument is particularly disengenous though, because those offering it surely understand that any impact on section 1002 (which includes the shoreline) has been determined as very likely to have significant effects on the rest of ANWR, which even the Heritage Foundation admits is America’s "last true wilderness, a hallowed place, and a pristine environmental area."

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[Other candidate’s name here] Stole The Election Open Thread

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In other places, I’ve seen commenters suggest that the Republicans cheated, fixed the vote, and handed Bush the election.  Consider this a thread to post your favorite moonbattiness without fear of reprisal.  Diebold delivered Ohio for Bush?  Kerry buried Bush with the dead vote?  Democratic elections supervisors are being deliberately incompetent in order to cast … Read more

Andrew Sullivan Does Not Understand the Value of a Dollar

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Andrew Sullivan writes: And I oppose punitive or "progressive" taxation, because it means the government discriminates on the basis of personal success. If we’re all taxed at the same proportionate rate, the successful still pay far more into the public coffers than the unsuccessful. They’re just not penalized even further by a higher rate. If … Read more

Sing Glad Hosannas!

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Ashcroft has resigned! Calico cats everywhere will be relieved, statues can shed their robes, and Justice Department workers will no longer be asked to sing Let the Eagle Soar. (From the Guardian story: “When asked why she opposed the workplace singalong, one of the department’s lawyers said: “Have you heard the song? It really sucks.””) … Read more

It took y’all long enough

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Sebastian Holsclaw, permanent ObWi guest poster, has now become a permant ObWi permant poster.  Hurray!  The ObWi Five becomes the ObWi Six:  Edward Underscore, Katherine, Hilzoy, Sebastian, Slartibartfast, and yours truly, Von. What adventures will we have?  What crimes will we solve?  (More to the point, which will we commit?)  Will Hilzoy finally stop with … Read more

The first thing you have to do is admit that you have a problem, Part II

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It’s not entirely unexpected, I suppose.  My suggestion that Democrats should moderate their views generated a bit of heat from the readership (including this thoughtful response by our own Hilzoy) — most of it from Democrats, and most of it against me.  However perilous, though, I’m gonna continue the fight because I think I’m right:  Democrats need to turn to the right in order to have a chance in the next election.  Here’s why:

1.  "Turn to the right" is often taken to mean a turn to the right on social issues — a problem compounded by the visibility of the gay marriage issue this time around.  But social issues are only a part of it (and not the largest part).

(cont.)

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Poll Mania

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The meme suggesting that Bush won largely on the strength of anti-gay backlash seems to be undergoing a rather thorough debunking. See for example Kevin Drum, Andrew Sullivan, Slate, and David Brooks (NYT Nov. 6). Andrew puts it most succinctly: The percentage of people who said in 2004 that their vote was determined by the … Read more

Discussions on Israel

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With the election out of the way, some parts of the blogosphere that I could hardly bear to read are becoming interesting again. There is an interesting post over at Crooked Timber where Henry Farrell asks why it is so difficult to have even remotely rational discussions on the subject of Israel. Matthew Yglesias raises … Read more

Theo Van Gogh Assasination

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I’m not sure if you have heard of the Theo Van Gogh assasination in Holland. But if you haven’t, Wretchard, Bjørn Stærk, and Andrew Sullivan all have interesting things to say about it. The most eerie thing I found was this from the Belmont Club: The murder caused widespread popular anger, yet political correctness forced … Read more

Running To The Right

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I’ve been off doing non-political things since I last wrote (psychological coping mechanisms at work.) Now that I’m back, I’d like to add my voice to the chorus of those who say that Democrats should not try to move further to the right. I think this for several reasons.

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The first thing you have to do is admit that you have a problem

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Lotsa folks seem to think this missive applies mostly to the Bush administration; if y’all want to keep your "reality-based" hats on after the election, though, you’ll see that it applies equally (if not moreso) to the Democrats.

This, it seems to me, would go a long way to admittin’ the mistake and startin’ the correctin’ process.  He’s the guy who gets it.  What’s "it"?  Well:  Republicans win when they run to the right.  Democrats win when they run to the right.  See a pattern? 

Update:  Our loyal commenteers are politely, but persistently, telling me to shove it.  The general objection (but by no means the only objection) is that if Democrats become Republican-lite, Republicans will become Republican-heavy.   I don’t think that should be much of a concern, however.

First, if you stop by RedState, you’ll see that Republicans are already well on their way to heavy-dom.  They want to purge Specter.  Chafee can go to Hell.  They’re calling Richard Lugar, R-Ind., a RINO.  (Perhaps they’re unaware that, until January 2004, Lugar voted with President Bush 100 percent of the time.)  The swing to the hard right has already begun, and it’s starting to get really uncomfortable for Republican-sympathancs such as myself.

Second, always keep in mind that most of the country is not hard-right.  It’s center-right — and that includes most RedStates.  Case in point:  Tom Coburn couldn’t win a schoolboard seat in most Indiana counties, and this is a state that the networks called for Bush while the polls were still open.  The right kind of Democrat — a moderate — does quite well here,* and even better elsewhere in the Midwest (like, say, Ohio.  And Missouri.  And Iowa.  Et al.).

A Democrat will not sweep the Old South or the Rocky mountain states in our lifetime, just as a Republican won’t sweep the Northeast or California.  The Midwest (of which, bizarrely, Florida seems a part) is the battleground.  For better or worse, the battleground leans right.  Until Democrats figure that out, they’ll have trouble.

