The Birth of the Birthers

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Wednesday September 02, 2009 · 9:30 AM PDT

2009/09/02 · 09:30

I know I’m late to the party on this topic, but I felt I needed to discuss the origins of the current acerbic bile directed at Barack Obama by many of those on the right, especially in the South. While it's true that not all Southerners are racist and that not all racists are Southern, it's also true that the South has a unique history with regards to race, and based on current events, it's hard to argue that the South is no longer the nexus of American racism. So I decided to write a diary detailing how racism became embedded in Southern culture. Specifically, I want to explain why Southern Apologists, many of whom are modern conservatives who blame Northern government activism for the war, trying to justify Southern secession are wrong and merely fueling the fires of racism.

Poll

27 votes Show Results

What Caused the Civil War?

27 votes Vote Now!

What Caused the Civil War?

State's Rights

6 votes

Slavery

13 votes

Lincoln

2 votes

Them Damnyankees

3 votes

Tariffs

2 votes

Other

1 vote

The cowardice of CNN

AgnosticTheocrat

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Thursday August 06, 2009 · 9:13 AM PDT

2009/08/06 · 09:13

Since when does being factual require reporting both sides? We don't report that the earth may or may not be flat, or that the stars may or may not be holes in the sky. In this sense, I think the decentralizing tendency of blogs are a boon to journalism. Rather than being completely handcuffed by strict editorial guidelines informed by political and financial concerns, blogs wear their hearts on their sleeves. Though blogs are almost invariably written with an agenda to support, the best blogs include data to back up their assertions, citations to support their logical arguments, and arguments to back their data. Even the most stringently researched and crafted editorial twenty years ago was hamstrung by the limitations of print: graphs cost money to print, citations take up space better used for ads or other articles, and without the other two backing you up it becomes very difficult to effectively prove a point.

AgnosticTheocrat

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Saturday June 13, 2009 · 9:12 PM PDT

2009/06/13 · 21:12

While reading the diary, Tribes, They Kind of Matter, I came across the sentiment, commonly voiced in response to marketing techniques and human behavior, that humans are "herd animals"; sheep led by the more self-aware shepherds who take advantage of our weakness. I've always felt this conception to be both cynical and myopic. I agree with the general underlying sentiment, as humans are most definitely driven by our fundamental need to belong to a group. Still, the term "herd animals", while technically true for the most part, sounds pejorative and harsh. Since when is a desire for companionship, affirmation, and perhaps most importantly the need to share oneself with the world a negative thing?

AgnosticTheocrat

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Friday May 29, 2009 · 4:04 AM PDT

2009/05/29 · 04:04

Republicans these days love throwing around words like "socialist" or "Marxist" whenever describing the policies of the democratic legislature and executive. To them, any attempt to address the inherent issues with Capitalism creates inefficiencies and centralizes power in the few hands of government bureaucrats. This is a legitimate fear, as attempts at Communism in other countries inevitably led to dictatorships and inequality. However, their inherently simplistic view of Capitalism, and it's accompanying over the top rhetoric, misses the reality that there truly are contradictions in our current free market system that we must address.

Poll

49 votes Show Results

Do you think Capitalism is succesful?

49 votes Vote Now!

Do you think Capitalism is succesful?

Yes, government is the problem, not the solution.

6 votes

Yes, but only when well-regulated and with social safety nets.

22 votes

No, we need a re-appraisal of the economy toward workers.

11 votes

No, we need a re-appraisal of the economy toward collectives and syndicates.

3 votes

Workers of the world, unite!

7 votes

The Arc of History Bends Toward Reason

AgnosticTheocrat

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Monday April 20, 2009 · 6:42 AM PDT

2009/04/20 · 06:42

We live, undoubtedly, in an age of religious and cultural strife that in terms of sheer numbers of victims has never been equaled. Hundreds of thousands of lives are destroyed every year as a result of religious disagreements, whether in Iraq, The Netherlands, Somalia, Afghanistan, or the United States of America. Even as progress is made in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, or the American heartland for progressive and secular causes, seemingly endless tales of misery and pain waft from the vast regions of darkness and intolerance that seem to spread like spilled ink on a map. It would be easy, even understandable, to lose hope; to claim that hatred and dogma are a fundamental characteristic of mankind. However, I think this is a mistake. History shows us a picture of a humanity struggling relentlessly toward understanding, universalism, and respect for human rights. By respecting civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights, the modern liberal democracy provides the groundwork for a free a prosperous society with a profound capacity for self-correction and advancement. However, there is perhaps no more integral and important ideal than that of secular governance. To borrow from Martin Luther King, Jr.: The arc of history is long, but it bends toward reason.

