Conservatives
mikethemadbiologist | October 22, 2007Atrios identifies the problem with the Republican choice-based 'vision' of healthcare:
Well, really, the Republican vision, as slobbered over by cenrtist [sic] David Broder.
In this case, he is visualizing a radically different kind of medical marketplace, in which families armed with specific information about the treatment success and prices of hospitals and doctors can shop at will for the best quality and most affordable care.
We pay doctors to make these decisions for us because most of us haven't been to medical school. I know this point is simple and obvious and everyone makes it, but…
mikethemadbiologist | October 20, 2007A few days ago, I posted an excerpt from Hanna Rosen's God's Harvard which is about Patrick Henry College, which can be thought of as theopolitical conservative training facility. Before I get to a mindboggling display of cynicism, I want to make one thing: if someone wants to believe this lunacy, that's fine, but the moment it becomes a political agenda for governing our country, it's fair game. Onto the cynicism:
"I read that President Bush is coming to speak for Kilgore." "Yes, well, that can be a sign that the campaign is in trouble," Shant pointed out. ''And last time Bush came,…
mikethemadbiologist | October 19, 2007Since I'm speaking at Harvard today*, I thought sharing this bit from Hanna Rosen's God's Harvard would be appropriate (and it's a fascinating read). The president of Patrick Henry College, whose mission is "to prepare Christian men and women who will lead our nation and shape our culture with timeless biblical values and fidelity to the spirit of the American founding", accidentally divulged his strategy to get young earth creationism in the public schools (italics mine):
But there's one hitch with this model: Many evangelicals, especially the older generation, are not like Catholics or…
mikethemadbiologist | October 16, 2007Once again, the science framing wars have flared up. While I'm not allergic to the concept of framing as some are, one of the major reasons why I'm not a big fan of dwelling on the topic is that obsessing over language reminds me of the late 80s and 90s when the Left won the battle of words, and the fundamentalist Uruk-hai took over the damn country.
I've been doing some thinking about the 'progressive' concern with media communication (including my own)--and it is important, no doubt about it. But, as the 2006 elections have shown, if words aren't turned into the exercise of power, there…
mikethemadbiologist | October 11, 2007
We likes Ann Coulter!!!
Professional provocateur Ann Coulter in an interview on MSNBC advocated the conversion of the Jews (italics mine):
During the October 8 edition of CNBC's The Big Idea, host Donny Deutsch asked right-wing pundit Ann Coulter: "If you had your way ... and your dreams, which are genuine, came true ... what would this country look like?" Coulter responded, "It would look like New York City during the [2004] Republican National Convention. In fact, that's what I think heaven is going to look like." She described the convention as follows: "People were happy. They're…
mikethemadbiologist | October 10, 2007In one of the more controversial posts I've written (or at least one that got me a lot of hate email), I described how "hatred is the Republican base":
The Washington Post recently reported about the failure of the anti-segregation amendment to pass in Alabama (it was essentially 50-50). According to the CNN exit poll, 73% of Alabama voters were white. Assuming that the vote to keep the segregationist amendment was negligible among non-whites, this means that 68.5% of whites voted against the anti-segregationist amendment (or for segregation).
One of the lame excuses given was that some…
mikethemadbiologist | October 9, 2007In an excellent post about torture, Amanda Marcotte concludes:
On another blog, I had some right winger squeeing and questioning my patriotism because I supposedly want our country to "lose" the war in Iraq that I thought the President told us wasn't happening, what with the mission being accomplished and all. It's sort of an interesting conundrum, because I can't deny that I want us to pull out of every country where we don't have the consent of the people, I want us to shut down our gulags and torture chambers, and I want the current interlopers out of the White House and the Republican…
mikethemadbiologist | October 8, 2007
At least Bush didn't tell the whole city to go screw itself, just the kids (from here)
ScienceBlogling Mike Dunford describes why a family making $83,000 per year needs S-CHIP despite Little Lord Pontchartrain's claims to the contrary:
After all of that [basic living expenses], the family of four has $17,550 left for insurance - assuming no unforeseen expenses, no savings, no college fund, etc.
The absolute, rock-bottom, cheapest HMO rate that NY State lists for Queens comes in at a bit over $17,640 per year. The average comes in at over $28,000 per year. Even the cheapest plan puts our…
mikethemadbiologist | October 8, 2007David Brooks wonders why the GOP is in shambles. Bush voter in 2000 and 2004 and conservative John Cole has a very succinct answer:
For starters, people got tired of being associated with these drooling retards.
Let's elaborate further:
Then, when they realized that these drooling retards had ideological allies running the show in the Bush administration and then began to experience their idiotic policies, they moved from disgusted to outright hostile.
