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href="/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317im_/http://www.pandagon.net/images/title.gif"></a></div> <div id="features"> <!-- Pandagon_728_ATF --> <script type="text/javascript"> GA_googleFillSlot("Pandagon_728_ATF"); </script> </div> <div id="content"> <div id="header"><h1></h1></div> <div class="date"> Tuesday, November 30, 2010</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/false_equivalence_troops_attack/">False equivalence troops, attack!</a></h2> <div class="category"> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C18/">Choads</a> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C35/">Conservatives</a> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C47/">We Support Your War Of Terror</a> </div> <div class="entry"> <p><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317im_/http://morrisonworldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Body-Scanner-at-airport.jpg" width="300" align="right"/>With the recent TSA controversy, many right wingers who got full of themselves as warriors for liberty and justice, fighting the battle for white people’s civil rights to demand that only other people get man-handled at airport security. They would prove that they totally love liberty, and all that Tea Party shit was about revolution, not about them wishing that they could live when women couldn’t vote and slavery was legal. The only problem with this is that liberals were there first---all these freedom fighters who wanted to complain and perhaps sue had to go to the ACLU, that organization they usually condemn with all their liberty-loving ways. Liberals were there first, they believe those rights belong to everyone, they are always fighting for them no matter who is President, and they tend to care about civil liberties even when Fox News isn’t pointing their nose in a certain direction. Which means that even with the TSA uproar in their pockets, conservatives really sound stupid when they wail about liberty, since they’re usually the people pushing back against liberals of various stripes who actually fight for it. </p> <p> But that doesn’t mean that they’re going to give up, oh no! They are simply going to whip out the weapon they always whip out, which is being full of shit. Mission: accuse liberals of doing what you yourself are doing, and hope that the lie gets legs. </p> <p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/opinion/29douthat.html" title="Exhibit #1, Ross Douthat, liar extraordinaire">Exhibit #1, Ross Douthat, liar extraordinaire</a>. </p> <blockquote><p>Imagine, for a moment, that George W. Bush had been president when the Transportation Security Administration decided to let Thanksgiving travelers choose between exposing their nether regions to a body scanner or enduring a private security massage. Democrats would have been outraged at yet another Bush-era assault on civil liberties. Liberal pundits would have outdone one another comparing the T.S.A. to this or that police state. (“In an outrage worthy of Enver Hoxha’s Albania ...”) And Republicans would have leaped to the Bush administration’s defense, while accusing liberals of going soft on terrorism. </p> <p> But Barack Obama is our president instead, so the body-scanner debate played out rather differently. True, some conservatives invoked 9/11 to defend the T.S.A., and some liberals denounced the measures as an affront to American liberties. Such ideological consistency, though, was the exception; mostly, the Bush-era script was read in reverse. It was the populist right that raged against body scans, and the Republican Party that moved briskly to exploit the furor. It was a Democratic administration that labored to justify the intrusive procedures, and the liberal commentariat that leaped to their defense. </p></blockquote> <p> Except, as the sleazy little liar knows very well, most liberal commentators did <b>not</b> leap to the defense of the Obama administration. On the contrary, this became one more issue where the Obama administration found itself at odds with its liberal/progressive base. Douthat’s examples aren’t typical. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2673&s_src=UNW100001ACT&s_subsrc=101117_tsa_bb" title="More typical is the ACLU's reaction">More typical is the ACLU’s reaction</a>. Or Glenn Greenwald’s. Or <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#40326939" title="Chris Hayes and Adam Serwer">Chris Hayes and Adam Serwer</a> claiming they’re on team “don’t touch my junk”. Even<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.thenation.com/article/156647/tsastroturf-washington-lobbyists-and-koch-funded-libertarians-behind-tsa-scandal" title=" the Ames and Levine piece"> the Ames and Levine piece</a> that was rightly criticized for spending time attacking citizen activists instead of focusing their guns strictly on big money people? Well, in that piece they declare that they’re against the TSA protocols. </p> <p> Douthat is trying to conflate liberals with Democrats, to create a false equivalence because you can more easily equate conservatives with Republicans. He needs for people to believe that liberals are infantile culture warriors like conservatives are, because then conservatives “get” to be infantile culture warriors. The people who benefit when the standard of discourse is lowered are conservatives, and Douthat knows this, so he’s doing his part. But of course, he’s lying. He’s not wrong that liberal outrage would be turned up if this happened under Bush---human nature and all---but only by a decibel point. For conservatives, that it’s under Obama means it’s turned up to 11, as it were, and if it was under Bush, it would be exactly like it was before, occasional grousing that they don’t racially profile. And even that would be blamed on liberals, as it was before. Meanwhile, liberal outrage would be even more muted by quisling Democrats who don’t want to seem “soft on terror”. How do I know all this? Well, it’s not like the TSA wasn’t up in your business before the Obama administration, and so I have actual real world evidence of how people react. And the evidence shows that liberal outrage has grown in volume right along with the invasiveness of the procedures. It’s conservative outrage that’s dependent on who is President. It’s conservatives who need their outrage fueled by ridiculous partisan lies, such as the one floating around about how Muslim women are exempted. </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/false_equivalence_troops_attack/">Read All...</a> </p> </div> <div class="posted"> Posted by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/member/3/">Amanda Marcotte</a> at 10:27 AM • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/false_equivalence_troops_attack/">Permalink</a> </div> <div align="center"> <!-- Pandagon_300 --> <script type="text/javascript"> if( postIndex == 0 ) { GA_googleFillSlot("Pandagon_300"); if(postIndex < POST_OFFSET) {postIndex++;} else { postIndex = 0; } } </script> <p> </div> <div class="date"> Monday, November 29, 2010</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/80s_week_reconsidering_ferris_buellers_day_off/">80s Week: Reconsidering “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”</a></h2> <div class="category"> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C27/">Movies</a> </div> <div class="entry"> <p><object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F7495511&show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=ff2700"></param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param> <embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317oe_/http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F7495511&show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=ff2700" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> <span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://soundcloud.com/marcfaletti/needs-inxs-feat-madonna">Needs (INXS feat. Madonna)</a> by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://soundcloud.com/marcfaletti">@marcfaletti</a></span> </p> <p> I thought I’d share this mash-up, which is one of more than a dozen that will be featured Friday night at <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=153440831363728" title="the radical 80s prom">the radical 80s prom</a>. </p> <p> For this week leading up to the event, I thought it’d be fun to use evening posts to post some thoughts on 80s pop culture, for two reasons. One is obviously to gin up enthusiasm for the prom, but obviously that only matters to those who can be in Manhattan on Friday night. The other is I’ve begun work on a book on pop culture and politics that is slated for release in 2012, and so I thought it would be fun to warm up my chops on subjects that I can’t cover within its boundaries, since I’m focusing on more recent pop culture. And that, I believe, everyone can enjoy. So consider this 80s week! </p> <p> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317im_/http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gawker/2009/04/ferrisbueller.jpg" width="250" align="left"/>When John Hughes died last year, there was a lot of public mourning, and it was centered almost completely on a series of films he wrote and/or directed in the 80s that were about the lives of teenagers in suburbia. It’s funny, because if you look at <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000455/" title="his actual track record">his actual track record</a>, it was mostly a bunch of shit with a few gems in there, but one thing that really comes across is that his interest in teenagers as a subject died out early. His last film on the subject was “Some Kind of Wonderful” in 1987. He did six films on the subject, right in a bunch, and then I guess he felt he’d said all he had to say and quit. But out of his entire career, those six films are the ones that are the most fondly remembered, in part because they’re the most honest and interesting. Flashes of the darkness and complexity in them come out in later movies, such as “She’s Having A Baby” or “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles”, but it wasn’t the same. </p> <p> To be fair, some of his hack tendencies are all over the teen flicks, too. “Sixteen Candles” is racist and kind of an amateur hour-type of movie. “The Breakfast Club” has numerous and well-picked over flaws. I rewatched “Pretty in Pink” the other day, because I hadn’t seen it since I was a kid, and while I overall think it was a strong and effective film, it was a tad ham-fisted when it came to the class issues. But I think that Hughes must have learned a lot from these mistakes, because his movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is clearly his best, and it touches on many of the themes in previous films, but with more subtlety and a hint of more pathos than before. I know, it’s a strange thing to say about a movie that is basically a broad comedy centered around a character who resembles a teenage version of Bugs Bunny, and yet. There it is. </p> <p> I’m far from the first person to note this, but it all makes more sense if you think of Cameron as the protagonist of the film, and not Ferris. In fact, this is such an obvious point that people have made it by joking that the Cameron/Ferris relationship is the same as the Ed Norton’s character/Tyler relationship in “Fight Club”. </p> <p> <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eiMuj85ngEo?