AgnosticTheocrat

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Wednesday November 26, 2008 · 12:10 AM PST

2008/11/26 · 00:10

Those who want Obama to completely disregard the political reality in Washington and the world are running toward the same cliff the Republicans fell from. Until I see us moving the wrong direction, I approach supporting Obama under the assumption that he has the correct goals and is doing everything in his power to meet those goals without running into a backlash or a speed bump. So even if he does some things I may not consider ideal, I assume he does so out of necessity rather than choice. This is not an absolute trust and if he begins to move in a direction or at a speed in which I'm not satisfied I won't hesitate to withdraw my support. Still, it's important to consider the context of his actions.

AgnosticTheocrat

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Tuesday November 25, 2008 · 8:06 PM PST

2008/11/25 · 20:06

It has been said throughout the media that the Republicans are no longer the "party of ideas." This, of course, presupposes that they ever were. Even so, the activists within the Republican Party have seized on this meme as a call to action, bidding the Republicans to adopt whatever brand of conservativism the activist making the call chooses to support: Huckabites calling for a populist brand of a sort of theocratic "New Deal", Romneyites carrying the torch for Big Business and moderate social issues, Kristolites claiming that if we just bomb a few more people everything will get better, or Palinites trying not to think too hard and just asking Jesus to make it better. Of course none of these are new ideas, but simply all of the old American Conservative factions staking out ground in the coming civil war within the party.

AgnosticTheocrat

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Friday November 07, 2008 · 3:14 PM PST

2008/11/07 · 15:14

There has been copious rending of garments and Republican prostration after Obama's victory Tuesday night. Yet in the intervening period we've been bombed by innumerable appeals that Obama follow through with his pledge of a "post-partisan" administration. These generally take the form of conservative appeals to postpone the tax policy, avoid socially liberal judges, and otherwise follow a moderately conservative agenda. Certainly, this is a thinly veiled attempt to minimize their losses. However, this also represents the fundamental misunderstanding of the meaning of "partisan", and why so many people are opposed to it.

AgnosticTheocrat

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Tuesday July 01, 2008 · 4:34 PM PDT

2008/07/01 · 16:34

WARNING! I plan on using math, apologies in advance, but I assume we're all liberals here so a little math shouldn't bother us (obligatory political cheapshot toward conservatives complete)

While perusing Slate Magazine I came across this article by Erik Lundegaard discussing the apparent lack of financial success by Independent and Arthouse films despite better critical reception. Lundegaard attempts to disprove conventional wisdom, arguing instead that Art House films are more succesful than commonly accepted, optimistically citing the stellar revenue on a per-theater basis of such films. Although acclaimed films consistently underpreform in gross revenue, it concedes, they play in far fewer theaters and routinely make more money than their big-budget, critically slammed counter parts when compared theater-to-theater. However, as great as it would be to prove great films are more succesful than they appear, thus poking the executives greenlighting films like Love Guru right in the eye, unfortunately the financial truth is we will be stuck for the forseeable future with crap overflowing in thousands of theaters while gold sits hidden in mere hundreds.

Poll

78 votes Show Results

Do you think Independent and Art House films would be just as succesful as blockbusters if they received the same advertising and theater presence?

78 votes Vote Now!

Do you think Independent and Art House films would be just as succesful as blockbusters if they received the same advertising and theater presence?

Yes, Hollywood lacks the courage to back good cinema

20 votes

Yes, people will go see any movie if it's good

16 votes

No, the general public just doesn't have good taste

33 votes

No, those movies are pretentious wastes of time

6 votes

Who cares? I don't watch movies

2 votes

I don't know

1 vote

Ann Coulter, Still a Font of Dishonesty

AgnosticTheocrat

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Tuesday June 17, 2008 · 6:50 PM PDT

2008/06/17 · 18:50

A week ago Ann Coulter posted a column on her website where she claimed that Iraqis were safer than Detroit residents, and insinuated that our troops were safer in Iraq than Chicago. Setting aside the implicit insults to the Second City and Motor City, the way in which she used the statistics from this CNN story is among the most dishonest I have have ever read.

RSS

The Birth of the Birthers

The cowardice of CNN

The Revolution in Iran and the Universal Aspirations of Mankind

The Capitalist Catch-22

The Arc of History Bends Toward Reason

The New Politics of Barack Obama, More Real Than You Think

The History of Conservatism and Why "New Conservative Ideas" is an Oxymoron

On Partisanship and Progressive Governance.

On the Success of Big Blockbusters and Independent Films

Ann Coulter, Still a Font of Dishonesty