Month: September 2010

A reader writes:

As a long-time and appreciative reader, I want to point out a small error in your post concerning Rush Limbaugh's bizarre, offensive tirade against the football commercial.  You called Mark Sanchez of the New York Jets the first ever Hispanic quarterback.  In fact, he is not.  That distinction belongs to Tom Flores, who first started for the Oakland Raiders in 1960.  A minor error to be sure, but one worth noting.

But Sanchez is historic for a similar reason:

While there had been previous, successful Mexican-American quarterbacks such as Jim Plunkett, Joe Kapp, Jeff Garcia, Tony Romo, and Marc Bulger, unlike his predecessors, Sanchez was a third-generation, full-blooded Mexican-American.

From an OC Weekly profile of Sanchez that centered on Mouthpiece-gate, an incident in which he was harassed for wearing a Mexican flag mouthpiece during a college game:

"I was a little disappointed, a little hurt, at the backlash because it wasn't some sort of radical, Mexican-pride thing," he says. "It was a chiste—a joke—between myself and our team dentist [Ramon Roges]. It was a high-five to people who have supported me and whom I'm similar to. But it's important for people to understand that I'm grateful to live in the United States, the best country in the world."

A reader writes:

I had a look at the DWTS clip, and a thought occurred to me: do you suppose that Palin will talk about education in her stump speeches? If so, I hope the good citizens of Iowa think to ask her how many days of school little Willow has missed to attend events like this. I grew up in a farming community in the Midwest not all that many years ago, and the ethos was you did not miss a day of school unless – to use Ferris Buehler’s memorable phrase – you were barfing up a lung

I remember waking one morning with a fever of 101. My mom agreed that I wouldn’t have to get on the bus (it arrived at 6:50AM). However, she wouldn’t rule out the possibility that my fever might break and she could then drive me to school in time for the first bell. It did. She did. I survived to tell the tale.

Another writes:

Your post about this story is really annoying. 

Of all the angles you could have taken with it… really?  Not a word on the pettiness of the booers (booing someone who’s there to support her daughter for cryin’ out loud?)  Not a mention that it’s entirely possible the person “in the audience” with the blog posting could be a liar or phony himself?  Not even the common sense to just wait until it’s cleared up (as it’s supposedly going to be tonight on the results show)?  God forbid you actually step back and try to be objective about this woman.  I typically just ignore anything you post about Palin because it’s just intellectually deficient propaganda drab at this point, but this irked me enough to comment.

If DWTS explains what the booing was about and it had nothing to do with Sarah Palin’s emergence, we will, as always, correct the record.

[Update: ABC has now corrected the record. The booing was not about Sarah Palin but a reaction to an announcement of scores. The Dish apologizes for jumping to conclusions.)

A couple weeks ago, Michael Klarman, the political scientist Lexington leaned heavily on, gave a speech about the Constitution. Money quote from the text:

The Constitution was drafted over 200 years ago by people with very different concerns and values. They didn’t value gender or racial equality as we do. They certainly didn’t believe in a right to sexual autonomy. Their notions of free speech were vastly more restrictive than our own. And, despite the First Amendment to the Constitution, they had no problem with established churches or public displays of Protestant Christianity by government officials that would strike us today as deeply exclusionary.

And the Supreme Court for much of its history has approved of racial segregation and disenfranchisement, the subordination of women and gays and lesbians, the criminalization of dissident speech, and a very narrow conception of the separation of church and state and of the rights of criminal defendants.

In the end, we, the American people, determine what sort of country we live in–the Constitution and the courts play a relatively marginal role in that process.

Bernstein's earlier dissent here.

David Thier reviews FX's man-centric lineup. His conclusion:

In this magazine, earlier this year, Hannah Rosin proclaimed "The End of Men:" citing a post-industrial society for a female ascendancy that is finally, after untold thousands of years, undercutting the phallocracy. It wasn't the first time someone had made such an observation, and the Internet had a field day debating the article, but a core observation remains—the old stereotypes of what makes a man a man just don't mesh with an age of the iPad.

