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Tag Archives: Politics
Marco Rubio Went To Disney World, And Republican Donors Paid For It
When the average, middle class Republican donor put up $40 to support the Republican Party, do you suppose (s)he knew that it would pay for Marco Rubio going to Disney World? Marco Rubio’s Use of Party Credit Card Reinforces a … Continue reading
Prediction: Hillary Clinton Will Win The White House
Hillary’s toughness may be her greatest strength. I’m increasingly under the impression that she could win, and win big. How, after all, do Republicans capture the White House if the women’s vote breaks 52-48 (a low-ball estimate) for Clinton? Surely, … Continue reading
Marco Rubio Is Not Outraged “Over A Dead Lion”
Marco Rubio signals that he’s anti-environmentalist and anti-feminist in the same (poorly worded and incorrectly punctuated) tweet: “Look at all this outrage over a dead lion, but where is all the outrage over the planned parenthood dead babies.” Rubio Tweet … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged ecology, environmentalism, feminism, lions, Marco Rubio, Politics
2 Comments
Steven Pinker Says Violence Is On The Decline. Really.
A short and excellent talk, by Steven Pinker, on the global decline of violence.
“Why the Germans? Why the Jews?” Thinking about Gotz Aly’s New Book, 70 Years after Auschwitz
Given that this week marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, I’d like to share a new book on the Holocaust that I’ve been reading: Gotz Aly’s Why the Germans? Why the Jews? It raises the question of … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged american exceptionalism, Auschwitz, Holocaust, Politics
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How Do You Know? Factive Verbs in Relation to Political, Religious, and Scientific Discourse
I’m thinking about factive verbs this morning in relation to such things as global warming, God’s existence, evolution, the future of the stock market, etc. ESTABLISH, for example, is a very strong, emphatic verb, as in, “I’ve established the truth … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged atheism, God, language, philosophy, Politics, religion, science, verbs
3 Comments
Pipeline vs Freeway: What is Net Neutrality, Really?
Net neutrality treats the Internet as a data pipeline, akin to a water pipeline. It doesn’t discriminate between the content that flows through it. That’s all net neutrality is. But there are Republican politicians who want to monetize the Internet … Continue reading
An Atheist Leads a Prayer at a City Council Meeting…
No, it’s not the beginning of a joke, but it made me smile. Naturally, before Preston Smith, an atheist, got started on his invocation, a number of the pious council members of the fine city of Lake Worth, Florida, split … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, blasphemy, church, God, Politics, prayer, religion
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What Dave Bratt Means
I see Dave Bratt as signalling two big things: (1) Republicans will solidify their image as anti-Hispanic over the next couple of years, making it harder for them to win national elections (especially in the 2020s); and (2) Hillary has … Continue reading
The Case for Doubt in a Single Paragraph
If you already believe something, should you attend to the opinions of naysayers, complexifiers, and qualifiers? It depends on whether you’re coming to an issue for therapy or truth. And the quality of the second opinion matters. Every liberal should … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged atheism, critical thinking, doubt, God, philosophy, Politics
8 Comments
The Center Does Not Hold: Bastard Christianities
If his lecture outlining his argument is any indication, Catholic intellectual Joseph Bottum’s new book, An Anxious Age: The Post-Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of America (Image 2014), is going to be talked about “far and wee”: The major event … Continue reading
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Tagged America, atheism, Christianity, culture, fundamentalism, Politics, Protestantism, religion
1 Comment
What Hillary Will Win In 2016
The Supreme Court. A reader at Andrew Sullivan’s blog makes the point concisely: A president Clinton will have […] a very gray Supreme Court (FOUR octogenarians in her first term). Think about what that means for all those Voting Rights Act cases … Continue reading
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Tagged Democrats, GOP, Hillary, hillary clinton, Obama, Politics, Republicans
4 Comments
“Republicans make you work for your money, and try to let you keep it.”
This was in The New York Times this past week: “Democrats are for a bunch of freeloaders in this world as far as I’m concerned,” said Gari Day, 63, an Avis bus driver from suburban Detroit. “Republicans make you work … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged America, fairness, freeloaders, justice, Politics, Red State, Republican, welfare, work
14 Comments
On the Future of the Republican Party, This Photo of an Empty Conference Room at CPAC Devoted to Minority Outreach Pretty Much Says It All
Via Twitter: John Hudak@JohnJHudak Big problem for GOP. Most important #CPAC2014 panel. Topic: minority outreach. View: largely empty room. pic.twitter.com/LQKQ0QwwVc 11:09 AM – 6 Mar 2014
Critical Thinking: Roger Kimball Is Against It
Catholic conservative Roger Kimball is editor of The New Criterion, which is a great journal. I read it. I like it. But sometimes Kimball comes a little unhinged. He often seems, for example, to regret that the Enlightenment ever happened at … Continue reading
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Tagged Catholicism, critical thinking, philosophy, Politics, reason, religion, Roger Kimball, the Enlightenment
5 Comments
House Of Cards Becomes House Of Cardinals
This is a pretty amusing parody of Kevin Spacey’s Machiavellian character in House of Cards.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged House of Cards, Kevin Spacey, Machiavelli, Politics, religion
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Ann Coulter’s Prediction on Immigration, and Her Prescription
Ann Coulter makes a prediction: At the current accelerated rate of immigration–1.1 million new immigrants every year–Republicans will be a fringe party in about a decade. I think her prediction is basically accurate if the GOP does not adjust to … Continue reading
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Tagged America, ann coulter, demographics, Hillary, immigration, Politics
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