There was something exceptionally satisfying – in a sense wholly without honor, I’ll admit – about busting David Vitters for engaging in prostitution transactions. I found it amusing and a sort of just deserts. Now there’s this thing with Larry Craig. It’s the front story everywhere, so we all know a thing or two about it. Since I’m from Idaho (Boise!), I feel some sort of compulsion to read everything and say something. Read the rest of this entry »
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Yet again, we are treated to the distracting and delicious hypocrisy of the Right’s attack dogs. Yes, it again turns out that those self-appointed to watch over our morality have been doing the naughty stuff behind closed doors. Ted Haggard was an especially tortured case, and I felt conflicted about pouncing on his hypocrisy. But no such hesitation with David Vitter, conservative kook and prostitute lover from Louisiana. What more is there to say, really, than that Vitter is a big fake and pervert (defined with his terms alone)? Read the rest of this entry »
You know it is a strange day when I find myself in agreement with one of the editors at The National Review. Well, it is strange if you’re me or know me personally, though this agreement is not so substantial. I just like that he made the following comment on Sam Brownback’s editorial in the New York Times: “Here is Sam Brownback talking about evolutionary biology. That’s a bit like saying: ‘Here’s Paris Hilton talking about partial differential equations.’ ” Nice. While Derbyshire is disinclined to respond in detail to Brownback’s “theory” of evolution (though he does, quite well), it is worth a comment. Here it goes… Read the rest of this entry »
Slate.com has an interesting write-up on a new technology, you know, the one making it possible to never menstruate again. Like the author, I’ll pass over the debate about the relation between womanhood, nature, and the body – not really my place to make a comment. Except this: I’m wary about the whole “keep technology off our bodies” rhetoric, not because of the politico-economic suspicions underlying the rhetoric (sound enough), but simply because technology is so deeply inside our bodies that we should talk more about boundaries than abolition. Rather, my main interest in this reflection is a familiar name: Jerry Falwell. What would Jerry think? Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve been looking for a way to talk about Jerry Falwell’s death. There are the obvious things. You know, how he was hateful and disgusting and sinister and crafty and crass. He won’t be missed largely because he has already won the big battle, namely, bringing the legitimacy of hate back into the center of political discourse. Slate.com nicely listed some highlights of his career, including the classic blame: 11 September 2001 is the fault of feminists, et. al. Read the rest of this entry »