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317oe_/http://www.youtube.com/v/eiMuj85ngEo?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object> </p> <p> Ferris is a spoiled rich kid, but not on the level of Cameron. It’s Cameron whose father is rich enough to own a car that was worth $350,000 in 1986 and is now worth $11 million (there were only 100 made). It’s Cameron who feels unloved and controlled by his rich father. It’s his story that’s the interesting one. </p> <p> Ferris, on the other hand, doesn’t really change over the course of the story. He begins and ends the story as someone who lives a carefree existence of popularity, fun, and good times. Towards the end, there are hints that Ferris is aware of impending adulthood and the possibility that good times will end, but do any of us really believe that Ferris will be less free when he’s given more freedom in adulthood? Yeah, I didn’t think so. His concerns in life are light as a feather. He worries a little what will happen to his relationship with Sloane, but we in the audience have ample reason to believe they’ll part amicably as romantic partners and probably be friends from there on out. All the other characters in the movie are basically concern-free, too. Anyone who has problems, besides Cameron, has them because they haven’t yet embraced Ferris’s worldview. His sister, the principal: they end up in trouble because they take things too seriously. If they let go, life would be much better for them. </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/80s_week_reconsidering_ferris_buellers_day_off/">Read All...</a> </p> </div> <div class="posted"> Posted by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/member/3/">Amanda Marcotte</a> at 03:41 PM • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/80s_week_reconsidering_ferris_buellers_day_off/">Permalink</a> </div> <div align="center"> <!-- Pandagon_300 --> <script type="text/javascript"> if( postIndex == 0 ) { GA_googleFillSlot("Pandagon_300"); if(postIndex < POST_OFFSET) {postIndex++;} else { postIndex = 0; } } </script> <p> </div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/that_term_civil_liberties_doesnt_mean_what_you_think_it_does/">That term “civil liberties” doesn’t mean what you think it does</a></h2> <div class="category"> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C35/">Conservatives</a> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C51/">Homeland Insecurity</a> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C43/">Legal Issues</a> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C74/">L-O-S-E-R-S</a> </div> <div class="entry"> <p><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" id="+id+" width="400" height="336" codebase="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317oe_/http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/swflash.cab"><param name="movie" value="http://embed.crooksandliars.com/v/MTg4NzUtNDE5MDc?color=C93033"/><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="quality" value="high"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><embed src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317oe_/http://embed.crooksandliars.com/v/MTg4NzUtNDE5MDc?color=C93033" quality="high" wmode="transparent" width="400" height="336" allowfullscreen="true" name="clembedMTg4NzUtNDE5MDc" align="middle" quality="high" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed></object> </p> <p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/reihan-salam-conservative-backlash-against" title="Heather at C&L">Heather at C&L</a> posted this 13-second video of Reihan Salam saying that the TSA dust-up is just one of many examples of conservatives getting back to caring about civil liberties. This is naked bullshit, of course, and that he bothered to utter it just proves <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/nov/26/air-transport-theairlineindustry" title="what I said at the Guardian">what I said at the Guardian</a> about this: </p> <blockquote><p>The influx of money, tied to a perceived political imperative not to be seen as being “soft on terrorism”, means the battle lines over this are being drawn in such a way that real change over security protocols is unlikely. Conservatives who are up in arms about this will likely shut up if their team wins by getting security privatised, even though it will remain as invasive. Meanwhile, many Democratic-leaning journalists and pundits seem content to attack dishonest and shady rightwing TSA critics – without examining in detail why such security procedures are invasive and need to stop. </p></blockquote> <p> It’s been really unpleasant, dealing with conservatives on this. Plenty of liberals think the TSA searches are out of line, but making alliances with conservatives on this is a scary proposition. From my article: </p> <blockquote><p>[A]ligning yourself with the American right means bringing on quite a bit of baggage: bad faith arguments, outright lying, racism – and hidden agendas, usually serving predatory corporate interests. </p></blockquote> <p> The notion that there’s some great pro-civil liberties sentiment on the right makes as much sense as saying Sarah Palin is a feminist. Which is to say, only if you’re too stupid to figure out how to work a zipper. Those of us who support civil liberties mostly find ourselves fighting the right on this one. We are talking about the conservative movement, to whom the term “ACLU” is a dirty word. Indeed, most of the energy on the right on this TSA thing is about <i>restricting</i> civil liberties---the problem for most isn’t that there are invasive searches. It’s that white people have to endure them. </p> <p> As far as I can tell, the right only cares about civil liberties if they can make it about provoking the emasculation fears of a bunch of bitter assholes, thus the gun nuttery aspect of the right. But should said emasculation fears support restrictions on liberty, then they’ll all for it. You can’t take their guns, and no woman should have the right to reject a man’s seed, which is practically like taking his balls from him! Freedom of speech is sorely misunderstood on the right---their interpretation appears to be, “No one should criticize me when I speak my mind, liberals should shut the fuck up, and how come white people can’t say the n-word, like black people can?” (Which goes up to the first point---they seem to treat having people snarl at you as an infringement on liberty akin to actual infringements, like going to jail.) Religious liberty only means that Christians should have a right to impose their bullshit on everyone else with taxpayer money, but it certainly doesn’t mean you should have the right to build a community center on private land. There appears to be exactly zero right wing anger, outside of a couple of eccentrics working at libertarian think tanks, over police abuses of the citizenry. </p> <p> Actual supporters of civil liberties are out there as they always have been, mostly working for the left. Which isn’t to say that there aren’t liberals who buy into fear-mongering and support actual infringements on our liberties---I’m not naming names, but I’ve seen some pants-wetting about terrorism used to justify the TSA searches on the left. But most of the work done in this area is and will continue to be done by liberals. And we tend to be more whole cloth about it. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2010/11/28/tweeting-abortion-fighting-security-theater" title="As I note in a podcast I do every week">As I note in a podcast I do every week</a> that’s devoted to a certain aspect of civil liberties, people shouldn’t have to have their junk touched to get on an airplane, but nor should the price they pay for delivering a baby in a hospital while being in an interracial relationship be that their baby is taken from them on spurious grounds. </p> <p></p> </div> <div class="posted"> Posted by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/member/3/">Amanda Marcotte</a> at 09:37 AM • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/that_term_civil_liberties_doesnt_mean_what_you_think_it_does/">Permalink</a> </div> <div align="center"> <!-- Pandagon_300 --> <script type="text/javascript"> if( postIndex == 0 ) { GA_googleFillSlot("Pandagon_300"); if(postIndex < POST_OFFSET) {postIndex++;} else { postIndex = 0; } } </script> <p> </div> <div class="date"> Saturday, November 27, 2010</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/csa_week_22_23_a_soup_pot_made_for_two_edition/">CSA Week #22 & #23: “A Soup Pot Made For Two” Edition</a></h2> <div class="category"> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C154/">CSA</a> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C73/">Food</a> </div> <div class="entry"> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.flickr.com/photos/amandamarcotte/5211164813/" title="CSA Week 22 by Amanda Marcotte, on Flickr"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317im_/http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/5211164813_e34bb92a11.jpg" width="400" align="right" alt="CSA Week 22"/></a><b>CSA Week #22 & 23</b> </p> <p> 2 Pumpkins <br/> Potatoes <br/> Onions <br/> Beets <br/> Turnips <br/> Acorn squash <br/> Garlic <br/> Sweet potatoes <br/> Green bell peppers <br/> Bok choy <br/> Tomatoes <br/> Beets <br/> Cauliflower <br/> Broccoli <br/> Daikon radish <br/> Apples <br/> Eggs and honey </p> <p> As soon as I saw that I had another turnip in the shipment, I took t-ster’s suggestion and ordered a Rada vegetable peeler off Amazon. By the way, sorry I rolled two weeks into one, because of Skepticon. The picture above is from week #22, but the list includes all things I got. </p> <p> I thought, as this series winds down in the final month, that it might be a good time to start posts off talking about various issues that crop up. This week, I thought I’d talk about my own personal biggest struggle when it comes to home cooking, which is that the entire recipe-and-cooking culture of America is still geared towards the assumption that you’re cooking for a group of people, instead of one or two people. </p> <p> If you’re doing a one-pot vegetarian meal of some sort, this is usually