Monday, December 27, 2010

Seriously Perfesser?

Does Glenn Reynolds think any more highly of his readers than most of the rest of the world (that part of it consisting of people who aren't right-bloggers) seems to?  I think I already know the answer to that question, obviously, or I probably wouldn't be posing it like this; but really:

JUAN WILLIAMS says that Sarah Palin can’t stand on the same intellectual stage as Barack Obama. He offers no evidence, however, for the proposition that Obama is particularly bright, and I can’t say I see a big difference.
Obama’s former colleague Richard Epstein says:

I like Obama but I reject the suggestion that he is an intellectual. He is an activist merely mimicking the mannerisms of an intellectual.
Personally, I think Richard Epstein’s a better judge of who’s intellectual than Juan Williams is. But I think most of the press — for whom the phrase “an activist merely mimicking the mannerisms of an intellectual” may also apply — is easier to fool.
I'm not here to defend Obama's status as an "intellectual," per se.  I'm pretty certain that stands regardless of what I think or write about it.  By definition, I think, somebody with an Ivy law degree and a history of teaching Constitutional Law qualifies.  (Right, Perfesser?)  But, it's clear that Williams really meant the word as an adjective, that is, somewhat less technically than what's generally meant by the noun sense of the word.  And, Reynolds is reframing the question in terms of "bright"-ness, taking the claim even further from any specific sense of what an "intellectual" is supposed to be.  Obviously, trivially, the claim is false (I mean, like him or not, how do you mount an honest argument that Obama isn't "bright?") and Reynolds' supporting link goes to an attack piece whose strongest on-point claim is that Obama has never published an article in the Harvard Law Review under his own name.  (Most of the rest of that piece is boilerplate complaints about Obama's "leftism.")

So, Glenn Reynolds posts something about Obama on his blog that is manifestly, obviously false and doesn't even bother to try to support that claim with anything relevant, and doesn't seem at all embarrassed about that.  Which leads me back to my original question.  How little does Reynolds think of the people he writes for?

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Inappropriate Rubbing?

I wish I needed a better argument than "Catholic League president Bill Donohue is a piece of shit;" but:  Catholic League president Bill Donohue is a piece of shit:

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on a news story about a former priest who molested a male listed as John Doe:
On September 28, the Chicago Tribune reported that "former Chicago priest and convicted sex offender Daniel McCormick sexually abused him [Doe] while he was a grammar school student." We then learn that the student was really a middle-school student, in the eighth grade, when the abuse began. The abuse reportedly continued for five years. According to the lawsuit, "McCormack inappropriately sexually touched, hugged, rubbed and/or abused Doe."
It's time to ask some tough questions. Why did this young man not object earlier? Why did he allow the "abuse" to continue until he was 18? The use of the quotes is deliberate: the charge against the former priest is not rape, but rubbing. While still objectionable, there is a glacial difference between being rubbed and raped.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

How long before we start hearing people screaming "Censorship!"?

Koran burner Derek Fenton booted from his job at NJ Transit




He exercised his Constitutional Rights.  Good for him.  NJ Transit chose to exercise theirs.  I feel bad for the guy, he has a family and he's probably basically a nice guy.  The hysteria over the not-exactly-a-Mosque is hurting a lot of people and serves the purposes of nobody except racists like Pamela "Geller" Oshry.

Batshit Wins!











Good grief. At least it's good news for Democrats,

Friday, September 10, 2010

So the idea here is...

... that it's wrong to build an Islamic center near human remains?   It's not worth pointing out how insultingly stupid this is, but does this kind of blatant demagoguery appeal to anyone except bigots?  Politics in the U.S just keeps getting nastier and dumber.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Cool New Blog

Clear Science.





Clear Science is dedicated to straightforward science lessons in plain English everyone can understand.

Everything here is real, hardcore science. Nothing is dumbed down, but the presentation aims to be clear. You will never be blinded with science!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Malkin Seems to Lack a Sense of Irony

What else do I have to say? 

Lead Story

How to spot and tag a Tea Party infiltrator

By Michelle Malkin  •  April 15, 2010 09:09 AM
Happy Tax Day Tea Party. Be safe out there. A few tips on how to spot and tag a Tea Party infiltrator:
1. Ask them what the 10th amendment says.
2. Two letters: B.O. (and I’m not talking about the president’s initials).
3. Glaringly obvious lack of subtlety.
4. Upside-down flags.
etc...

That "subtlety" link goes to World Net Daily," in what I can only guess to be striving for extra points.
Btw, "Upside-down flags?"

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Beckbaggers

@fivethirtyeight RT 59% of tea-party identifiers have a favorable view of Glenn Beck; 7% of all others do.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

216!



Health Care Reform passes the House!

Thursday, March 18, 2010