Month: December 2008

Inside The Christianist Mind

The Alliance Defense Fund celebrates stripping couples of their rights:

Joe writes:

Note how the clip hits on all this year’s big "persecuted Christians" stories. Styrofoam Cross Lady: check. New Mexico wedding photographer: check. Castro bible thumpers clip: check.

The importance of portraying 2 percent of the population as far more powerful than the 98 percent and the need to keep that 2 percent from destroying civilization – and allegedly making Christianity illegal – has some interesting historical forebears.

Sic Semper …?

Norm takes up Peter Tatchell’s suggestion that it might be time to off Mugabe:

"In 2008 we already do know how much death and suffering Mugabe has been responsible for in order that Peter’s qualified semi-pacifism should be able to yield a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. That he would prefer to see Mugabe put on trial also doesn’t answer the question. He would prefer it – but would the assassination of Mugabe be, in his terms, morally justified though wrong, justified as the lesser of two evils?"

For the record, however absolutely vile Mugabe is, assassination as public policy is a horrifying idea.

“Delighted”

Steve Clemons responds to Frank Gaffney’s extraordinary choice of words:

There is a dark truth in the national security establishment. Generals, intelligence directors, national security advisors, and the President prepare themselves to make judgments that may cost American lives. Part of their world involves very tough choices and occasional tragedies. But none of these would ever say that they were "delighted" sending Americans to their death, even if a greater good was accomplished and a major policy objective secured.

Justice Porn

Greg Beato finds TV judge shows "stubbornly seductive":

Five years ago, there were seven fake judges giving us our day (and occasional evening hour) in court. Now there are nearly twice that many, with three new shows (Judge Karen, Judge Jeanine Pirro, and Family Court With Judge Penny) debuting in September 2008 alone. At least one other, Street Judge, is on the way. They’re there because in the ever-shrinking world of television syndication, where competition from cable and the Internet has made Oprah-sized hits as rare as silk ascots on The Jerry Springer Show, the new dream is a steady 1.5 Nielsen rating on a weekly budget of no more than $500,000. Justice porn, it turns out, is a fairly reliable way to achieve that end: Find a sassy real-life jurist with an itch for the big time, throw some penny-ante miscreants at her mercy, and let the premature adjudication begin.

My guilty pleasure: the one and only Judy Sheindlin. If only she had been able to interview Sarah Palin.

The Real Power Brokers

Thomas P.M. Barnett:

There is the assumption that it’s the political appointees who run things or change things or are the real power players in DC. My experience has always been that the real power in DC is the persistent class of senior bureaucrats just below the political level. The appointees typically last about 12-to-18 months, getting up to speed for most of that period and–maybe–having some actual impact if they’re quite focused in their goals. Otherwise they come and go, leaving nary a trace. They may think they run things and we may hold them ultimately responsible, but the truth is they’re more powerless than powerful.