Month: January 2006

Wait, there’s more:

"I grew up in a very liberal, pc area. I remember that when I was five, I corrected my father and told him to call the Indian Ocean the Native American Ocean. I’m actually happy that I had the PC upbringing that I had, as it made me more able to enjoy this post-PC era.

Post-PC deserves at least two-cheers, but at least one other post-PC pop culture item deserves mention, the Family Guy. For a majority of twenty-somethings this is the post-PC show.

First, the Family Guy has taken offensiveness to a whole new level, and recognized that if you offend everyone, you offend nobody. Any show that makes domestic violence humorous by realizing we are in on the joke is one that deserves acclaim. It’s a show where the lead character can: wish his son were Jewish so he was smarter; find out he is black and then spend reparations money on turning his living room into Pee Wee’s play house; take his son to an Irish museum where there is a mechanical woman that has a baby constantly; and have a baby that wishes he were homosexual when he was older so that he wouldn’t have to deal with women like his mother.

It even mocks Slobodan Milosevich and Saddam Hussein (the scene where Hussein is talking about an episode of Seinfeld at Peter‚Äôs house was amazing. I‚Äôm waiting for an Ahmadinejad joke).   

Still, the ultimate acknowledgement of post-PC came within the show, so in an attempt to win a poseur award I‚Äôll call it ‚Äúmeta-post-PC‚Äù.  It was when Brian the talking dog barked at a black character on the show, apologized noting that his father was from a different era, and then said, ‚ÄúI‚Äôm sorry, really, I vote Democrat.‚Äù  As a Democrat, I know it‚Äôs exactly how many of us feel, but shouldn‚Äôt.

The post-PC thing is much more helpful than the PC era of the 90’s, but could we have been as comfortable with the jokes that exist post-PC without having been through the PC era?"

Maybe political correctness was indeed a necessary phase in our churning popular culture. I’m just glad it’s over.

Is he gaining traction?

Several readers have added some names to the post-PC list of current entertainers. Item One:

Don’t forget Ali G.  Although I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s inoffensive, he deconstructs pre-conceived notions about identity as brilliantly as anyone on your list, and in ways that the older generations (as represented on his show, at least) consistently fail to understand.

Agreed. The "Little Britain" series deserves an honorable mention. And then there’s Sarah Silverman, who has pushed the post-PC envelope about as far as it goes. Post-post-PC?  Check out her new movie, "Jesus Is Magic."  But not if you’re squeamish in a left or right sort of way. 

The hyper-links in the Dish now appear in a separate window. You asked for it …

In Oklahoma, a gay cowboy couple brought up three kids on a ranch. They did fine – "I was raised to be independent. I didn’t really care what other people thought," – until one of them died. Now, because there is no legal protection for their relationship, the surviving husband has lost everything. Money quote:

Meadows’ will, which left everything to Beaumont, was fought in court by a cousin of the deceased and was declared invalid by the Oklahoma Court of Appeals in 2003 because it was short one witness signature.

A judge ruled the rancher had to put the property, which was appraised at $100,000, on the market. The animals were sold. Beaumont had to move.

Because Meadows had no biological children or surviving parents, his estate was divided up among his heirs. When the ranch sells, the proceeds are to be divided among dozens of Meadows’ cousins.

And people ask why gay couples want the right to civil marriage. Because they are always one ornery relative away from having their relationships shredded under the law. For some of the most insightful criticism of the movie, check out Misty Irons’ response linked on her website here.

A reader writes:

I am sure Hitchens shares your disillusionment about the failings of the Bush Administration in the War on Terror (I read recently that Hitch is involved in a FISA request with the ACLU to determine if foreign journalists were targeted by the NSA).  Obviously, being an atheist, Hitchens disagrees with the religious right in this country.  I am sure he is very critical of the tactical and moral errors of the Administration (although comparing Bush to Stalin is a bit much).  But as annoying as fundamentalist Christians can be, they are nothing compared to the threat of fundamentalist Islam. No other major society has embraced the dark virtue of jihad and death as a virtue. Christian martyrs willingly go to their deaths rather than deny their faith. Islamic martyrs seek to take out as many "unbelievers" and "apostates" as they can (which is why the thought of the Iranians mullahs getting nukes is beyond disturbing).

At least George Bush gets the big issue–that we have to fight this.  Fighting, even if you are not fighting well, is better than giving in.  The Democrats still don’t get it.  For all of W’s and the Administration’s failings on the war on terror, they are hands down better than Al Gore and Kerry would have been.

History will judge, I guess.

So we have new threats and some kind of offer of a "truce"? I’d like to think it’s a sign of the pressure he’s under. The latest attack on his henchmen seems to have been pretty successful, and one of the real achievements of this administration has been its determination to take out the old al Qaeda leadership. Except Osama, of course.

Thanks for all your emails suggesting small changes to the site. One suggestion we’ve already implemented: there are now 25 separate posts available for reading at one time, rather than a mere ten. We’re working on the rest. Thanks for the input. More is always welcome. This is your site as much as mine – and I regularly get all my best news and opinion tips from readers. Email away.

The people speak.

Was he responsible for all of Western civilization? Alan Wolfe begs to differ.