Author: Andrew Sullivan

Dissent Of The Day

Many readers are pushing back on this post:

Sorry, Andrew, but you’re dead wrong.  Why?  The existence of the filibuster.  There is nothing wrong with a Senator saying, “Hey, I don’t like raising the debt ceiling clean, but I realize that if I take Ted Cruz’s position, then the country is screwed because we’ll default.  So I vote for cloture – avoiding the disaster – but vote no, because I really don’t like the clean bill.”  That’s not corrupt or insincere; it is realism at its best.  It is like the votes we’ve seen on Supreme Court Justices, where Senators vote for cloture because they think the filibuster is inappropriate in such a circumstance, but vote no on the nominee – again, it’s not corrupt or insincere.  If you don’t like it, get rid of the filibuster and/or the debt ceiling, but don’t think it would have been more honorable for McConnell or McCain to vote like Cruz.  It would have ended in disaster.  They knew it, and avoided it.  They deserve kudos.

I can see how my point could have been misread and apologize for the compression. Lots of readers objected. So let me try again.

In this case, yes, the premise for the disingenuousness among McCain, McConnell, et al. is the filibuster, whose abuse is, I agree, a problem. And in so far as McConnell wanted to avoid a filibuster, I agree with many readers that it was a good thing. But McConnell’s motive was not opposition to filibuster abuse. It was not wanting to vote for something he actually supported, for fear it could damage him for re-election. Of course, that kind of maneuvering is necessary now and again. It can be a regular tactic in tough political choices. But when it becomes completely reflexive – when so much of public policy is determined not by sincere positions on policy but almost entirely by cynical, self-interested positioning, it’s no surprise Americans loathe Washington so much.

That’s my point. And on that one, Cruz’s critique – if not Cruz himself – is not one to be dismissed. Or under-estimated.

What The Hell Is Happening In Venezuela? Ctd

The Caracas Chronicles calls itself “the place for opposition-leaning-but-not-insane analysis of the Venezuelan political scene since 2002.” The Dish linked to it several times yesterday. The site has a useful primer on the current protests.

A Deal To Stop The Bloodshed?

Violence Escalates As Kiev Protests Continue

Adam Martin summarizes that latest news from Ukraine:

Ukranian President Viktor Yanukovych signed a deal with protest leaders in Kiev on Friday, agreeing to early presidential elections, a coalition government, and a constitutional reduction of presidential powers. The deal, brokered by European Union and Russian mediators, restores the 2004 Ukranian constitution “with a rebalancing of powers towards a parliamentary republic,” Yanukovych said. The Ukranian parliament approved the reversion to the old constitution on Friday evening.

Radek Sikorski, Poland’s foreign minister, made the case for compromise to the opposition with characteristic bluntness:

Some good news for the former president, Yulia Tymoshenko:

Hayes Brown wonders if the protesters will abide by the agreement:

Despite the leadership’s willingness to sign onto the agreement, it is unclear whether the protesters in the Maidan will follow their lead and clear the square they have held for months on end.

According to the Kyiv Post, when opposition leader Oleh Tiahynbook addressed the crowd asking “Do we agree to this?”, referring to Yanukovych remaining in office, “the thousands of people assembled overwhelmingly shouted ‘no’ in response.” Kyiv Post’s CEO Jakub Parusinksi tweet out “If deal info true, #EU just exchanged minor diplomatic victory for the safety of #Ukrainian people.”

Demonstrators may continue to make demands, specifically Yanukovych’s immediate exit, feeling they come from a position of strength at the moment. On Friday a group of police officers from the city of Lviv, which has been a secondary hotbed of anti-Yanukovych sentiment, joined protesters in Kyiv, providing the opposition with a morale boost.

Max Boot chimes in:

It would be good if the accord sticks, in order to prevent further fighting, but at this point it is far from clear that it will do so. It was only on Wednesday, after all, that a previous truce had been announced, and then just as promptly broken. It is clear, however, that at least for now Yanukovych has temporarily disappointed his backers in the Kremlin by refusing to declare “emergency powers” and call in the army to clear out demonstrators from central Kiev after his police force failed to get the job done.

A small glimmer of hope.