not an issue. If you’re just tossing stuff together, it’s usually simply to only put in as much as you’re going to eat. Or, if you’re working off a recipe, it will often say “serves 4 or 6”, the implication being that you’re eating more than one thing. So each person---if you’re two---can just have two servings and it’s gone. But that can get boring after awhile, and some times you want to have multiple things on a plate. What then? </p> <p> Halving recipes is often just really unsatisfying for me, in some cases. Sometimes it doesn’t work---if a recipe calls for one egg, that’s hard to cut in half. Or, the ingredients are such that cutting it in half would make it hard to manipulate. Baking in particular can be hard to reduce. If you’re making a loaf of bread, it has to fit your loaf pan. </p> <p> A lot of the time, it’s daunting to reduce an ingredient. Not only does the CSA shipment almost always have a lot of a certain kind of vegetable, but things like a block of cheese or a can of tomatoes are rarely sold in half-sizes. A lot of families don’t cook as much as they should because they’re pinched for time. But a lot of couples or singles don’t, because the culture of cooking favors families. It often becomes easier just to eat out. </p> <p> What to do? In some cases with veggies, you can quick prepare them and use the amounts you need as you go---greens, anything you roast. Another option, of course, is to have leftovers and just eat them. I work from home, so that’s easy for me, but for people who go to an office, this isn’t off-limits. </p> <p> The other thing is to try to get creative about using certain ingredients in multiple dishes. That’s one of my preferred strategies---if I buy cheese for X, I try to play a dish later that also uses cheese. I think sometimes people feel this doesn’t build enough variety in, but my feeling is that most restaurant and junk food has even less variety. </p> <p> When I lived alone, this problem was even more daunting, but I learned to cope precisely because I preferred to spend my evenings hanging out in my kitchen. I didn’t have a TV, and so cooking and eating while reading stuff online was my major way to pass my spare time in the evenings. I got into the habit of making almost solely one-pot dishes, but living with Marc has encouraged me to introduce more variety to the plate. </p> <p> What about you? How do you do you handle the “portions made for families” problem? </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/csa_week_22_23_a_soup_pot_made_for_two_edition/">Read All...</a> </p> </div> <div class="posted"> Posted by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/member/3/">Amanda Marcotte</a> at 09:44 AM • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/csa_week_22_23_a_soup_pot_made_for_two_edition/">Permalink</a> </div> <div align="center"> <!-- Pandagon_300 --> <script type="text/javascript"> if( postIndex == 0 ) { GA_googleFillSlot("Pandagon_300"); if(postIndex < POST_OFFSET) {postIndex++;} else { postIndex = 0; } } </script> <p> </div> <div class="date"> Wednesday, November 24, 2010</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/this_year_im_thankful_for/">This year, I’m thankful for…..</a></h2> <div class="category"> </div> <div class="entry"> <p><object width="416" height="374" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" id="ep"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"/><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/><param name="movie" value="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=bestoftv/2010/11/24/exp.delay.responds.verdict.cnn"/><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"/><embed src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317oe_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=bestoftv/2010/11/24/exp.delay.responds.verdict.cnn" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="416" wmode="transparent" height="374"></embed></object> </p> <p> And on what Delay said about this being a “miscarriage of justice”? Eat a bag of dicks, asshole. You deserve to sit in jail until you’re too old to shake your sorry ass on any fucking TV show. </p> <p></p> </div> <div class="posted"> Posted by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/member/3/">Amanda Marcotte</a> at 07:42 PM • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/this_year_im_thankful_for/">Permalink</a> </div> <div align="center"> <!-- Pandagon_300 --> <script type="text/javascript"> if( postIndex == 0 ) { GA_googleFillSlot("Pandagon_300"); if(postIndex < POST_OFFSET) {postIndex++;} else { postIndex = 0; } } </script> <p> </div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/a_douchebag_in_paris/">A Douchebag In Paris</a></h2> <div class="category"> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C18/">Choads</a> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C74/">L-O-S-E-R-S</a> </div> <div class="entry"> <p><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317im_/http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/jezebel/2010/11/1124paris.jpg" width="300" align="right"/>Awesome sauce: Jezebel posted a straight up hit <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://jezebel.com/5691871/american-guy-in-paris-freed-from-the-idea-of-consent" title="trolling post from Edward Pasteck">trolling post from Edward Pasteck</a>, who has some serious mansplaining to do. At length, as mansplaining usually goes. And about his douchebag opinions that Americans need to act....wait for it....like the <b>French</b> when it comes to our standards on male treatment of women. I suppose he’s hoping that the mansplained-to audience has no understanding of or relationship to France, or they would see directly through this bullshit, though I suppose as a mansplainer, he believes any female skepticism of what he has to say is due to their wee female brains that perceive very little, which is why they need to be mansplained at so much. </p> <p> Now, don’t get me wrong. I love Paris. Great city. I had a blast there, rolling around town with my friend Kiki, a great friend. Also, and this is important, a male friend. Totally platonic, but not something that you’d probably assume if you just saw us walking through the Louvre together. Paris has great food, great culture, great wine, and super great cheese. I was not exposed to what many female friends have told me about Paris, though, which is the high levels of harassment you get from men if you deign to be out without your male chaperon. Doucheteck seems to think this harassment is the best thing ever: </p> <blockquote><p>In Paris, it seems as if the straight male attitude toward consent is that it doesn’t exist. At clubs, bars, bistros, in the street or on the Metro, Parisian men lobby very aggressively for sex. At the clubs in the 8ème, off the Champs-Élysées, and all along Rue de Rivoli, it is fairly common to watch men literally grab and touch the girls who weave through the crowd. Men often draw a finger down an unknown girl’s cheek or under her chin like a doting Uncle; they can be seen pinching girls’ noses, throwing arms around shoulders and even stealing kisses. It’s not for nothing that the French slang word for “kiss” or “make out” is choper, which literally means “to catch.” </p> <p> Parisian women deny or accept these advances with a decisiveness many American women lack. Naturally, some girls in Paris walk away and reject these strong come-ons. But one can observe many of them reacting with knowing laughter; these women understand the game.</p></blockquote> <p> Taking women’s survival strategies and suggesting that means they enjoy having to survive is a classic douche move. “That she’s running means she likes it! Her feet say ‘getting away’, but the swing of her hips from scrambling says, ‘I love it when you grab my ass, strange dude!’” </p> <p> He’s really amazingly good at being full of shit. </p> <blockquote><p>Whatever the result, women maneuver around male aggression to gain the upper hand. They are the ones deciding what to do with the onslaught of male desire.</p></blockquote> <p> That guy probably thinks the strip club is a matriarchy. He almost surely reads “Lolita” with a sympathetic eye towards the pedophile---why don’t people recognize his purity of spirit? </p> <blockquote><p>Parisian women seem to derive a feminist power from this chauvinism that makes them come across as strong, self-determining, and completely aware of themselves as permanent objects of desire.</p></blockquote> <p> I was only in Paris for a week, and I swear to god, I saw actual elderly French women, fat French women, French women who dressed pretty damn butch---the sort of women I imagine Pasbag wouldn’t describe as “permanent objects of desire” to men like himself. He lived there. Why on earth did he miss these women? It’s almost as if, gosh I don’t know, he’s a pig who thinks women exist solely to squeeze his dick and therefore women he doesn’t want don’t exist at all. </p> <p> Anyway, he blathers on at length, basically blaming the fact that he can’t get laid on the fact that Americans don’t tolerate harassing women like the French do. Though, he does put a pseudo-intellectual gloss on it. I suspect if he took on harassment as a full time job, it still wouldn’t improve his chances, but I don’t have the mansplaining skills to say otherwise. But I will say that I <b>highly doubt</b> that men constantly harassing women in Paris is a game that everyone enjoys that is practically intended to empower women. </p> <p> Why? Because I <i>didn’t</i> get harassed in Paris. Now, perhaps I’m in the Unwoman category that Pasteck has unwittingly created, but I doubt it. But I have heard---just recently, as Skepchick, in fact---many stories from women about the rather constant crap you are exposed to there, that Pasteck would have you believe women enjoy, including being actually followed by men. The difference between my experience and theirs was that I was always with a dude when I was out in public. </p> <p> Now riddle me this: if it’s all in good fun, why not do it to women when they have a male companion around? I’m serious. If everyone agrees there’s no harm, and you’re just expressing a compliment, and she’s completely in control of the situation, why not? Surely, male companions would be expected to laugh along with the women at the compliment! If it’s all in good fun, that is. If they expect to be rejected anyway, then that surely can’t be it. But if it’s not in good fun, then the refusal to harass women that are hanging out with men is another story altogether. It implies that you find the man worthy of respecting and treating like a full human being, and also that you see women as male property---and that you’re disrespecting a man when you make comments about “his” woman. It doesn’t imply that women are in charge at all, but that women are vulnerable, and they have to borrow men’s power and men’s respect if they want to get through life unmolested. </p> <p> That doesn’t actually sound as fun as this douchebag is making it sound. In fact, it sound stifling and embittering. </p> <p> But hey, I’m not bagging on France. Every place has its drawbacks. They have street harassment on levels beyond ours, but we also gave the world Edward Pasteck. We’re far from innocent on the asshole-creation front. </p> <p></p> </div> <div class="posted"> Posted by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/member/3/">Amanda Marcotte</a> at 01:54 PM • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/a_douchebag_in_paris/">Permalink</a> </div> <div align="center"> <!