Shot Through the Leg and You're to Blame

Dave Zirin, one of the only pinko sportswriters in the business, offers an interesting analysis of the media furor over the murder of football player Sean Taylor:

Media illusion or not, we felt we knew Sean Taylor—and have wept for his family and their loss. There is nothing wrong with this. If anything, we’ve borne witness to people’s capacity to reach out and care.

BUT NOT everyone felt the better angels of their nature emerge. Within hours—minutes—of Taylor’s death, a collection of sportswriters tried to turn this tragedy into to a brazenly racist “life lesson.” They speculated that Taylor effectively got what he deserved, the fruits born of a “thug life.”

Never mind that Taylor was the son of a police chief who attended the same private schools as the Florida wing of the Bush family. The narrative of a young Black athlete dying by gunfire was too succulent to resist. The callous copy ran rampant, and this time went beyond Fox Sports Jason Whitlock’s easily dismissible, painfully predictable hot air...

The hypocrisy is breathtaking. If Taylor was white, imagine how this story would be played out: “Hero tragically dies defending his family in home invasion.” Instead, we get yet another example of how sports has become an absolute trash receptacle of racism over the past several years: an acceptable place for troglodytic writers and announcers to yip about “hip hop culture” and “thug life,” being the rot at the heart of professional athletics.

Primary Decisions

Well. This may just have solidified my decision as to whom I'll vote for in the upcoming primaries. (I admit I was leaning in that direction, anyway.) Check it:

Manchester, NH – Today, Senator John Edwards outlined his bold policies for a more family-friendly America with universal paid family and medical leave, universal pre-kindergarten for four-year-olds, more affordable care for other children and job benefits for independent workers. Among the most significant policy proposals of the Edwards plan is for at least eight weeks of paid family and medical leave that will help American workers balance their jobs and their families.

If you can stand the PR-speak, check out the whole press release. Universal paid leave and Pre-K + subsidized childcare = music to my ears. And should be music to everyone's ears, of course, since those little rugrats will one day be deciding how nice your nursing home care is. Among other things. I'm not super confident that Edwards will get the nod, but policies like this make it pretty easy for me to give him my vote.

The Liberal Academy

If you're even tangentially part of the academy, you're probably aware of the eternal debate over whether and why American colleges and universities are so politically liberal. Myself, I think that American higher education is laudably, permanently liberal (though often in some pretty shallow ways) largely because the goals of liberalism as a political movement are so directly related to the goals of higher education - for instance, equipping people to think critically, rather than reverently, about those who hold political, social, economic, or some other kind of power, and to act to alter present arrangements of power, rather than simply maintain them.

A new study proposes that one reason conservatives are underrepresented in the academy is that people who are politically conservative prefer to either get jobs right out of college (rather than pursue PhDs) or to start families (again, rather than pursue PhDs). Interesting stuff:

The study — “Left Pipeline: Why Conservatives Don’t Get Doctorates” — argues that the much debated minority status for conservatives in higher education may be the result of differing priorities of graduating college seniors of different political persuasions. The study presents evidence that conservatives are significantly more likely than liberals — at the point when college students decide whether to apply to graduate school — to value raising a family and having money. In contrast, liberals at that point in their lives are significantly more likely to value writing original works.

The authors of the study do not dispute that conservatives are a distinct minority in academe and that the imbalance is problematic. They also hold open the possibility — much proclaimed by other authors at the conference of the American Enterprise Institute where all of the work was presented — that there may be bias against conservatives (although they question whether this has been proven). But the authors of the work on the pipeline say there is considerable evidence that could show conservative self-selection out of academic careers.

R-Suicideville

Love it.

The Republican candidates for president of the United States sharply escalated their attacks on one another, clashing over which of them is the most conservative, most experienced and most electable in a debate that one likened to a "demolition derby."

The debate Sunday night stood out for the intensity and personal nature of the exchanges as Republicans tried to distinguish themselves, a tactic that risked highlighting the unhappiness among conservatives with much of the field.

But as they scrimmaged, the leading candidates took even stronger aim at just one Democratic candidate: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. In addition to helping them score points with Republican voters, their attacks on Clinton may have the side effect of helping her score points with Democrats.

This situation disproves the maxim that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Cosmetic Biking

In a week when the Republicans decide they don't want to give poor kids health insurance, it's hard to find bigger jerks. Luckily, U.S. Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) is doing double duty by bravely fighting the "Diversion of Funds From Bridges to Nonpriority Items"

At a time when the Nation’s roads and bridges need attention – as demonstrated by the recent collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis – the Federal Government continues to divert large amounts of money to bike paths and other cosmetic projects that could be funded locally.

