The Dish

Professor Lucan Way discusses the revolution in Kyrgyzstan:

Africa, the former Soviet Union, and the Americas have recently witnessed several examples of “rotten door” transitions, in which protesters essentially knocked down doors that had already rotted from within. In such cases, even a small opposition push was sufficient to trigger regime collapse. In Georgia (2003), Haiti (2004), and Madagascar (2002, 2009), as well as Kyrgyzstan in 2005 and 2010, presidents fell because security forces would not or could not put down relatively small protests and were thus left defenseless as opponents overran the state…

Rotten door transitions are often easy, in the sense that they require little opposition mobilization. Yet rotten door transitions often do not lead to democracy, for several reasons. First, they often take place in a context of extreme state weakness, in which state agencies cannot enforce the rule of law across the national territory. Although such conditions may aid protesters seeking to storm the capital, they are hardly favorable to stable democratization.

Professor Scott Radnitz thinks the country came close to civil war last week.

Phil Gyford bashes internet infographics (after the jump because it's long):

(Hat tip: Kottke)

Xeni Jardin sits down with Matt and Trey on the eve of their 200th episode:

Everyone knows I'm a fan of South Park, to put it mildly. But this interview illuminates one reason I revere these guys. They are unafraid. They have taken on some really tough issues – Scientology, celebrity, child-abuse, anti-Semitism, free speech, Catholicism, Mormonism – and uttered what so many are afraid to utter. They retain a WTF edge that actually is a real edge, and not a phony one. They take risks. They even challenge their own bosses and industry with a tenacity Washington journalists could learn from.

The non-puss factor is why I see the Dish and South Park as coming broadly from the same sensibility and philosophy.

We're politically incorrect on all the dumb stuff, but deadly serious about free speech, and getting to the unsayable truths of the day. We're uncomfortable in lock-step liberal circles and ideological conservative ones. South Park, of course, has the advantage of being able to say things that we all know are true – like Tiger Woods' "sex addiction" hooey or the nonsense of ex-gay therapy or the infuriating smugness of many liberal celebs – through the mouths of cartoon kids. The Dish has to do it all with seriousness, although we try to leaven it as much as we can. But our spirit is SP, I hope. At least, I've done my best to express it that way – because it's how I see the world as well.

South Park almost never puts out a duff episode and with each season their cultural critiques get sharper, braver, and deadlier. And yet they have never for a millisecond lost the anarchic humor and schoolboy snicker that still makes it all fucking hilarious. The Dish reveres and honors them – for the very rare combination of not losing your balls as you get richer and more successful.

And Matt now has that kickass Jew-beard!

With love from all three of us to all of you. Anne and David too.

(Full disclosure: yes, Matt and I are good friends, and I know some of the SP crew.)

Yes, it's another Catholic priest:

The lawsuit describes a relationship between a then-16-year-old and Fiala, starting at a basketball game in 2007. It says Fiala lavished gifts on the boy, including a laptop computer, cell phone, MP3 player, money and later a Chrysler Sebring.

He provided alcohol and manipulated the teen into private catechism classes on church grounds where the alleged sexual abuse took place up to twice a month, the suit says.

It also claims Fiala gave the teen a ride in a church truck to Big Spring for the teen to visit his girlfriend but stopped at a San Angelo Motel 6. There, he raped the teen at gunpoint in a room and said, “If you tell anyone what happened, I will hurt you and your family,” according to the suit.

On other occasions, the priest manipulated the teen into performing oral sex, once by leveraging his gift of a car and another time pulling a revolver on him, according to the suit.

The teen eventually ran away from home and attempted suicide, the suit says. A school counselor learned of the alleged abuse and contacted the Sheriff’s Office.

But what makes this case explosive is that it happened very recently – 2008 – and that the archbishop involved, José Gomez, is accused in the suit of concealing the matter. That archbishop, an Opus Dei member, has just been appointed the archbishop (and presumably future Cardinal) in the Los Angeles archdiocese.

Recently, moreover, his spokesman claimed that:

only a couple allegations of sex abuse by priests had surfaced during Gomez’s tenure. He said they involved claims from 20 and 30 years ago and were made public at Gomez’s request and in keeping with the standards of transparency codified by bishops in the aftermath of an explosion of sex abuse allegations earlier this decade. “In the last five years, we’re blessed to not have had any allegations of new abuse,” Leopold said, reasserting programs and policies to protect from such abuse.

From the report, I do not see any evidence that Gomez tried to cover this up. But I have not read the full lawsuit and the statement above seems factually inaccurate.

My Princeton speech is currently on CSPAN-2.

A woman and a convert explains her stance:

I happen to think this is a great and important time to be Catholic.  Really.  No joke. How often do we get to be right smack in the middle of an opportunity for radical Christ-based, Holy Spirit-generated change – and know it?  The challenge is, of course, believing that such change is possible, that we can indeed “all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.”  I actively, consciously choose to walk by faith

and not by fright.

As a sociologist, I tend to view each crisis du jour within a larger framework. From this perspective, I’m able to see the Roman church as a man-made social institution rotting under layers of historical grime; one that seems stuck in its self-perpetuating narrative.  This sociological perspective also allows me to realize that change is not only possible, it’s inevitable. Thanks be to God – and I mean that quite literally.

Yes, I sometimes find myself praying, “Dear God, in your infinite mercy, please grant that I may be kicked out so I don’t have to leave.” During Advent, I even hinted around that excommunication might be a nice Christmas gift. (Everyone thought I was kidding.)  Still, I choose to stay. Why?

I choose to stay because “the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus” is indeed the goal toward which I’m called to press on.  I know the institutional church is simply an artifact that needs excavation and transformation. I choose to stay because I know God is bigger and the Holy Spirit more powerful than anything humans might muck up. I choose to be a participant observer.  I choose to stay because having been raised Jewish, I know things could always be worse. Indeed, they already have been.

Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada, 11.10 am

This Julian Sanchez post should be read in full. The central point, it seems to me, is that one can no more "blame" homosexuality for child-rape or minor-rape than one can "blame" heterosexuality for child-rape or minor-rape. Homosexuality and heterosexuality are sexual orientations. Sex with minors – of the same or the opposite sex – is a crime and a moral evil. What we're talking about here is not consensual adult sex with men or women (where sexual orientation may be applicable), but statutory rape of the under-age.

Adrian Chen observed an uncharacteristically earnest Colbert interview last night:

[H]is chat with Wikileaks founder and editor Julian Assange actually revealed some new insight into the notoriously mercurial Australian and the organization he runs. One constant criticism of Wikileaks’ helicopter video has been that its heavy editorial slant clashed with the supposed objectivity of the material they presented. Colbert challenged Assange on this point: “You have edited this tape, and you have given it a title called ‘collateral murder.’ That’s not leaking, that’s a pure editorial.” Assange responded that Wikileaks promises their sources that they will “try and get the maximum possible political impact for the material the give us.” According to Assange’s formulation, Wikileaks is essentially an advocacy group whose strength lies in its ability to secure incriminating documents.

I’ve never seen Colbert so clearly become his own character on the question of impugning the honor of American soldiers. I don’t doubt that his experience with the troops affected him on this question.

Josh Rogin reports:

Obama was very tough and resolute when talking about the Iran issue to Hu and said he wanted to see some progress by the end of April, we're told. Meanwhile, the Chinese, while not making any specific promises, are accepting the principle of a dual-track approach toward Iran, mixing engagement with pressure, and are working with the other countries in good faith, our sources report.

As one put it, "They're coming around."