-- Pandagon_300 --> <script type="text/javascript"> if( postIndex == 0 ) { GA_googleFillSlot("Pandagon_300"); if(postIndex < POST_OFFSET) {postIndex++;} else { postIndex = 0; } } </script> <p> </div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/most_blog_posts_ever_on_a_tv_show_the_blogger_has_never_watched/">Most blog posts ever on a TV show the blogger has never watched</a></h2> <div class="category"> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C13/">Batsh*t Crazy</a> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C18/">Choads</a> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C35/">Conservatives</a> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C25/">Television</a> </div> <div class="entry"> <p><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317im_/http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2010/11/24/AP101122144419_370x278.jpg" width="300" align="right"/>As someone who thinks pop culture actually matters, even I have to say that the winner on “Dancing With The Stars” has no larger importance, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.eschatonblog.com/2010/11/go-bristol.html" title="and like Atrios">and like Atrios</a>, I wouldn’t be “pissed” if Bristol Palin won. My main emotions would be that mix of amusement, contempt, and pity I feel for the people who decided to show Wingnut Pride by stuffing the ballot box for someone who was routinely described as being not up to the task. It’s a poor kind of pride that drives you to reward mediocrity. It’s interesting to see conservatives embracing values they believe liberals have and denounce them for, such as promoting mediocre people because of identity politics, whereas in my actual world, I tend to see a lot of liberals who have no patience for hacks or mediocrity in general. We will eat our own for it, rest assured. </p> <p> Anyway, Palin didn’t win. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-20023789-10391698.html" title="Jennifer Grey did">Jennifer Grey did</a>, and I’m counting down until this gets described as a “pro-abort” victory because Grey was the star of an overtly pro-choice movie (one of the few ever, basically). </p> <p> What’s interesting to me about this is how much it really shows that there’s wankery in them there hills, and it’s basically coming from the conservative side. For instance, I’ve blogged about this ballot-stuffing scandal a couple times <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.doublex.com/blog/xxfactor/last-gasp-culture-wars" title="at XX Factor">at XX Factor</a>, and the theme has always been, “Damn, this must be a culture war if a cheesy dancing show matters to culture warriors that much. Do they not get how stupid they look?” But this is how a wingnut commentator chose to interpret that: </p> <blockquote><p>Why is this writer taking time to stop and write? I’d expect her to be bouncing up and down and cackling with glee that someone sent powder in an envelope to her icky and hated Bristol Palin.</p></blockquote> <p> I don’t actually hate Bristol Palin. There’s not enough there to hate. I certainly don’t want her to get hurt! She strikes me as a sweet but kind of dim kid, who has no real understanding of the world she’s been shoved in to. </p> <p> But I think it’s fascinating that this is the only interpretation of my blogging that this person would allow. Either I blindly worship the Palin family and think everyone in it deserves awards and riches no matter how little they work or how little talent they have, or I hate everyone in it, including the children. This is the kind of tribal warfare thinking that fuels the Tea Party. I’m actually not surprised that so many wingnuts took this Bristol thing seriously. It was incredibly important to them to reaffirm this particular worldview, that they are more deserving that other people and that a mediocre member of the wingnut tribe deserves all the goodies, while even excellent Others deserve none. (This is worth considering when you think about how they rationalize claiming Obama is a less qualified person to be President than George W. Bush.) Meanwhile, I think most of the people in the Other category are fairly used to mediocrity winning out, and so are hardly going to lose sleep if someone who sucks wins a network talent contest. I’m actually mildly surprised the best woman won, and quite glad for her. </p> <p></p> </div> <div class="posted"> Posted by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/member/3/">Amanda Marcotte</a> at 10:46 AM • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/most_blog_posts_ever_on_a_tv_show_the_blogger_has_never_watched/">Permalink</a> </div> <div align="center"> <!-- Pandagon_300 --> <script type="text/javascript"> if( postIndex == 0 ) { GA_googleFillSlot("Pandagon_300"); if(postIndex < POST_OFFSET) {postIndex++;} else { postIndex = 0; } } </script> <p> </div> <div class="date"> Tuesday, November 23, 2010</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/more_thoughts_on_junk_touching/">More thoughts on junk touching</a></h2> <div class="category"> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C50/">Personal Security</a> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C44/">Police State</a> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C47/">We Support Your War Of Terror</a> </div> <div class="entry"> <p><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317im_/http://i.usatoday.net/news/_photos/2010/11/22/scanx-large.jpg" align="right" width="300"/>Why is all this happening with the TSA searches? Why now? It’s a good question. There’s some confusion about whether or not the body scan or the invasive pat downs are separate issues, which is giving <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.slate.com/id/2275681/" title="Will Saletan an excuse">Will Saletan an excuse</a> to say that people should just acquiesce to the scanner and stop throwing fits. But the problem is that they escalated the amount of groping you have to endure if you say you don’t want to be scanned. Plus, there’s a problem with framing this as a choice,<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://bigthink.com/ideas/25125" title=" as Lindsay notes"> as Lindsay notes</a>. </p> <blockquote><p>Saletan purports to be an expert on applied ethics, yet he is blind to the sexualized coercion implicit in the “choice” between allowing a stranger in another room to see your naked body vs. having your junk touched. </p></blockquote> <p> She expresses a concern that a National Opt-Out Day would be used not to stop the searches, but to privatize the searches. That’s a distinct possibility, but I think it’s true regardless of how people protest. If opt-out days actually are organized effectively, they can be used as protests against whoever the hell is groping people in airports, so I’m coming around to the idea that it might be a good idea. My main concern is that opt-outers will be seen by non-opting-out passengers as the enemy, and the point of the protest could be lost. But the problem of backlash is true of any protest. </p> <p> Anyway, more Lindsay: </p> <blockquote><p>Ostensibly giving passengers a choice between a scan and a pat-down makes the invasion of privacy seem more acceptable. It gives the passenger the illusion of control. We’re so busy playing “scan or grope?” that we forget to ask why we’re paying for scanners the TSA <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=why_we_are_angry_at_the_tsa" title="can't even justify">can’t even justify</a> with a cost-benefit analysis.</p></blockquote> <p> This is the way it works. Invasions of basic privacy are tied to “choice”, to make it easier for people to blame the victim. You’re seeing this in action here with some people saying, “Well, you don’t have to fly,” and certainly with the “choice” between the scanner and the groping. But, as Lindsay explains, that doesn’t quite work, since sometimes you’re groped after the scan, and some airports don’t have scanners, making the grope mandatory. The “you don’t have to fly” thing is also bullshit, but it’s precisely the kind of bullshit women have been putting up with for millenia when it comes to restraints put on our freedom of movement and association. If you get raped, well, it was your choice to go out without supervision/and drink/wearing that. Obviously, restrictions on woman’s access to abortion and contraception are justified by saying you had the choice to keep your legs shut. And so on. This is why “women’s issues” are inseparable from police state issues, or letting a bunch of assholes work as a voluntary police abuse force of rapists. </p> <p> So why now? There’s another reason for the false choice. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://bigthink.com/ideas/25076" title="Lindsay again">Lindsay again</a>: </p> <blockquote><p>My theory is that the agency wants to bully people into submitting to their very expensive and unpopular new toys..... </p> <p> The new body search procedure seems designed to make the scanners look attractive by comparison.</p></blockquote> <p> When you tell people, get the scan or we’ll grab your genitals, you’ll take the former. Why is it so important that people take the former? To save time, for one, which is why the protest being suggested is to jam up the works by having people in large groups demand the pat down. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-11-22-scanner-lobby_N.htm" title="But I suspect there's another reason, as well">But I suspect there’s another reason, as well</a>. (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/352109/body_scanner_companies_poured_cash_into_lobbying_efforts/" title="Via">Via</a>.) </p> <blockquote><p>The companies with multimillion-dollar contracts to supply American airports with body-scanning machines more than doubled their spending on lobbying in the past five years and hired several high-profile former government officials to advance their causes in Washington, government records show. </p> <p> L-3 Communications, which has sold $39.7 million worth of the machines to the federal government, spent $4.3 million trying to influence Congress and federal agencies during the first nine months of this year, up from $2.1 million in 2005, lobbying data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics show. Its lobbyists include Linda Daschle, a former Federal Aviation Administration official. </p> <p> Rapiscan Systems, meanwhile, has spent $271,500 on lobbying so far this year, compared with $80,000 five years earlier. It has faced criticism for hiring Michael Chertoff, the former Homeland Security secretary, last year. Chertoff has been a prominent proponent of using scanners to foil terrorism. The government has spent $41.2 million with Rapiscan.