It's no coincidence that while the traditional masculine roles may be disappearing in reality, they've only become stronger on television. After all, the cowboy never became the pinnacle of American manhood until he was crushed by a freight train. Mad Men's Don Draper on AMC is the poster man of the small screen: tortured, broad-shouldered, drunk, fading.

Rob Tisinai pulverizes NOM's brief defending Prop 8.

A reader writes:

While I love Dan Savage, I have to disagree with his statement that "We can’t help them," referring to LGBT youth being bullied in high schools. There is absolutely something we can do.

In 1995, Lambda brought a case on behalf of Jamie Nabozny against the high school that allowed him to be relentlessly and brutally bullied for four years.  Students urinated on him, pretended to rape him during class, and when they found him alone kicked him so many times in the stomach that he required surgery. Although they knew of the abuse, school officials said at one point that Nabozny should expect it if he’s gay. For the first time, in this case, a court issued an opinion finding that a public school could be held accountable for not stopping antigay abuse. The case went back to trial and a jury found the school officials liable for the harm they caused to Nabozny. The case then settled for close to $1 million.

We need a national campaign to sue the crap out of these schools.  The disgusting and bigoted principals and administrators may be afraid to stand up for a gay kid, but they won't hesitate to protect themselves against a six figure damages claim.

Steve Nash worries about rising seas:

Jim Titus, chief sea-level-rise expert at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), estimates that shore protection for the lower 48 states could cost around $1 trillion. And seawalls—a necessity to protect places like Manhattan—could create as many problems as they solve. Dikes, levees, and bulkheads will destroy many coastal wetlands by preventing them from migrating inland as the seas advance.

Most of the coastal wetlands in the mid-Atlantic could disappear by the end of the century if they have no place to go and the seas rise three feet or more. These wetlands are highly valuable, reducing the impact of floods, protecting against storms, and shielding freshwater supplies from the ocean. They’re also key nurseries for fish: About two-thirds of the commercial fisheries off the Atlantic depend on wetlands, where invertebrates and small fish that feed on decomposing matter support rockfish, menhaden, blue crab, and other large species.

(Hat tip: Plumer)

The US could save $18 billion annually by legalizing marijuana?

Today on the Dish, Andrew urged Obama to unleash the hounds in the fiscal fight with the GOP. In a harrowing story, some U.S. soldiers saved Afghan body parts as souvenirs and took pictures. Heather Mac Donald eviscerated Dinesh D'Souza, and Hume joined ranks with Sprung on how Obama has already won. Reihan and Ezra argued over immigrants and visas, and Chris Good warned Obama about being a buzzkill on Prop 19. And there was one act of true American tyranny that the Tea Party didn't dare protest, but Tim Lee did.

Serwer pointed fingers at the media for the Petraeus Syndrome, while Andrew nailed Petraeus for the rise (again) of Al Qaeda in Iraq. CIA bombings escalated in Pakistan and Uganda gay-baited. Limbaugh went loco over Latino advertising, a Grayson campaign ad stooped to new lows, and Dish readers didn't defend Coulter's presence at Homocon. Jelani Cobb and Hitchens skewered Pastor Long.

Palin's publisher promised "soberly argued" books from the right, and the woman herself may or may not have been booed on her daughter's show.  Readers rejected McArdle's niggling over bullied gay teens, confusion over health care reform still reigned, and a reader couldn't take Bill Bennett gambling because he'd turn into a hedonist. Malcolm Gladwell got smacked around. The genesis of good ideas got animated, and the earth's oldest tree may be headed for the lumber yard. Mataconis praised the death of the salesman, centenarians hadn't always led the healthiest lives, and Joan Dejean chronicled the sofa's hold on humanity.

Canada churned out cheap cigarettes, Manzi ate his cheeseburger in French paradise, and science got dumbed down for newspapers. Yglesias award here, MHB here, cool ad here, VFYW here, FOTD here, and VFYW contest #17 winner here.

–Z.P.