mercuriosity, posts by tag: politics - LiveJournal (original) (raw)
31 January 2011 @ 08:20 pm
Re: H.R.3, the No
Taxpayer Funding for Abortion
Bodily Autonomy for Women Act:
Chipping Away at Roe...and the Definition of Rape
There are so many rape culture tropes being served here, I could frankly spend the entire day documenting the innumerable manifestations of misogynistic fuckery at work here.
But instead I'm going to focus on but one truly shocking aspect of this proposed legislation which probably won't get a whole lot of attention: The proposed law effectively, if not by design, gives veto control over terminating pregnancies resulting from rape to the rapist.
See also #dearjohn: No On 3, for things you can do to express your extreme displeasure with this proposed legislation.
Re: Egypt:
Washington's Sudden Embrace of Al Jazeera Won't Erase Past US Crimes Against the Network
For people who have followed Al Jazeera's history with the US, the fact that it is now perceived by the White House and the American public as a force for democracy and freedom is an ironic, some would say hypocritical, development. The contrast between Washington's posture toward al Jazeera from the Bush era to the Obama presidency could not be more stark.
Re: Puerto Rico:
Protests and Arrests Continue at the University of Puerto Rico
This is a struggle that has been going on for months with very little coverage in the U.S. media even though Puerto Rico is a colony of the U.S. I ask again, were this happening at a university in Indiana, would it be so ignored?
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20 January 2011 @ 11:59 pm
Today I read this post, I watched this video, and then I struggled for half an hour to scrape enough words together for a very short letter, which I then sent with minor modifications to my Senators and my Representative.
As part of my resolution this year to do more for the causes I believe in, I'm trying to take that oft-heard but rarely followed advice: "Contact your representatives." There's a point at which ranting in safe spaces online and putting my electronic signature on various petitions starts to feel really inadequate--especially when they start autofilling in my address for me; I feel like the guilty housewife who must add an egg to the cake mix. Not to say that these aren't great things to do! I am a firm believer in the philosophy of teaspooning. But I'd been doing them for long enough that I felt ready to take the next step.
In so doing, I've started to realize just how little I know about how our political system works, elementary school civics lessons and Schoolhouse Rock aside. Which is both an extra layer of intimidation and an incentive. How can I not know these important things? And how much more could I do if I learned?
It isn't easy, finding words. But the only thing that convinced me I could do it was hearing from other people--regular people, my fellow online ranters--that they had done it. Hearing other people say, "I called x" or "I wrote y" transformed contact your representatives from a theoretical idea to a thing people actually did. If they could do it, I reasoned, so could I.
And hey, if I can do it...
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Whew! That was heavy stuff. Now, as a reward for writing those letters, I shall unwind by watching White Collar goofiness. Don't forget the rewards!
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10 January 2011 @ 05:56 pm
Or you could just read Liss at Shakesville, who as usual says all that needs to be said and says it better than just about anybody else.
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10 January 2011 @ 02:31 pm
"There are extremists on both sides."
This is a popular refrain in the wake of Saturday's shootings in Arizona. This is a seemingly logical and true statement, and difficult for anyone to deny without looking ridiculous. That's why it's a popular tool of those who want to shut down any real discussion of culpability. But what does it mean? At this point, approximately nothing. Let me break it down for you:
We're not talking about extremists. We're talking about Sarah Palin, Sharron Angle, Michele Bachmann, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, and other mainstays of the conservative mainstream. I may consider their views dangerous and extreme, but they are not treated as such by the Right. Which by itself is a huge part of the problem.
Left-wing extremists don't have cable TV programs, radio shows, and public offices from which to disseminate their extremist views. I'm sure you can find extreme Leftist rhetoric, even violent rhetoric, if you search on the Internet; meanwhile, all you have to do to hear extreme Rightist rhetoric is turn on the TV or the radio. In this way, Right-wing demagoguery is given legitimacy, authority, and the illusion of rationality.
Sure, you may find calls to violence at both extremes of the political spectrum, but only one "side" has made war and increasingly unregulated gun ownership cornerstones of their political platform. See also, #1.