</p></blockquote> <p> You know you’ve fucked with privileged people when USA Today suddenly starts engaging in the investigative journalism of government corruption that you usually only find in places like The Nation. </p> <p> Point is, there’s a lot of money to be made by selling scanners to airports. And there’s a revolving door between people who work in high levels of government and those profiting off selling these devices. It’s in the financial interest of these corporations that are lobbying the hell out of this to have you told that you use their products or you have your junk touched. </p> <p> Yep, we seem to have reached that stage of capitalism where sexual abuse is being used as a threat to get people (taxpayers in this case) to spend money to pad corporate profits. I wonder, once wingnut America figures that one out, if they’ll calm down with the outrage? I mean, the free market is why you have to submit to the groping! Suggesting your privacy comes before their profits is just as good as saying that you’re a dirty commie, didn’t you know? </p> <p></p> </div> <div class="posted"> Posted by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/member/3/">Amanda Marcotte</a> at 05:14 PM • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/more_thoughts_on_junk_touching/">Permalink</a> </div> <div align="center"> <!-- Pandagon_300 --> <script type="text/javascript"> if( postIndex == 0 ) { GA_googleFillSlot("Pandagon_300"); if(postIndex < POST_OFFSET) {postIndex++;} else { postIndex = 0; } } </script> <p> </div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/junk_touching/">Junk touching</a></h2> <div class="category"> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C50/">Personal Security</a> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C47/">We Support Your War Of Terror</a> </div> <div class="entry"> <p><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317im_/http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/tsab6.jpg" align="right"/>Due to traveling, I haven’t had much time to comment on the uproar over the TSA upping the game on security theater, to the point where people who are generally supportive of security theater---aka, conservatives---are getting upset. So upset, in fact, that some of the dumber ones were taunting me over Twitter, having convinced themselves that I support the pat downs, on the grounds that I’m obviously Satan. Of course, grown adults realize that someone like myself who <i>wrote an entire chapter in my book</i> denouncing security theater is unlikely to suddenly think that penis-fondling at the gate is great. My main objection to conservatives getting involved is that they’re mostly acting out of racism---they aren’t upset at junk touching, per se. They just think the junk fondled should be excused if it passes some modern paper bag test, except the paper bag should be super white. </p> <p> Since I did my time in security lines this weekend, you may be wondering if I saw anything out of the ordinary. Answer: no. By the way, the choice between scanners and searches isn’t anything new. I was pulled for a random search in El Paso in August, and I chose the full body scan, because I’ve been patted down with the old procedures before, and if you’re a woman you still feel pretty molested by that. The shift that’s created all the anger is that the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://bigthink.com/ideas/25076" title="procedures have gotten invasive to the point where men might feel molested">procedures have gotten invasive to the point where men might feel molested</a>. Don’t fuck with the privileged, man. The procedures already had a heightened humiliation factor for women, which I’ve experienced myself*, but it took making white men feel like women and people of color often do for this to be pushed into the next zone of full blown anger. </p> <p> This makes me want to join in the outrage, with concerns that the TSA is simply going to readjust the protocols to the standards set by conservatives flipping out---which is to say, if you do it to women and non-white men, okay, but leave the white guys alone. Of course, you could argue effectively that this is a good first step. If they simply introduce discrimination into the system, you can sue and then it brings a complete end to the assaulting searches. But what I worry about is that rarely do people introducing discrimination into the system do it in a straightforward manner that makes them vulnerable to lawsuit. Instead, a bunch of complex rules evolve that just so happen to have the desired results, where white guys get a pass but no one else does. Then they get to have their cake (creating unnecessary security theater to cow the populace) while eating it too (keeping the most privileged out of the loop so that the complaints go ignored by the mainstream media). </p> <p> Early signs show my concerns are valid. For instance, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://bigthink.com/ideas/25117" title="the TSA allowed the pilot union to get an exemption for their staff">the TSA allowed the pilot union to get an exemption for their staff</a>, but disallowed this for the flight attendants. This creates a nifty system where a predominantly male group doesn’t have to have the pat downs, but a predominantly female group does. Now, I’m not saying women are being targeted because everyone enjoys groping women or anything. I’m annoyed by the people who are acting like your average TSA agent is dying to touch your junk. I’m saying that women are an easier target because they get less attention and empathy than men when they complain. The fact that “don’t touch my junk!” has become the rallying cry shows how much male privilege is wrapped up in people’s understanding of why this is wrong. Not that I’m saying junk-touching is good! I’m saying no one deserves to have junk touched, even if they have junk---as women do---that tends <b>not</b> to be called “junk”. </p> <p> My understanding of the police state is such: it exists in order to increase government power and decrease civil liberties. Highly theatrical security theater in particular functions to increase people’s tolerance of privacy invasions. As such, it’s wise for those instituting a police state to prefer vulnerable victims over privileged ones. Their first instinct when they’ve gone too far is not to roll back the invasions of privacy, but to find a way to make sure the people whose voices are heard aren’t affected, and therefore the complaints stop. Notice that “keeping the public safe” plays no role in my understanding of this, because I seriously doubt that it does. Most of these searches are more about “sending a message” than anything else. </p> <p> Of course, the pragmatic side of me says that even if the TSA just tries to rewrite the rules so that vulnerable people are getting the most invasive searches, you still have an opportunity to sue and bring the whole thing down. And there’s a possibility that the TSA can’t find a way to stop the searches of white men without stopping the searches of everyone else. (Yes, I’m aware many of the examples upsetting people are women. I’m glad for that, but wonder if the pile-on would be as all-encompassing if it was only women feeling horribly humiliated.) While I’m cynical that the outrage would stop the second the privileged decided that it was someone else’s problem, I’m super glad there is outrage. It’s a reminder that the objections to civil liberties violations are a matter far beyond the way conservatives portray those objections when it’s someone else’s liberties at stake---as some intellectual exercise instead of a serious humiliation for the targets. </p> <p> And hey, there’s always a possibility that we can use the anger about these TSA searches and start directing it to all the other ways the highly invasive police state works in our culture. That would be awesome, even if it’s a long shot. </p> <p> *Mainly because certain items of women’s clothing were more of a problem, plus they touched your boobs if they did the pat down. And my feeling in terms of the old leg pat down is they might as well have touched my junk on the outside of my pants, they got so close. Thank god I was wearing pants. </p> <p></p> </div> <div class="posted"> Posted by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/member/3/">Amanda Marcotte</a> at 08:52 AM • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/junk_touching/">Permalink</a> </div> <div align="center"> <!-- Pandagon_300 --> <script type="text/javascript"> if( postIndex == 0 ) { GA_googleFillSlot("Pandagon_300"); if(postIndex < POST_OFFSET) {postIndex++;} else { postIndex = 0; } } </script> <p> </div> <div class="date"> Monday, November 22, 2010</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/tired_but_still_cracking_jokes/">Tired but still cracking jokes</a></h2> <div class="category"> </div> <div class="entry"> <p>Sorry for the radio silence today. I spent most of the day traveling home, and I had so many deadlines to meet that I didn’t really have time to blog. But I do have a piece up at<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/nov/22/sarahpalin-america-by-heart" title=" the Guardian having fun with Sarah Palin's new book"> the Guardian having fun with Sarah Palin’s new book</a>. Oh, it’s bad. Real bad. However stupid you think her arguments are, multiple that by at least 10. </p> <p></p> </div> <div class="posted"> Posted by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/member/3/">Amanda Marcotte</a> at 09:13 PM • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/tired_but_still_cracking_jokes/">Permalink</a> </div> <div align="center"> <!