It's good to know that bike paths - by reducing the number of cars on the road, improving public health through exercise, cutting pollution, breaking our oil addiction, and being generally good for property values and quality of life - are merely cosmetic.

I hope Rep. Ryan gets his tongue caught in a derailleur.

(Via Silent Sports Sounds Off.)

But do I have to move to South Carolina to vote for him?

So by now I'm sure you've heard that Stephen Colbert has announced his candidacy for President of the US in South Carolina. Better yet, he's running as both a Democrat and a Republican, so there's truly something for everyone in this campaign. Thank god THAT decision is over. Now if I could just decide what to wear tomorrow ...

RNC Logo

As City Pages said, "Worst. Logo. Ever." Say it with me, everyone: "Wide stance."

Surely this is a comment on how the party will give it to the country elephant-style if they're put back in power in 2008.

Hack Attack II

A few days ago, I blogged an article in Wired about the cyberattack on Estonia ("eStonia") by Russian hackers. Last week, news emerged about attacks on U.S. and German government websites by hackers who were apparently operating from China. As this piece in the International Herald Tribune shows, the Chinese attackers resemble the Russians in that they may or may not be operating with sanction from their government. Even more troubling than the idea that, in Russia, Putin is using his geeks to probe NATO (as suggested in the Wired piece) is the idea that, in China, the People's Liberation Army may be pursuing military and foreign policy that is not only disconnected from the Communist Party's, but perhaps opposed to it:

Outside the secretive party and government bureaucracy in China, little is known about the ties between the civilian leadership and the sprawling, 2.3 million-strong People's Liberation Army.

As Hu [Jintao, the president of China] attempts to consolidate his power ahead of the important 17th Party Congress expected to be held in October, doubts remain that he exercises the same control over the military as earlier Communist leaders.

These doubts were heightened when the Chinese military shot down an obsolete weather satellite in January, seemingly without informing the civilian bureaucracy in advance of what was clearly a provocative move that drew widespread international protest.

Some foreign analysts suspect that it is difficult for the civilian leadership to keep track of cyber warfare research and development because it is not centralized under a single military or intelligence command.

Great: 2.3 million Chinese troops, answering only to their rogue generals. It's like the obverse of the crazy situation in Washington, where a rogue president is somehow answerable only to a high-ranking general in Iraq.

The Swedish Right Wing

Last year, you were almost certainly riveted by parliamentary elections in Sweden, where a center-right (or, as they put it, "centre-right") coalition came to power, displacing the more left-leaning socialist parties for the first time in a very long time. Well, those free-marketers are going nuts! Listen to this bit of Ayn Randian supply-side craziness:

Parents who want to stay at home to look after their young children will be entitled to extra money from their local councils, under new proposals unveiled by the government on Tuesday. The money will be offered to parents with children aged between 1 and 3 who do not make use of subsidized childcare. The manifesto proposed either a taxed benefit of up to 4,000 kronor per month* or an untaxed benefit of up to 3,000 kronor* per month. Parents receiving the benefit will not have to stop working entirely.

Inevitably, given the brutal nature of Swedish politics, the critics have their knives out, denouncing the proposal as too Norwegian (I'm serious!) and not generous enough.

(*4,000 kronor is about $580; 3,000 is about $440.)

Hack Attack

Maybe it's just me, but I have been freaked out by this Wired article on how Russian hackers - apparently operating with the Kremlin's authorization and probably its assistance - used a "cyberattack" to nearly destroy Estonia's IT infrastructure. It's an incredible story, seemingly out of science fiction, and yet it just happened a few months ago - and could happen again at any time.

Never before had an entire country been targeted on almost every digital front all at once, and never before had a government itself fought back. "The attacks were aimed at the essential electronic infrastructure of the Republic of Estonia," Aaviksoo tells me later. "All major commercial banks, telcos, media outlets, and name servers — the phone books of the Internet — felt the impact, and this affected the majority of the Estonian population. This was the first time that a botnet threatened the national security of an entire nation."

Welcome to Web War one.

Craig's List

Another day, another Republican gay-sex scandal - this one originating in the men’s room at the Northstar Crossing in MSP's Lindbergh Terminal. From Newser:

Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig was arrested after allegedly soliciting sex from a male plainclothes police officer in a men's room at Minneapolis airport June 11. August 8th, Craig appeared in the Hennepin County District Court and pled guilty to disorderly conduct . • He was given a suspended 10-day jail sentence and a year's probation. He denied wrongdoing today, and said he regrets his guilty plea. “I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter,” he said. "In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously.” Craig, 62, resigned as Senate co-chair of the Romney campaign.