(Photo: Tributes are placed at the spot where an anti-Government protestor was shot by a sniper near to Independence square, on February 21, 2014 in Kiev, Ukraine. Ukraine’s president Viktor Yanukovych is thought to have reached a deal with the opposition to end the crisis, after all-night talks in Ukraine mediated by EU foreign ministers. By Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

“Subhuman Mongrel”

President Obama Returns From Vacation In Hawaii Over Christmas

We all know there are plenty of kooks out there – on both sides – who say repulsive, racist or bigoted things all the time. The Internet has given every vice a voice. And I also hate stupid guilt-by-association smears that merely try to discredit politicians or writers on the basis of views they do not share and supporters they have not chosen. But I simply cannot get Ted Nugent’s rant about the president as a “sub-human mongrel” out of my head. And I cannot believe that a major political party in this country would not just refuse to repudiate it, but actively embrace Nugent as an ally in campaigns.

And yet they are. Just for the record, here is the full quote from Nugent – which is no exception to his usual fare:

I have obviously failed to galvanize and prod, if not shame enough Americans to be ever vigilant not to let a Chicago communist-raised, communist-educated, communist-nurtured subhuman mongrel like the ACORN community organizer gangster Barack Hussein Obama to weasel his way into the top office of authority in the United States of America.

This is the rhetoric of racist neo-fascism. It’s not legitimate criticism; it is an expression of white supremacy and the alleged evils of race-mixing. The fact that the GOP candidate for governor of Texas would seek to have Nugent join him on the campaign trail only weeks after these remarks were uttered should rightly disqualify him from holding any public office in this country. And yet Greg Abbott refuses even to address his endorsement of a white supremacist like Nugent.

The fact that Sarah Palin, a former candidate for the vice-presidency, would openly celebrate Nugent as her arbiter of what is good and true in politics, is equally horrifying even as it is completely unsurprising.

The fact that the former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, did not respond to this disgusting comment by condemning it immediately, but by reflexively deflecting the question back to Democratic extremists, is also appalling. The Republicans’ favorite rock star has called the president an animal. What would it take for a Republican to say he or she is horrified by that language and to defend the dignity and basic humanity of the president of the United States? Do they not hear the eliminationist racism in that phrase? Do they not even begin to imagine what it connotes for millions of Americans?

And now we have Ted Cruz also refusing to say, minutes after he just watched the full Nugent diatribe, that he would not have Ted Nugent on the campaign trail with him in the future. Money quote from the interview with Dana Bash, who asks Cruz his response to the Nugent rant:

CRUZ: “I think it is a little curious that — to be questioning political folks about rock stars. I got to tell you, listen. I’m not cool enough to hang out with any rock stars. Jay-Z doesn’t come over to my house. I don’t hang out with Ted Nugent.”

BASH: “Jay-Z doesn’t call the president a subhuman mongrel. Is this an appropriate thing to say?”

CRUZ: “I would be willing to bet that the president’s Hollywood friends have said some pretty extreme things.”

BASH: “The reason I played that for you is this week in Texas, he was invited to campaign with the man who may be your next governor in your party.”

CRUZ: “Those sentiments there, of course I don’t agree with them. You’ve never heard me say such a thing, nor would I.”

He then defended Nugent as a passionate fighter for Second Amendment rights, as if that required any assistance in an era with the most expansive interpretation of the Second Amendment by the Supreme Court in history and unprecedented levels of gun sales.

Look: there’s lots of crazy out there. The far left described George W. Bush as a chimp, and much worse, for Pete’s sake. But the phrase “subhuman mongrel” used against the first mixed-race president of the United States is an obscenity that should give every American pause. As Wolf Blitzer has pointed out, it reeks of Nazi terminology. But its origins are much closer to home, in the architecture of anti-miscegenation laws that came down to us from the era of slavery and Jim Crow. It’s the rhetoric of white supremacy deployed against the first African-American president.

Is that what the GOP now represents? Is that what it’s really come to?

(Photo: U.S. President Barack Obama and his daughters Malia and Sasha walk across the South Lawn of the White House after arriving by Marine One January 5, 2014 in Washington, DC. By Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images.)

What If Ukraine Splits?