-- Pandagon_300 --> <script type="text/javascript"> if( postIndex == 0 ) { GA_googleFillSlot("Pandagon_300"); if(postIndex < POST_OFFSET) {postIndex++;} else { postIndex = 0; } } </script> <p> </div> <div class="date"> Sunday, November 21, 2010</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/skepticon_wrap_up_angry_but_joking_atheists_for_the_win/">Skepticon wrap-up: angry but joking atheists for the win</a></h2> <div class="category"> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C26/">Religion</a> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C9/">Science</a> </div> <div class="entry"> <p><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317im_/http://www.bay-of-fundie.com/img/2010/babies-tasty.jpg" width="300" align="right"/>All weekend at Skepticon, books were everywhere. The book seller had books about atheism, about science, and books written by the speakers. There were books being purchased, read, carried around, and signed. But these were not the books that were the ones being most discussed, even as the speakers hawked their own books from stage. That honor went to two highly contested texts: the Holy Bible and <i>On the Origin of the Species</i>. Never were two books so discussed while remaining largely unread. </p> <p> Copies of <i>The Origin</i> were all over the place. The reason was that a creationist group set up in front of the convention to protest it (which was really odd to me, but was shrugged off by a lot of people who had dealt with these folks before), and their form of protest was to hand out copies of <i>The Origin</i> with an intro to it written by evolution denialist Ray Comfort. His creationist group put out their own version of <i>The Origin</i> in order to swing people towards creationism a couple of years ago, and they’ve been handing out free copies ever since. You can tell the second you see their copies of the book that they’ve vandalized the text somehow, simply because their copies are a lot lighter than the actual book <i>On the Origin of the Species</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://politics.usnews.com/news/blogs/god-and-country/2009/10/30/how-creationist-origin-distorts-darwin.html" title="A quick Google search">A quick Google search</a> demonstrates that this suspicion in correct, that the Comfort version of the book has four excised chapters, because Comfort doesn’t actually want people exposed to the evidence that Darwin marshaled for his theory. He also replaced Darwin’s actual introduction with his own evolution denialist gobbledy gook. Comfort would have you believe that actually reading <i>The Origin</i> will turn you against it, but his censorship of its actual contents proves that he knows that claim is false. Conventioneers responded to this peculiar protest by taking the books and then circulating them around so that the speakers could sign them, turning them into souvenirs of the event. </p> <p> The other book that was being carried around by some folks was the Bible. They snagged the free ones that the Gideons put in hotel rooms, and also asked speakers to sign them. (I joked that I should have written, “Have a bitchin’ summer!” as my tag in the Bible, except my handwriting is so poor that people probably wouldn’t get the joke.) One guy came up with a fun idea of putting stickers that said “I Doubt It” that were advertising Skeptical Inquiry on the Bible and then returning it to the hotel room for the next person to find. This entire incident was another reminder to me of how different it is to be an atheist living in hyper-liberal and tolerant areas (like I do). My usual stance towards the Bible is indifference, honestly. It’s not that I don’t know about Gideon Bibles, for instance, but I so rarely think about them that it would have never occurred to me to look for one in my room for any kind of protest stunt to pull. But I think in some parts of the country, being mindful of the non-stop Christianity shoveling isn’t a choice. </p> <p> As Ray Comfort clearly understands, actually reading <i>On the Origin of the Species</i> is likely to move someone closer to accepting evolution. In contrast, actually reading the Bible t<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://abcnews.go.com/m/screen?id=12004359" title="ends to turn people away from faith">ends to turn people away from faith</a>, which is why churches tend to discourage it, substituting “Bible study” for actual Bible reading. But it was clear from the way these books were being bandied around that this isn’t really about what’s <i>in</i> them, but what they symbolize: traditionalism vs. modernity, faith vs. reason, patriarchy vs. feminism. And that’s fine, I guess. Something had to be the symbols for that, though there’s a distinct reluctance on the part of the modernists in this equation to make Darwin’s book a symbol, because we reject the idea of treating science like received wisdom. But you have to work with what you got, not what you wish you had. </p> <p> There was <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.blaghag.com/2010/11/two-more-cents-on-skepticism-and.html" title="some amount of butt hurtness">some amount of butt hurtness</a> from the actual (and rare) accomodationists about the fact that this conference was mainly about atheism. Even talks that weren’t about atheism had atheist implications. Mine, for instance, was about feminism as the rational position, but the entire first half of it was about how religion is a major obstacle for women’s rights. (The second half was about pseudo-science. I’ll be putting it online soon, I hope. They were taping all the talks given.) PZ Myers talked about evolution and how it works on a genetic level, but the conclusion was about why evolutionary theory is, whether people like it or not, a threat to the god hypothesis. Rebecca Watson’s was about Christmas and the value of the various fantasies about it, but the conclusion was about atheism and whether or not atheists should celebrate Christmas. (Her conclusion was abso-fucking-lutely.) The claim was being floated that 3 out of 15 speeches were on atheism, but honestly, ever single one I was able to catch was about atheism on some level. </p> <p> And that’s fine. It’s asinine to claim that the focus on atheism is going to run off a handful of religious people who might otherwise be interested in skepticism because they’re skeptical of UFOs and Bigfoot. Not that it isn’t true, but it’s basically beside the point. This claim underestimates the intelligence of religious people, because it assumes they don’t understand that skeptical claims about other supernatural beings have implications for claims about god. It also assumes they wouldn’t get that they’re in a thicket of atheists because everyone just politely refuses to talk about the obvious. </p> <p> But more than that, the argument fails to honor the people who actually show up, who actually give money, and who actually care about this event. Those people want to talk about religion. They fall into two camps, though many people have a foot in each one. First you have people like me, who are atheist activists because we see the horror religion does in the world and we simply think challenging it is more important than challenging beliefs in, say, fairies. Then you have people who’ve actually been the direct victims of horrible actions taken in the name of religion, or they’re close to someone who has, and for them atheist organizing is a healing thing to do. For instance, there’s a whole lot of child abuse going on in this country in the name of Jesus Christ, and people who see that and are distressed by it don’t need someone blabbing on to them about how they have to turn down the volume on their objections because they might offend someone. </p> <p> Talking about atheism doesn’t preclude talking about other stuff. The fear is that if you talk about atheism too much, you’ll run off religious people who might otherwise add value. But I would argue that the atheist talk gets people in the door, and once there they are happy to hear your arguments about resisting quack medicine, promoting science, and, in my case, embracing feminism. You would lose half those sets of ears if this was a conference that had more stuff about Bigfoot than it did Jesus. That’s just a cold, hard fact. People turn against religion for emotional reasons, but that doesn’t mean their arguments aren’t rational. Treating the angry atheists like they count less because they’re angry is simply unfair. They <b>should</b> be angry. Also, that they are angry doesn’t mean they are strident, humorless, or scary. As I noted above, for instance, instead for reacting to the creationists protesting the event by yelling at them, most people expressed their anger with humor, by defacing the books with the signatures of noted heathens speaking at the event. When you speak to people, they often have stories of beatings at the hands of fundamentalist parents, harassment at work from believers, and feelings of isolation in their various communities because of their atheism. They should be angry. I feel a lot of the debate about turning down the volume on atheism is telling the angry people that their feelings don’t count, and that’s simply unfair. </p> <p></p> </div> <div class="posted"> Posted by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/member/3/">Amanda Marcotte</a> at 06:42 PM • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/skepticon_wrap_up_angry_but_joking_atheists_for_the_win/">Permalink</a> </div> <div align="center"> <!-- Pandagon_300 --> <script type="text/javascript"> if( postIndex == 0 ) { GA_googleFillSlot("Pandagon_300"); if(postIndex < POST_OFFSET) {postIndex++;} else { postIndex = 0; } } </script> <p> </div> <div class="date"> Saturday, November 20, 2010</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/skepticon_update/">Skepticon update</a></h2> <div class="category"> </div> <div class="entry"> <p>Sorry no CSA post this week---I’m traveling. Specifically, I’m in Springfield, Missouri to attend <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://skepticon.org/" title="Skepticon">Skepticon</a>. (I spoke yesterday for an hour on feminism and skepticism.) Lots going on, and I’ve only just now started to organize my thoughts on it. </p> <p> I think the biggest revelation to me has been the reminder that atheists are actually an oppressed minority in this country. Not the most oppressed or anything---this isn’t the Oppression Olympics, and the only atheists you’ll talk to who exaggerate their struggles are usually white men who hold professional, well-paying jobs and have no fucking clue what it feels like to be really oppressed. But I’ve had an interesting opportunity to check my privilege as someone who lives and has basically always lived in a bubble where my atheism is never held against me by employers, friends, family, or the society around me. Growing up in West Texas, I wasn’t a full blown atheist yet, but I did feel skeptical about what PZ Myers gleefully called the God Hypothesis last night during a panel. Maybe I experienced some push back for this growing up, but I don’t really recall it. I think the unique tolerance for eccentricity in that area gives you space to be tolerated, and again, I wasn’t really loud or outspoken about my doubts about god. I barely even thought about the subject, honestly. It was only when I got