This isn't a theoretical debate about which side has the largest proportion of extremists, or the most dangerous. All theoretical extremists aside, in the past several months, I have only heard one side talking in apocalyptic language about how our country is headed for doom and catastrophe, I have only heard one side talking about "reloading" and "Second Amendment solutions", I have only heard one side suggesting that those on the opposing side are not only wrong, but un-American enemies that need to be "targeted" and "taken out", I have only heard one side implicitly endorsing armed rebellion against the government.
On balance, there's no balance.
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More resources [Warning for ableist language in all links, and as usual, don't read the comments]:
The Right's Rising Tide of Violent Rhetoric @ Media Matters
False Equivalency Watch @ Washington Monthly
Climate of Hate @ NYT
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09 January 2011 @ 05:02 pm
The latest news (video) on the condition of Rep. Giffords and the other victims. As I write this, Rep. Giffords is reportedly able to communicate by following simple commands. Her doctors are "cautiously optimistic."
A couple of inspiring stories in the midst of this tragedy:
A woman who was already shot reportedly grabbed a magazine clip away from Loughner as he was trying to reload.
Giffords' intern Daniel Hernandez ran toward the sound of gunfire, stayed with Giffords until help arrived (warning for graphic photo).
From the You've-got-to-be-fucking-kidding-me files:
An aide to Sarah Palin is now claiming that the crosshairs on the infamous map were "never intended" to be gun sights; they were "surveyor's marks". Unbelievable. She also manages to use lots of ableist language to shift all the blame onto mentally ill people, awesome.
And some must-read links:
An excerpt from Death of a President, by William Manchester, about the violent and poisonous political atmosphere in the months leading up to the assassination of JFK.
The Cloudy Logic of 'Political' Shootings, by James Fallows, who points out that the "politics" of assassinations and assassination attempts rarely match up 100% with what we expect; but that doesn't mean they're not political, and it doesn't mean the political atmosphere doesn't influence or contribute to them.
Mental illness is not a valid explanation for what Jared Lee Loughner did, so stop it already.
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09 October 2009 @ 12:09 pm
House Votes to Expand Hate Crimes Definition
Republicans criticized the legislation, saying
violent attacks were already illegal regardless of motive. They said the measure was an effort to create a class of “thought crimes” whose prosecution would require ascribing motivation to the attackerirrelevant bullshit that's already been refuted a million times.
Fixed that for you, NYT.
Also, the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Obama. First thought: Wow, is that ever going to piss off some Republicans.
I am so sick of hearing debate over whether Sonia Sotomayor will "let" her ethnicity or life experience as a Latina woman influence her decisions as a justice. Right, because white male judges' decisions are never influenced by their whiteness or their maleness. They're white! They're male! They're the default!
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Conservatives are upset because the new chairman of the Republican Party has expressed the shocking views that gays and women might be people.
Listening to Schroeder - The passages Schroeder played in "Peanuts" comic strips weren't just random notes; they were actual excerpts from Beethoven scores that often added an extra layer of meaning or humor to the strip. Really cool!
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Your daily recommended dose of McSweeney's Internet Tendency:
Selections From H.P. Lovecraft's Brief Tenure as a Whitman's Sampler Copywriter. Few men dare ask the question "What is toffee, exactly?" All those who have investigated this substance are now either dead or insane.
The Neurotic Pickup Artist. Do you have a Band-Aid? Because I just scraped my knee falling for you. Do you have any hydrogen peroxide? Maybe one of those alcohol wipes?
Unpromising Apartment-Ad Teasers Actually Found on Craigslist That Would Make Even Less Promising Personal-Ad Teasers. Totally gutted and refurbished charmer.
The Elements of Spam. 1. Form the possessive of nouns by adding 's, just an apostrophe, just an s, a semicolon, a w, an ampersand, a 9, or anything.
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Via 
illian: The purplest of prose. Now with illustrations!
Her face had the fragrance of a gibbous moon, guys. A gibbous moon. I suddenly feel better about everything I have ever written.
29 August 2008 @ 01:52 am
This is amazing.
A man running for State Representative in Kansas has raised over $95,000 from over 3,000 individuals with the help of the above comic strip, which is chock full of geeky references and Internet meme-dropping.
I don't know how tenable snark and geekery are as a platform in an actual political race, but man, reading that comic made me want to believe. If only politics could have a sense of humor like this more often.
Current Music: Crystal Castles, "Courtship Dating"
Current Mood: admiring