Read the Roll Call story. it's a doozy, full of interesting details from the police report about how Craig solicited the officer. It sounds like he's an old pro at cruising - though not at coming up with excuses for the behavior that got him arrested. "Craig stated 'that he has a wide stance when going to the bathroom and that his foot may have touched mine,' the report states. Craig also told the arresting officer that he reached down with his right hand to pick up a piece of paper that was on the floor.' It should be noted that there was not a piece of paper on the bathroom floor, nor did Craig pick up a piece of paper,' the arresting officer said in the report."

This Just In: Some Republicans Are Hypocrites

I can't find anything to cut out of this post on the City Pages' "Blotter" blog, so I'll just quote it all:

Back in June, Vita.mn ran a story about where people have sex outdoors in Minnesota. The article made it on the Strib's main web page, prompting reader complaints. Kate Parry, the paper's ombudsman, wrote an article about the brouhaha, quoting Tim Droogsma, former press secretary for both then-senator Rudy Boschwitz and then-governor Arne Carlson.

Droogsma's reaction to the article: "I don't think I'm too prudish (which, I realize, is what prudes always say), but do we really want this sentence: 'She hopped on my lap, facing forward. I pulled up her skirt in the back, slid her panties out of the way, and unzipped'?"

Fast forward a couple months:

On Tuesday, Droogsma was arrested by St. Paul cops for allegedly trying to pay for sex. The deal was brokered on Craiglist, the St. Paul PD says, and the would-be prostitute was an undercover cop.

In an email to the Strib, Droogsma, 50, denies being a dirty late-middle-aged man, calling the whole escapade "a severe misunderstanding."

I love hypocrisy!

We Lurve Pawlenty

Wha?

In the wake of the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s approval rating has climbed to its highest level recorded during his tenure in office, a new poll shows.

This is ridiculous. His administrative style contributed to the infrastructure problems that have been highlighted by the collapse. His no-taxes policy hamstrings the state government's ability to move forward. He has been steathily unrolling many of the state-funded programs which make (made?) Minnesota a great state. And on top of that, he's clearly positioning himself for Bigger and Better Things just as soon as possible.

Ridiculous.

Busted Up

I think it's because I'm now a parent and (temporarily) our family's sole breadwinner, but the ups and downs of the financial markets are suddenly riveting to me. Not in the check-the-tickers-all-day-long kinda way, but in the will-my-401(k)-survive kinda way. As such, this column in the Financial Times is an especially good overview of the market meltdowns that started last week:

Financial markets, and particularly the big players within them, need fear. Without it, they go crazy. Moreover, it is impossible for outsiders to regulate a global financial system riddled with conflicts of interest and dominated by huge derivatives markets, massive trading by highly leveraged hedge funds and reliance on abstruse mathematics and questionable statistical models. These markets must regulate themselves. The only thing likely to persuade them to do so is the certainty that the players will be allowed to go bust.

Rove Out by August

For the sake of the family. Of course.

"There's always something that can keep you here, and as much as I'd like to be here, I've got to do this for the sake of my family," he said.

He said he expected Mr Bush's current poor ratings to improve, and that conditions in Iraq would get better as the military surge continued.

He also expects the dollar to surge against foreign currencies, the dot.com boom to return once more, and the ghost of Saint Ronald Reagan to rise from the grave and personally bless the republican nominee on live television.

Christ. What a fuck-knuckle.

ROTFL

From Defective Yeti, an excerpt from the transcript of the CNN / Youtube Democratic Debate:

QUESTION: My question is: We have a bunch of leaders who can't seem to do their job. And we pick people based on the issues they that they represent, but then they get in power and they don't do anything about it anyway... How are you going to be any different?

SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD: omg that video was totaly gay

SEN. BARACK OBAMA: Shut up Dodd thats offensive when u say gay like that.

FORMER SEN. MIKE GRAVEL: Check out my vids at youtube.com/user/gravel2008.

REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: to answre your question bush is a facist who only wants more power. hes not even the president you knopw, cheny is. i would b different because i would have a vice presidant that doesnt just try and control everything from behind the seens/

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON: CHENEY CANT BE PRESIDENT BECUZ THE CONSTITUTION SAYS THE VICE PRESIDENT IS NOT THE PRESIDENT WHY DON'T U TRY READING THE CONSTITUTION SOMETIME??????!!!!

KUCINICH: i have read thwe consititution which is probably more than youve ever read except maybe the back of a ceral box.

CLINTON: AT LEAST I EAT CEREAL AND NOT GRANOLA LIKE A HIPPY!!!!!!!

Read the whole thing: killer.

President Palpatine?

The decider is a decidin’ again.

From an email forward to a friend, I was recently made aware of this executive order. Chris at New Patriot posted last week.

Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization
Efforts in Iraq Bush has issued his scariest executive order yet. It's probably
the scariest executive order issued by any American President--
ever.

The new order allows the government to seize the assets and property of anyone that interferes with its Iraq policies. Some old-line republicans, such as Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Reagan, Pat Buchanan, and others are putting forward the idea that Bush will stage some sort of false flag event to push the US into a police state.

Please read.

I urge you to raise your voice to impeach.

As Chris indicated in a separate email about this item, “Banning protests isn't exactly what he is doing. He is making the price of dissent - of any kind - exorbitantly high.”

Hold on kids, the remaining 500+ days look like they’ll be pretty scary.

Nixon in Purgatory

Someday, when my kids are past college, I hope they can read stuff about George W. Bush that's as insane as this stuff on his only competition for the title of Worst President Ever, Richard M. Nixon. A short, punchy gloss in Slate describes

a meandering 11-page memorandum (PDF) that Nixon sent in 1970 to his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, urging that White House staffers talk up what a warm human being "RN" was. (As was his habit, in the memo Nixon referred to himself repeatedly in the third person.) Nixon complained that "average voters" regarded RN as "an efficient, crafty, cold, machine." To help correct this common misconception, Nixon cited "warm items" (Page 3) such as "the calls that I make to people when they are sick, even though they no longer mean anything to anybody" (Page 4). "I called some mothers and wives of men that had been killed in Vietnam," he added, helpfully.

Because he was Nixon, he resented somewhat the social imperative that the president be courteous. "[W]e have gone far beyond any previous president … in breaking our backs to be nicey-nice to the Cabinet, staff and the Congress … around Christmastime," Nixon groused (Page 3). "I have treated them like dignified human beings and not like dirt under my feet" (Page 4), he continued. Connoisseurs will recognize this last as a choice illustration of Nixon's rhetorical tendency to render the thing he denies (that he treats subordinates "like dirt under my feat," that he is "a crook," that the press will "have Dick Nixon to kick around") much more vivid than the denial itself ("not," "won't").

Priceless. Nixon's "warm items" are Bush's "smart items," no?

Why Did Rumsfeld Want the Terrorists to Win?

In the Times/International Herald Tribune, we learn today that

A secret military operation in early 2005 to capture senior members of Al Qaeda in the tribal areas of Pakistan was aborted at the last minute after top officials in the Bush administration decided it was too risky and could jeopardize relations with Pakistan, according to intelligence and military officials.

Apparently, Rumsfeld concluded hat the mounting scale of the operation - which a "former senior intelligence official" (jokingly?) called the "the invasion of Pakistan" - would have damaged or destroyed our relationship with Pervez Musharraf.

Good conclusion, Rummy. Should we kill or capture the figures behind a mass murder of 2000 Americans on 9/11 and of countless others around the world before and since that awful day, or should we continue to coddle a man who has since cut a deal with his Islamists, who facilitated the proliferation of atomic technology throughout the world, and who is, after all, a military dictator?

Why does the Bush Administration hate America? And why do the Republicans still get any credibility on national security?

Skiing in the Palms

On July 4, the International Olympic Committee met in Guatemala to choose the site of the 2014 Winter Games. After Salzburg, Austria, was knocked out in preliminary voting (presumably in some part due to the big doping scandal plaguing the Austrian biathlon and cross-country skiing teams), the final two sites were both unusual ones: Pyeongchang, South Korea, and Sochi, Russia. Swayed by the presence (and deep pockets) of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who made the trip to Guatemala City to lobby for the Russian site, voters ultimately selected Sochi, a city on the Black Sea which, though at the same latitude as Madison, Wisconsin, enjoys a near-tropical climate. (Imagine palm trees on Lake Mendota.)

Obviously, if hockey teams from Raleigh and Tampa Bay can win the Stanley Cup, Sochi can host all the indoor, ice-dependent events right in town. But where are they going to hold the outdoor, snow-dependent events? Up in the very high mountains just outside the city. The Caucasus are already home to one of Russia's biggest ski resorts, and Putin announced that the Russian government is going to pour $12 billion into the Sochi area, sparking a miniature boom in many of the companies which will undertake all the work - from building the nordic ski trails to, you know, finishing the electrical grid in Sochi.

At the end of this seven year plan, and probably after more corruption than a Republican lobbyist's cigar break, Sochi 2014 may offer the host country the chance to dominate a games to an extent unknown since Norway dominated at Lillehammer in 1994. At least the Sochi committee is keeping the stakes low, saying before the vote that the "hopes and dreams of Russian nation rest on IOC decision" and after that “this is one of the most important days in Russia’s history."

(Cross-posted to Blowing & Drifting.)