older and started to give more attention to the idea of critical thinking that I even spent energy thinking about god, and I realized I didn’t believe and frankly never had in any substantive way. By then, I was already living in Austin, where atheism is not only tolerated, but making fun of Christianity is a popular sport. Now, obviously, I live in New York. My entire adult life has been spent in circles where not believing in god is accepted to expected, depending on the company. </p> <p> This isn’t a typical experience for many to most of the atheists here. On the contrary, I’ve learned a lot about how much religion and the expectation of it is miserable for many atheists. Springfield is smack in the middle of the Bible Belt, and a lot of people that come to this hail from similar places. Finding a community of atheists is a giant relief for many of them, because they feel isolated and misunderstood. Some people have mostly had positive interactions with religious institutions, but arrived at atheism strictly from thinking about god claims logically. Some people have experienced <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pureprovender.blogspot.com/" title="spiritual abuse">spiritual abuse</a>, and have a more emotional component to their rejection of religion. But a common theme that people are actually treated like they’re scary or threatening or evil even for refusing to believe in god. </p> <p> In fact, there have been blowback incidents at this very convention. Last night, while I was sitting around having a drink with some other convention-goers, someone who came back from the bar reported that she heard a woman getting livid with a man who told her what the convention was for. She rabidly insisting that atheism is a kind of religion, as opposed to the absence of it. This opened up a conversation where people discussed actual grief they’ve gotten from people they know: the “you hate god” thing, accusations that atheists have no morality, and my personal favorite, claiming that atheism requires as much if not more faith than believing. This one is my favorite for two reasons: 1) No, it doesn’t. Rejecting an evidence-free and implausible claim takes less faith than embracing said claim. 2) The person leveling this accusation is inadvertently conceding that faith is dumb, which is why they think it’s so damning to claim atheists have “faith”. I’ve had people say this dumb shit to me online, sure, but at this table a lot of people endured it from friends and loved ones. It was distressing. </p> <p> Most of the programming so far has been top notch, and I’ve learned a lot, particularly about some of the actual evidence against certain religious claims. (Not just that there’s an absence of evidence for them, but that there’s evidence against them.) There was also a panel I frankly thought was pointless, about the debate between so-called confrontationalists and accomodationists. I hate this debate, because everyone gets all inflamed over nothing. If everyone calmed down for a second and stopped thinking in terms of these labels, I think they’d realize they basically agree 99% of the time. And that space of agreement is that different situations require different strategies, and that just because you build alliances with religious people on some issues doesn’t mean you have to give up criticizing their beliefs in different situations. (For example, it does atheists well to line up with other religious minorities on freedom of religion issues.) Better was the panel on the question of whether or not skepticism leads to atheism, though it was also meandering. Part of the problem with it was that the evidence that skepticism does lead to atheism was sitting right in front of us all---the panelists were all atheists, and most of the attendees appear to be atheists. And of them, most of them seem to have been brought up with the expectation of faith, but rejected it as irrational. So the answer to the question, “Does skepticism lead to atheism?” is, “Not always, but generally yes.” </p> <p> I expected to get a lot more grief for my talk than I did, because the skeptic community is heavily male and a lot of the men haven’t really considered how they should apply the tools of skepticism to gender roles. But the response I’ve gotten has been almost 100% positive, with the only real criticism coming from a woman who didn’t like that I discussed religious organizing against the birth control pill without going into a digression about how the pill is supposedly bad for you. I responded by saying I’ve definitely been exposed to the claims of anti-pill feminists, and I think the evidence is just against them. This is a hard discussion to have one to one on the spot, though, because you really need to have the evidence for the various claims in front of you so you can dissect it. But the general response has been really positive. Lots of questions, but not any real defensiveness about the things I said. </p> <p> One thing in general I like about skeptic gatherings is just that---people are super laid back and take the claim that this is about open discourse very seriously. Instead of bunching up and freaking out when presented with challenging ideas, they really do go the extra mile to ask questions and think about the idea instead of dismissing it out of hand or seeking reasons to shoot it down without thinking about it. Not that defensiveness <i>never</i> happens---I heard lots of stories from activists dedicated to bringing more attention to the issues of racial diversity, feminism, and LGBT rights, and so I’m not being a Pollyanna about it---but I would say that overall, the tone of discourse compares favorably to other organizing conferences I’ve been to that are focused more on feminism or liberal politics. As an example, I would say that amount of time that people in the audience spend hogging the mic during Q&A sessions is a fraction of what it has been in any other space I’ve been in. There have a couple of people who grab the mic and hold forth for 5 minutes without really asking a question, but they are a tiny group. I took questions for about 20 minutes, and mic-hogging didn’t happen even once during that time. Every other time I’ve ever been in a Q&A session, there has been at least one person who was a mic hog or was only asking a question to attack you, but had no real interest in hearing your point of view. The only exception was the last time I talked to a skeptic’s group, and took questions for literally 45 minutes without a single mic hog. This isn’t about my ginormous ego, either. When I’m in the audience, mic hogs make me want to strangle them. The time has been set aside to hear what the speaker has to say, not some random self-appointed audience member. </p> <p> I bring this up because the stereotype of skeptics is they are imperious know-it-alls with closed minds and no sense of wonder. My experience is literally the opposite of that---if I was to characterize the average skeptic, I would say a somewhat geeky, curious, open-minded person who enjoys asking questions and really listening to the answers. Also, super nice and gracious. </p> <p></p> </div> <div class="posted"> Posted by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/member/3/">Amanda Marcotte</a> at 02:59 PM • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/skepticon_update/">Permalink</a> </div> <div align="center"> <!-- Pandagon_300 --> <script type="text/javascript"> if( postIndex == 0 ) { GA_googleFillSlot("Pandagon_300"); if(postIndex < POST_OFFSET) {postIndex++;} else { postIndex = 0; } } </script> <p> </div> <div class="date"> Friday, November 19, 2010</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/friday_80s_prom_post_science_edition/">Friday 80s Prom Post, “Science!” Edition</a></h2> <div class="category"> </div> <div class="entry"> <p><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JWitntwPjM4?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317oe_/http://www.youtube.com/v/JWitntwPjM4?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object> </p> <p> I’m at <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://skepticon.org/schedule.php" title="Skepticon III">Skepticon III</a>, so posting will be non-existent this weekend. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to skip reminding anyone who can to come to the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=153440831363728" title="Radical 80s Prom on December 3rd at the Bowery Poetry Club">Radical 80s Prom on December 3rd at the Bowery Poetry Club</a>! </p> <p> The 80s were a great time in the world of geeks, nerds, science lovers, and other assorted misfits in pop culture. This was an era when those people were named, but more than that, celebrated. It was an era when the odd but brilliant musician Thomas Dolby could have a smash hit with a song about a sexy woman that is built all around science metaphors. “Revenge of the Nerds” is a mean-spirited and misogynist movie, but the John Hughes canon created the nerd triumphant. Geek pride really has its origins in this era, and for that, we should all be grateful. And for that, I give you “She Blinded Me With Science”. </p> <p></p> </div> <div class="posted"> Posted by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/member/3/">Amanda Marcotte</a> at 09:00 AM • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/friday_80s_prom_post_science_edition/">Permalink</a> </div> <div align="center"> <!-- Pandagon_300 --> <script type="text/javascript"> if( postIndex == 0 ) { GA_googleFillSlot("Pandagon_300"); if(postIndex < POST_OFFSET) {postIndex++;} else { postIndex = 0; } } </script> <p> </div> <div class="date"> Thursday, November 18, 2010</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/because_its_still_just_mommy/">Because it’s still just Mommy</a></h2> <div class="category"> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C41/">Family Values</a> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C8/">Feminism</a> </div> <div class="entry"> <p><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317im_/http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2010/11/17/problem_with_mothers_these_days/md_horiz.jpg" align="right"/><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.salon.com/life/new_mom_confessions/index.html?story=/mwt/feature/2010/11/17/problem_with_mothers_these_days" title="Taffy Brodesser-Akner asks">Taffy Brodesser-Akner asks</a> the same question that keeps cropping up over and over: why are there mommy wars? In this particular case, she’s asking why Erica Jong couldn’t write an article critical of attachment parent ideology without creating over-the-top flamewars? </p> <blockquote><p>But take a closer look at the comments on Jong’s piece. They’re not just defensive; they’re personal. The arguments aren’t well reasoned overall, just huffy, and with the requisite all-caps type to show the writer means it. Jong’s responders say, “Sorry LADY but being a parent PERIOD is a LOT of work! Don’t know if you got THAT memo.” Another snarls, “What you call prison, I call FREEDOM.” </p> <p> I am reminded of my time in an all-girls school, where a girl could cut another down not with something as honest as a schoolyard beating but with a narrowing of the eyes, a whisper to a friend. No matter how pro-A.P. you are, no matter how green you strive to be, I think it would be hard to read Jong’s criticism of these movements as belittling or nasty. So why are all the responses so sour-mouthed and small-hearted? Why are they so mean?