Finally, I’m sympathetic to the notion that this may considered "selling the party’s soul."  (Not too sympathetic, though, since I’m not a member of the party and thus not overly enamoured with the soul in question.)  I don’t think it need be taken that far.  Semantics and procedure are your friends here.  You support "civil unions" that are "legislated," not "gay marriages" dictated by "activist judges."  You want to keep abortion "safe, legal, and rare" — and you’re prepared to legislate as much.  (Really, must you fight for an unfettered right to late-term abortions?)  These are simple, swallowable changes that will attract the swing voter — and start swinging elections your way.

But, then, what kind of advice did you expect from ObWi’s putative "centrist"?

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Arafat Dies

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I’m sure you all know by now that Arafat has died.  I won’t pretend to mourn because I think that the Palestinians would have been much better off both materially and spiritually if he had not been their leader for my entire lifetime.  But with his passing, I think there may finally be some chance … Read more

ATTENTION! ATTENTION! STOP SUING MY CLIENTS FOR RACKETEERING

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It’s really really starting to interfere with my blogging — what, with all the investigations to do and motions to file. Anyway, I can assure you that my clients are totally, completely, and sincerely innocent. And, if you did happen to be inadvertently defrauded by an international conspiracy of multinationals, you probably deserved it. C’mon, … Read more

Friends Don’t Let Friends…

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Via Mike Hoye’s Weblog blarg? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It won’t surprise anyone here to learn that I’ve gone rounds and rounds with anti-gay Americans about why they are opposed to more rights for the nation’s homosexual citizens. Often they’ll quote the Bible, or they’ll raise the specter of rampant man-on-box-turtle sex, or they’ll suggest that even terrorism … Read more

Open Letter to Republicans

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Now that Bush has won reelection, Republicans have secured general legislative control for an additional two years, and knowing Congressional turnover probably four unless they screw up horribly. Republicans, you need to learn a lesson that every ruling party must keep in mind if they want to avoid becoming an ossified wreck. You did not … Read more

We Lost.

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We lost fair and square. I congratulate the Bush supporters here. Your side did well. I also congratulate the Kerry supporters. We lost despite our rank and file supporters making the best effort on behalf of a Democratic candidate that I have ever seen. I know people — a surprising number of them — who … Read more

Big Doings

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With the (temporary, I hope) departure of Moe Lane, founding father and good guy extraordinaire, we ObWi’ers find ourselves a bit out of whack. Y’see, the whole purpose of ObWi is to have a balance of political viewpoints. With Moe’s leaving, our esteemed lefty colleagues (Katherine, Hilzoy, and Edward Underscore) don’t merely outsmart Sebastian and … Read more

Now that Bush has won …

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It would be nice of him to explain “The Bush Doctrine.” Yes, yes, I know: “The Bush Doctrine” means that the U.S. reserves the right to take pre-emptive action against emerging threats. Duly noted. The problem is that this is also a trait of the “realist” doctrine, any one of the “neoconservative” doctrines currently circulating, … Read more

43 X 2

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A few days ago, when asked to take a pledge to support the winner of the presidential election, constant reader Anarch made what I thought was a sound observation: My rule is much simpler: whoever gets inaugurated on January 21st is the President. Period. You don’t have to like it, you just have to accept … Read more

ObWi Wins!

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OK, so on a blog like this one, where the writers represent the right, middle, and left, there’s not very likely to be a uniform sense of joy across the board after election day. Still, we were very pleased to hear that we had been selected as Best Political Group Blog on the esteemed blog … Read more

‘Til Death Do Us Part

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Under the belief that if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, I’m hereby launching a campaign to strengthen and secure the sanctity of marriage in the United States. I’m calling for an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States that will protect this cornerstone of civilization and ensure its definition as found in Judeo-Christian tradition. Under this amendment, marriage in the United States will be defined as between one man and one woman AND it will be binding. As Jesus noted, quoting the Jewish tradition:

What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate….And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” (Matthew 19:3-9)

Therefore, once passed, this amendment will enforce that all Americans live up to their vow before man and/or God to remain married until death do them part. This, and only this, can protect this tradition we hold so important. This, and only this, can end the mockery that passes for marriage in our society today. Nothing threatens our very way of life in this country more than divorce and it must end. Therefore, I’m asking all Americans to join me in this effort. Write your congressmen, write your senators, call your local radio stations, write your local newspapers. Join me in stomping out this modern-age scourge that tears families apart and in the end benefits only the litigious divorce lawyers.

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Arghh

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Well it appears that my hope for a clean victory by one party or the other may be dashed in Ohio. It is now midnight Pacific Time and in my opinion Ohio is too close to call. Which leads directly to my next topic. FoxNews and NBC should not have called Ohio–it is just too … Read more

Almost the Leader We All Deserve

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E.J. Dionne Jr. offers an excellent analysis of, as he calls it, “what Bush threw away.” As I’ve written repeatedly, Bush’s 90% approval rating after 9/11 offered the nation and the world an awesome opportunity to regain clarity about what’s important in life and what’s best about mankind. Rather than be the leader of the … Read more

Those newfangled blog thingies

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The New York Times, always on the bleeding edge, has recognized the influence of blogs on the election this year: Every four years, by journalistic if not political tradition, the presidential election must be accompanied by a “revolution.” So what transformed politics this time around? The rise of the Web log, or blog. The commentary … Read more

Today We Have Our Say

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I love voting day. After months of boasts and promises, mud-slinging and baby smooching, pundits and polls (and polls and polls), it all boils down to one very intimate action, humanity’s simplest idea and yet grandest achievement: one person, one vote. Like a child at Christmas, I wake up early, excited on election day. I … Read more