....Seriously- what does the current Republican party stand for? Permanent war, fear, the nanny state, big spending, torture, execution on…
mikethemadbiologist | October 3, 2007When Senator George "Macacawitz" Allen of Virginia was still considered a viable presidential candidate, I asked this question:
Can we please have presidential candidates who are not psychological basketcases? ... Is it possible for the Republicans to nominate someone who is not cracked in the head? Please? Just in case.
If the support for Giuliani is any indication, the answer is definite "no":
First way: Rudy genuinely doesn't realize that taking a phone call in the middle of a speech is rude. But this suggests a lack of emotional intelligence so stunning that even I don't think Rudy is…
mikethemadbiologist | September 30, 2007And some Republicans wonder why most Jews don't vote Republican. Well, conservative talk radio is one answer. Here's what conservative talk radio host Mike Rosen has to say:
Sure. [Caller], you have exceptions like Milton Friedman, for example, a brilliant free-market economist who was more libertarian than conservative and one of my all-time heroes. Milton Friedman certainly understood the big picture, but so many Jews who are regarded by people as instinctively good merchants are just that. They're merchants at the retail level and don't have, I don't think, a good grasp of the big…
mikethemadbiologist | September 27, 2007And, thankfully, the NY Times' Cornelia Dean calls the intelligent design creationists out on it:
There is no credible scientific challenge to the theory of evolution as an explanation for the complexity and diversity of life on earth. And while individual scientists may embrace religious faith, the scientific enterprise looks to nature to answer questions about nature. As scientists at Iowa State University put it last year, supernatural explanations are "not within the scope or abilities of science."
It's about time this is stated more forthrightly. One section of the article piqued my…
mikethemadbiologist | September 26, 2007In a great post over at Pandagon about a lesbian mother who confronted the rightwing ninnies at the Family Impact Summit, I came across this link to a good column by a former employee of the American Family Association (italics mine):
It is not coincidental that the road to Hell is paved with the best of intentions, thus while one hopes that conservative leaders, such as Don Wildmon, began their crusade motivated by morality, it appears that a number of them have been hypnotized by the siren song of the almighty dollar.
Christian activism has become a lucrative business. According to its 990…
mikethemadbiologist | September 25, 2007
If "Gathering of Eagles" needs a new emblem, this one is currently available
At the recent anti-war protest in Washington D.C., a pro-war group known as "Gathering of Eagles" assaulted Carlos Arredondo, a father of a Marine killed in Iraq:
Carlos Arredondo, 47 year old father of two sons, arrived in the nation's capitol on Monday, 09/10/07 to share a memorial he has made to honor for his eldest son, Alex. Carlos has visited thirty of the United States with the traveling memorial to his son Alexander. Lcpl. Alexander S. Arredondo, USMC was killed on 08/25/04. He was 20 years and 20 days old.…
mikethemadbiologist | September 8, 2007...attack Iran. Bartcop describes his correspondence with a U.S. naval officer (via maha--thanks...; italics mine):
I have a friend who is an LSO on a carrier attack group that is planning and staging a strike group deployment into the Gulf of Hormuz. (LSO: Landing Signal Officer- she directs carrier aircraft while landing) She told me we are going to attack Iran. She said that all the Air Operation Planning and Asset Tasking are finished. That means that all the targets have been chosen, prioritized, and tasked to specific aircraft, bases, carriers, missile cruisers and so forth....
Always…
mikethemadbiologist | August 31, 2007A well-developed sense of irony can be a very useful thing to a politician. From Paul Krugman:
"I don't want the people who ran the Katrina cleanup to manage our health care system," says Mitt Romney...
Good reason not to vote for Republicans, I think. Particularly, if you're on Medicare...
mikethemadbiologist | August 30, 2007No, "I think I'm pregnant" is a universal constant. The four words are "It can be better." Recently, maha and I have written some posts about conservatism. I've also finished reading Joe Bageant's Deer Hunting with Jesus which is an excellent natural history of Southern conservatives (note: I grew up about 60 miles from Bageant's hometown of Winchester). I'll have more to say about the book, but one part that crystallized something for me was this (italics mine):
Being a southerner, I have hated in my lifetime. I can remember schoolyard discussions of supposed "nigger knifing" of white…
mikethemadbiologist | August 29, 2007No, not Senator Craig's hypocrisy. The conservative commentariat's. Glenn Greenwald beats me to the punch (italics mine):
What accounts for this complete shift in right-wing commentary about the Craig story? How can it possibly be that Craig's bathroom adultery compels his resignation today, but -- weeks before the last election -- the same conduct was so irrelevant that the mere mention of it rendered Rogers the lowest "scumbag" in the nation? Other than the fact that the Craig report threatened GOP political interests in October but does not do so now, what conceivable difference exists…