</p></blockquote> <p> She gets close-ish to what I believe is the answer later: </p> <blockquote><p>Nobody cared that Britney Spears was a young mother in a terrible marriage on the verge of a nervous breakdown; they only cared that she dyed her hair when she was pregnant and tried to escape photographers without strapping her baby into a car seat. But it’s worth noting who buys those supermarket tabloids. It’s mostly women—and it’s often moms.</p></blockquote> <p> But that’s the only time gender is mentioned. To read this article, you would think the only people in the world who are tasked with the job of raising children are female. The words “dad” or “father” never are mentioned. “Parenting” is mentioned, but it’s seen strictly as something moms do, which means it’s probably time to revert to the old-fashioned word “mothering”. If parenting is so incredibly hard and confusing---which I’ll grant that it probably is---you would think it would sure help to have other people around to help you with it! Perhaps even just to bounce ideas off. But the only other adults these moms interact with appear to be other moms. They judge, they read, they flame war, they occasionally help each other out. But it’s just them and their kids. No men whatsoever to share their worries or their workload. </p> <p> I’m guessing not all of them are single moms. </p> <p> But moms aren’t just filled with rage that makes them flip out defensively at even the hint of disagreement. Nor are moms just filled with control issues that make them start to reject things like modern medicine because their egos needs the stroking of feeling like they’re smarter than all those scientists and that history of disease eradication. Nor are they just so competitive about their mom-jobs that everything becomes a competition over who is the better mom, as if there’s raises or promotions you can get from winning. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/modern-mothers-little-helpers/?src=twr" title="A lot of moms are depressed and have to be medicated to handle their mental health problems">A lot of moms are depressed, or at least suffering from anxiety, and have to be medicated to handle their mental health problems</a>. </p> <blockquote><p>I felt like my shoulders were hung up on a clothes hanger every single day from the moment I woke up until the moment my children were in bed. Once they were there, asleep or at least safe in their beds and crib, not falling down staircases or eating or stuffing Legos up their noses or pummeling each other, I slumped. Visibly, physically, emotionally slumped. I was exhausted, and I was anxious. The anxiety made me a miserable person and a miserable mother. </p> <p> The medication helped me. It gave me a pause button.</p></blockquote> <p> Lots of whys in this piece. Lisa Belkin, in her intro, has lots of questions. The blogger she quotes at length has lots of questions: </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/because_its_still_just_mommy/">Read All...</a> </p> </div> <div class="posted"> Posted by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/member/3/">Amanda Marcotte</a> at 07:45 AM • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/because_its_still_just_mommy/">Permalink</a> </div> <div align="center"> <!-- Pandagon_300 --> <script type="text/javascript"> if( postIndex == 0 ) { GA_googleFillSlot("Pandagon_300"); if(postIndex < POST_OFFSET) {postIndex++;} else { postIndex = 0; } } </script> <p> </div> <div class="date"> Wednesday, November 17, 2010</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/the_ongoing_albeit_amusing_battle_to_save_bristol/">The ongoing, albeit amusing, battle to save Bristol</a></h2> <div class="category"> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C13/">Batsh*t Crazy</a> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C18/">Choads</a> • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/C35/">Conservatives</a> </div> <div class="entry"> <p><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317im_/http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/39/2010/11/500x_bristol_makr_dwts_1116.jpg" width="300" align="right"/>Yesterday, at XX Factor, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://www.doublex.com/blog/xxfactor/culture-war-goes-ballroom" title="I blogged about">I blogged about</a> what may be a new low for culture warriors: making it their mission to stick it to the liberals by keeping Bristol Palin on “Dancing With The Stars”. My point was that this proves how much it’s just culture war for them. Bristol is unpopular with the judges and the fans not because of any personality traits or anything she’s done wrong, but because she doesn’t work hard and she sucks. If she wasn’t considered a member of the wingnut tribe, she would have been gone a long time ago. But due to <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://jezebel.com/5691445/how-palin-conservatives-are-cheating-the-dwts-voting-system?skyline=true&s=i" title="extensive conservative online organizing">extensive conservative online organizing</a> and possible cheating, Palin in hanging in. </p> <p> I expected a lot of snotty comments from fuck-you conservatives in comments, and I got them, which basically proved my point. The election of the President was brought up, making me wonder if someone maybe should step back and think about how there’s actual differences between electing politicians with power and winning on “DWTS”. It seems, for wingnuts, the two are tied together under one very important life mission. </p> <p> Pissing off the liberals. </p> <p> Oh, those wily liberals! Always smiling and so smug, thinking they’re so cool. We’ll show them. We’ll get Bristol Palin to win on “DWTS”, even though she doesn’t deserve it, and elect any nutbar to Congress with an “R” behind their name. It’s all culture war and everything is about scoring points, damn the consequences. The possibility that it doesn’t actually piss off many liberals---for instance, I’ve never seen “DWTS”, couldn’t tell you who’s on it, or who has ever won it---didn’t seem to have been a factor. But what was most interesting to me was this reply: </p> <blockquote><p>This seems like a case of the rich, popular cheerleaders looking like they’ve sucked on a lemon when they learn that the poor girl in school, the one in the home-made clothes and religious family, gets elected Prom Queen.</p></blockquote> <p> I’ve rarely seen such a clean-cut example of the conservative tendency to say up is down and black is white. Or, more precisely, to bemoan how oppressed white, rich, and highly privileged people are. First of all, has the poor girl in school ever won Prom Queen? Was that in some 80s movie somewhere? As someone actually in the dork caste in my high school, I can assure you that the boundaries of who got those kind of awards were closely monitored, usually by people like Bristol Palin, who had powerful parents, lots of money, and super jock boyfriends. But it was telling of what a cipher the Palin family has become. They’re obscenely rich millionaires who run small town feuds on a level beyond what I ever saw with people trying to establish fiefdoms in the small town of my youth, but in the imagination of their fans, Sarah Palin is basically Dolly Parton---a scrappy poor girl who grew up with no shoes but became a big star on talent alone. And Bristol Palin, too, though more as an afterthought. </p> <p> I’ll give that Sarah Palin has a unique talent at assholery that has allowed her to rise above where a woman with fewer talents in the art of puppy-kicking might have gone. But Bristol Palin hasn’t really done squat. She is literally famous for having a baby at an inopportune time. And now she continues to get promoted over more talented people than her because she was born into the right family. Comparing that to the poor kid with handmade clothes making good is like comparing “The Godfather” to a Pauly Shore movie. Bristol Palin is a hero to wingnut America because she’s a great example of rewarding someone for being born into privilege instead of on their merits. </p> <p> I say this without a whiff of knowledge about her character. I don’t particularly give a shit. I just find it extremely funny that the wingnutteria is backing someone with no talent on a show with no real importance to stick it to liberals who by and large don’t really care, and they’re doing so because they’re intoxicated by privilege and kind of wish they had a monarchy, but they’re pretending that they’re doing it because they want to see the oppressed rise above. I suppose after “Dancing With The Stars” is done, they should start sticking it to the liberals by defending poor, oppressed Paris Hilton, who is definitely the weird girl with handmade clothes that is picked on by cheerleaders. </p> <p></p> </div> <div class="posted"> Posted by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/member/3/">Amanda Marcotte</a> at 02:44 PM • <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/the_ongoing_albeit_amusing_battle_to_save_bristol/">Permalink</a> </div> <div align="center"> <!-- Pandagon_300 --> <script type="text/javascript"> if( postIndex == 0 ) { GA_googleFillSlot("Pandagon_300"); if(postIndex < POST_OFFSET) {postIndex++;} else { postIndex = 0; } } </script> <p> </div> <div class="paginate"> <span class="pagecount">Page 1 of 4 pages</span> <b>1</b> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/2010/11/P15/">2</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/2010/11/P30/">3</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/2010/11/P15/">></a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317/http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/2010/11/P45/">Last »</a> </div> </div> <br class="spacer"/> </div> </div> <br class="spacer"/> </div> <script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110105060317js_/http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript"> _uacct = "UA-4601490-1"; urchinTracker(); </script> </body> </html><!-- FILE ARCHIVED ON 06:03:17 Jan 05, 2011 AND RETRIEVED FROM THE INTERNET ARCHIVE ON 20:40:20 Nov 26, 2024. 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