Alexander Motyl doubts the government will allow it to happen:

Personally, I have no doubt that Ukraine without its southeast would be much stronger, more stable, and more prosperous than Ukraine with its southeast. The southeast’s rust-belt economy needs either to be shut down entirely or to be refitted at the cost of trillions of dollars of non-existent investments. Moreover, the statistics plainly show that Kyiv subsidizes the Donbas, and not vice versa.

The southeast also has a low birth rate, a high death rate, low life expectancy, high energy consumption, and high AIDS and crime rates. Last but not least, the southeast is home to the ruling Party of Regions and the Communist Party. Remove the southeast and Ukraine’s treasury experiences an immediate boon; its demographics, energy consumption, and health improve; and its politics automatically become more democratic and less corrupt.

Although lopping off the Donbas would benefit the rest of Ukraine, Yanukovych’s mafia regime desperately needs Ukraine to be whole. If Luhansk and Donetsk were to split away, their rust-belt economy would collapse without Kyiv’s financial support and the Regionnaires, trapped in their polluted bailiwick, would have nothing to steal.

Brian Whitmore asks Motyl about the country breaking apart:

[Q] with the crisis escalating and becoming increasingly violent, do you think Ukraine is heading toward partition?

[A] No, not really. I think the country is headed toward [President Viktor] Yanukovych’s collapse though. I’m not sure if it’s a matter of days, weeks, or months. But in cracking down he’s essentially signed his own death warrant.

(Hat tip: Totten)

Christianism Watch

“The Lord is a warrior and in Revelation 19 is says when he comes back, he’s coming back as what? A warrior. A might warrior leading a mighty army, riding a white horse with a blood-stained white robe … I believe that blood on that robe is the blood of his enemies ’cause he’s buff-jesus1coming back as a warrior carrying a sword.

And I believe now – I’ve checked this out – I believe that sword he’ll be carrying when he comes back is an AR-15.

Now I want you to think about this: where did the Second Amendment come from? … From the Founding Fathers, it’s in the Constitution. Well, yeah, I know that. But where did the whole concept come from? It came from Jesus when he said to his disciples ‘now, if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.’

I know, everybody says that was a metaphor. IT WAS NOT A METAPHOR,” – Jerry Boykin, Family Research Council.

Foster Kids Hung Out To Dry

Reflecting on his experience in the child welfare system, Tomas Rios discusses the Midwest Study (pdf), which is “as close as anyone has come to a comprehensive, longitudinal, and methodologically-sound statement on the outcomes of youth who age out” of foster care:

Even a cursory glance at the data makes it clear that our “go figure it out” solution for youth who go unadopted and without family reunification is plainly inhumane.

At the age of 26, 31 percent of responding participants had either couch surfed or been homeless since their last interview (which are typically every two years), while 46.8 percent were currently unemployed. By comparison, the general population rate for unemployment stands at 6.7 percent. As for homelessness, while different methodological measures abound, the general sense is that the homeless make up less than one percent of the population at any given time. The study also includes data on four-year college graduation rates (2.5 percent), annual income (79.4 percent report a total income of less than $25,000) and, perhaps most depressing of all, social support networks.

More than 17 percent report having no one to loan them money, and 9.1 percent report having no one to help them meet their goals. This isn’t just sad, it’s a bulletproof indictment of a system we are all obligated to help pay for.

You Tweet At Your Mother With That Mouth?

twitter-curses

Derek Mead parses a new study that details the cursing habits of Twitter users:

While it should come as no surprise that “fuck” is the star of the show, I didn’t expect that it would represent more than a third of all swear words said. And the swearing is really concentrated. According to the paper, “the top seven curse words – fuck, shit, ass, bitch, nigga, hell and whore cover 90.55% of all the curse word occurrences.” What, no love for damn or crap?

Mario Aguilar highlights another interesting finding:

We all know that we swear when we’re angry or frustrated, but the study interestingly points out that in the real-world, people also tend to swear in more relaxed environments because they’re less likely to be called out by people around them. This remains true online, but the disparity between relaxed environments and places where people tend to be more buttoned up barely registers. According to the study’s conclusion:

We find that users do curse more in relaxed environments, but the differences across different environments are very small, partly due to the fact that Twitter messages are posted in virtual digital world.

In other words, you could say that Twitter turns everywhere into your living room. Is that why I can’t stop cursing online? That’s for you to fucking decide.