Month: December 2009

A reader writes:

Not all comic references to gays in the past were hostile. References to gay characters in the early '80's in mainstream comics (Marvel and DC) were practically nonexistent. The publishers were timid, the Comics Code was a weak but present barrier, and the medium was still focused on children, by and large. But despite this, It turns out Captain America had a gay friend.

His was Arnie Roth, a fellow WWII vet and childhood friend of Cap's. Roth had a 'roommate' named Michael, and the point was driven home that the two were lovers. At no time was Roth reduced to a stereotype.

At one point, none other than the Red Skull – a Nazi of the blackest dye – captures and mocks Roth for his homosexuality. Cap's response: 

"You're as good and decent a man as I’ve ever known! They can’t corrupt your love for Michael with their lies…They’re the pariahs! They’re the disease!”

This makes sense; while Captain America started out as an anti-Nazi trope in the '40's and headhunted Communists in the '50's, by the '70's, Marvel turned him into a broadly left-wing patriot who would still kick ass. He had reservations about Vietnam and partnered with a black superhero. This has been the case ever since. After 9/11 he emphasized not taking out American rage on all Muslims indiscriminately. And then kicked ass.

I'm straight. But with all the crap and lies that gets served up to kids in entertainment, it got my attention at age ten. After all, if the guy who punched out Hitler had no problem with gays, who was I to argue?

If you make one thing this Christmas ….

Andrew Breitbart's Big Government site does an expose on commie, homo, trannie themes buried in three White House Christmas tree ornaments. It's like McCarthyism revisited as farce.

"…merged bill may b unrecognizable from what assumed was a done deal:R death panels back in?what's punishment 4not purchasing mandated HC?" – Sarah Palin, leader of the GOP.

Megan calls Harry Reid's provision for the Independent Medicare Advisory Board "an unprecedented and troubling power grab."  She elaborates:

I do actually understand Reid's intent:  they are trying to set up an institution that can make binding cuts to medical services, which is difficult to do if that institution is subject to political pressure.  I quite agree that without such a provision, the institution is unlikely to work. But process matters.  What if your select commission runs amok?  Or what if 80-90% of Americans simply hate it and don't want it? It is neither practically nor ethically desirable to appoint a dictator.  Nor is any man so wise that he should be able to enshrine his preference into unchangeable law for all time.

From Politifact. John Cole looks back at the year:

There have definitely been compromises, and there have been letdowns. There have been mistakes, and there have been broken promises. I’m not thrilled with the slow pace of Gitmo, I’m not thrilled about any number of things, but I see slow progress. But there have also been unrealistic expectations- Obama was always a risk averse, cautious, careful person- I remember the many discussions we had here regarding Obama as poker player versus John McCain and his reckless love of roulette, and we used to agree that a cautious poker player who studies the opposition and thinks long ball and treats us like adults was desirable.

Andrew Sprung goes line by line.

A reader writes:

The all time, hands down, most depressing Christmas song has to be "Grandma got run over by a reindeer." I mean…a GRANDMA gets RUN OVER by a Freakin' Reindeer! Missing your, family, or a lover kinda' seems a little whiny compared to a senior citizen brutally attacked by an animal. They even say she had hoof prints on her back.

Yglesias is surprised by the GOP's united front:

It’s normally hard for a congressional minority to maintain discipline. After all, the majority can offer actual things—policy concessions and porky handouts—that the minority really can’t offer. Throughout this process I kept making jokes about health reform being amended to include a lobsterman bailout to get Senators Collins & Snowe to sign on, and I really thought something like that would work.

And this applies triply to substantive policy issues. I’ve heard dozens of conservative commentators complain that the bill’s deficit-reduction measures and cost controls aren’t tough enough. And I’ve heard plenty of Republicans echoing these complaints. But where were the GOP Senators saying “I will vote for this bill if such-and-such cost controls are strengthened in such-and-such a way.” The filibuster gives members of the minority real leverage. Leverage they could have used to shape the course of policy. Instead, they gave all their leverage away to Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson, so we wound up with some weird freebies for Nebraska.