Battle Hymn
[ Posted Monday, January 21st, 2013 – 22:55 UTC ]
America shares a civic religion. Today was its holiest day.
Archive of Articles in the "American Society" Category
Friday Talking Points [241] -- Revive The "No Budget, No Pay Act"
[ Posted Friday, January 18th, 2013 – 16:02 UTC ]
Eric Cantor, much to our surprise, almost just did something we not only would have agreed with, but in fact given our wholehearted support to. Almost.
No Silver Bullet
[ Posted Wednesday, January 16th, 2013 – 16:51 UTC ]
There is no silver bullet.
--Vice President Joe Biden
Guest Author: Cops In Schools
[ Posted Tuesday, January 15th, 2013 – 18:00 UTC ]
Vice President Joe Biden's office is on a fast track to issue recommendations for reducing gun violence in response to the Newtown school shootings. In terrible incidents like this, the public demand that policymakers "do something" is high; however, too often, a quickly-crafted "solution" creates lasting harm to the very people it seeks to protect, in this instance, the students themselves. This certainly will be the case if special interests like the National Rifle Association (N.R.A.) have their way and we see the number of police in schools begin once again to rise.
Dare Not Speak Its Name
[ Posted Wednesday, January 9th, 2013 – 18:28 UTC ]
Last night, on a primetime television show, a character had an abortion. Does this shock you? It might, if only for the fact that such a plotline is so incredibly rare on American television. In less than two weeks, the Supreme Court decision in the landmark Roe v. Wade case will be forty years old. Four decades later, the debate over abortion still rages. But it is a debate which is largely silent on the small screen. Even last night, abortion did not really dare to speak its name.
Digitus Impudicus Ruled Constitutionally-Protected Speech
[ Posted Thursday, January 3rd, 2013 – 17:59 UTC ]
A federal appeals court has reaffirmed every American's right to communicate with the police solely through the use of the middle finger. You read that correctly: what is variously called "flipping off" or "flipping the bird" or "the one-finger salute" -- even to a police officer -- is indeed protected speech under the United States Constitution. Which is a victory for free speech and the First Amendment.
Spoiler Alert: L.S.S.U. Language Gurus Double Down On Banished Words
[ Posted Monday, December 31st, 2012 – 18:10 UTC ]
Yes, it's that time of year again, folks! Time to cleanse out our vocabulary's lower intestinal tract with a purge of all the now-clichéd triteness we've been using with abandon all year long.
The Biggest Conspiracy Of All
[ Posted Monday, December 24th, 2012 – 18:14 UTC ]
This conspiracy has a name. And it is no coincidence that this lie is alphabetically correspondent with Satan, since as I said the evil of divisively selecting one segment of the public -- on physical characteristics alone -- and then repeatedly lying to them is a horrendous practice which should, quite obviously, be denounced by all upstanding folks who wish to allow American society to grow out of this juvenile behavior and mature as a society.
My 2012 "McLaughlin Awards" [Part 1]
[ Posted Friday, December 21st, 2012 – 18:13 UTC ]
Welcome to the seventh annual homage (which sounds so much nicer than "blatant ripoff," don't you think?) to the television show The McLaughlin Group, since they have the most extensive year-end award category list of anyone around. Since "extensive" is my middle name (well, not really, although I do tend to wander off into the parenthetical wilderness at times, do I not?), such a long list fits right in here.
Enjoying The Kabuki?
[ Posted Wednesday, December 19th, 2012 – 16:37 UTC ]
I realize that watching the fiscal cliff negotiations in Washington has been likened to stylized Kabuki theater more than once by pundits far and wide, but I'm going to push this metaphor for all it is worth today. You might even say I'm going to push it right over a cliff, but that would be a horrendous metaphor mixture indeed.