Dispatches from the Culture Wars

Dumbass Quote of the Day

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:30:39 -0500

From one of the people protesting health care reform, as told by the New York Times:

"You'll be starting a civil war, you fascist tyrant!" yelled Andrew Beacham, 27, of nearby Falls Church, Va.
Mr. Beacham, his hair in a ponytail, said in an interview that he believed Mr. Obama was a fascist because, he asserted, the bill would force Americans to pay for abortions and for government-provided health care. Reminded that Americans have long contributed to Medicare and Medicaid, Mr. Beacham replied, "I would favor getting rid of both of them, and Social Security, too. They're all going broke anyway."

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One More Thing About Bachmann

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:23:59 -0500

I forgot to mention this in my post about meeting Michelle Bachmann. While I was standing there waiting to get a picture with her, she was bragging to her followers around her that the House Republicans had kept bringing up pointless amendments. "We brought up an amendment to delete page one of the bill, then another one to delete page two of the bill, and on and on. Anything to delay and disrupt the bill from passing," she told the guy in line in front of me.

The other thing that they did was try to bring the entire process to a halt by objecting to every single speaker asking unanimous consent to have their full remarks placed in the Congressional Record. This is an absolutely routine request and it is always granted to any member of either party. It allows a speaker to make brief remarks on the floor and then place a longer, more detailed statement into the Congressional Record.

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Mikey Weinstein Gets Mail

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:16:14 -0500

Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom foundation forwarded me this email from the spouse of a Muslim soldier. It is thought-provoking and haunting - and all too predictable in light of the shooting at Ft. Hood.

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Beck Loses Domain Dispute - But Gets Web Site

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:09:19 -0500

So the dispute filed by Glenn Beck against Isaac Eiland-Hall over the website glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com has come to an unusual conclusion. Unsurprisingly, Beck lost the dispute. The arbitrator ruled against Beck (see full ruling here), saying that the parody was a legitimate use of the name:

Respondent appears to the Panel to be engaged in a parody of the style or methodology that Respondent appears genuinely to believe is employed by Complainant in the provision of political commentary, and for that reason Respondent can be said to be making a political statement. This constitutes a legitimate non-commercial use of Complainant's mark under the Policy.

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Michigan Court Limits Sex Offender Registry

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:02:50 -0500

In what may be an important precedent, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that a man arrested for a so-called "Romeo and Juliet" relationship cannot be listed on the state's sex offender registry because doing so would constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

The defendant, Robert Dipiazza, was arrested and convicted of having a consensual sexual relationship with a girl who was nearly 15 when he had just turned 18. The girl's parents knew of and approved of the relationship, but Dipiazza was nonetheless charged after one of the girl's teachers turned him in to police after she found out about the relationship.

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Ed Infiltrates a Protest

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:23:56 -0500

So after the reader meetup on Saturday, I and two of my readers, Barry and Eric, wandered over to Capitol Hill to see the anti-health care protests. The protest was on the West lawn, so we had to walk all the way around the building before we got to it. And before Fox News tries to tell you that there were 50,000 people there, the number was a few hundred tops (we got there just as the last speech was ending and there were maybe 200 people there at the most).

I was hoping to get pictures of some really crazy signs, but they were sadly missing. No pics of Obama with a Hitler mustache or posters of concentration camp victims. There were a lot of "Don't tread on me" flags and there was one yellow sign that a lot of people were holding - mostly because a guy was walking around asking people if they wanted to hold one of the signs. I politely declined.

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Health Care Passes House

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:16:32 -0500

The House of Representatives passed the health care reform bill Saturday night, but not before passing an amendment to prohibit funding of abortions:

Earlier, the House passed an amendment to pending health care legislation that prohibits federal funds for abortion services in the public option and in the insurance "exchange" the bill would create.
The vote passed 240-194.

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Dumbass Quote of the Day

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:09:26 -0500

From Sarah Palin's Facebook page:

"An interview with Oprah Winfrey is already scheduled, and I'm also hoping to have the opportunity to talk with Bill O'Reilly, Barbara Walters, Sean Hannity, Greta Van Susteren, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, Dennis Miller, Tammy Bruce, and others, including local Alaska personalities Bob & Mark and Eddie Burke. (Variety is the spice of life!)."
That's variety? Two celebrity interviewers who can help her book sell millions of copies and the full list of Fox News pundits with radio shows? There seems to be one variety missing: Real journalists asking questions that Palin might not be able to B.S. her way through.

Variety: "We got both kinds here, country and western."
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Donohue Quotes Colbert Review

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:02:39 -0500

Bill Donohue, the perpetually outraged head of the Catholic League, has a new book out. And on his website, he cites a blurb from Stephen Colbert:

"Wake up, America! The secular minority has cut the brake cables on America's In-God-We-Trust-Mobile™! Not even all 43 of our Christian presidents can save us now."

Do you think Donohue knows Colbert is making fun of him?

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Stewart Nails Beck

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:23:27 -0500

If you haven't seen this spot-on Jon Stewart impersonation of Glenn Beck, you really must see it. Brilliant stuff.

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The Bipartisan Support for Pseudo-Medicine

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:16:42 -0500

The LA Times notes that the provision in the Senate health care reform bill that supports payment for Christian Science faith healing as a legitimate form of medical treatment was supported by prominent members of both parties:

Backed by some of the most powerful members of the Senate, a little-noticed provision in the healthcare overhaul bill would require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments as medical expenses.
The provision was inserted by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) with the support of Democratic Sens. John F. Kerry and the late Edward M. Kennedy, both of Massachusetts, home to the headquarters of the Church of Christ, Scientist.

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Badass Quote of the Day

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:09:11 -0500

From Dan Froomkin, former Washington Post columnist:

Journalists should strive for accuracy, and fairness. Objectivity is impossible, and is too often confused with balance. And the problem with balance is that we are not living in a balanced time. For instance, is it patently obvious that at this point in our history, the leading luminaries on one side of the American political spectrum are considerably less tethered to reality than those on the other side. Madly trying to split the difference, as so many of my mainstream-media colleagues feel impelled to do, does a disservice to the concept of the truth.

Bingo. But the key is that a real journalist should call out either side on an issue when they become untethered to reality. It is reality that journalism should always strive to represent, regardless of which side of a political dispute benefits from that work.

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Public View of Both Parties Crashes

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:02:39 -0500

You hear a lot from Republicans crowing about President Obama's approval ratings dropping, and those of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid being very low. But the truth is that the public's perceptions of both parties has crashed over the last few months. Here's the yearlong trend from the Daily Kos polls:

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Carrie Prejean Sex Tape

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:30:57 -0500

Yet another blow to the religious right's latest fake hero/martyr. CNN reports that Carrie Prejean was forced to settle her lawsuit against the Miss California pageant because a sex tape surfaced starring her - and apparently her alone.

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Grassley Defends Censorship. Kinda.

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:23:22 -0500

Sen. Charles Grassley was asked by a reporter about his amendment that would prohibit a proposed commission to recommend ways to reform the criminal justice system from even discussing the possibility of decriminalizing any drugs currently considered illegal. He proceeded to defend his amendment. Kinda. In fact, he babbled incoherently. The only barely discernible argument among this word salad is "because we can." Here's his nonsensical answer:

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