That's interesting...

Indecision 2012 - Survival of the Funded

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Part 2, covering Tim Pawlenty, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, and Mitt Romney, is here. (I particularly like the part about Cain, whose knowledge of the U.S. Constitution seems to be horribly lacking, even considering the low standards of Republican politicians.)

Romney is certainly ahead in fund-raising, but I'm not sure if that means he's actually the front-runner. Most likely, he's just the preferred candidate of the wealthy, being a guy who's not quite as crazy as the favorites of the GOP base and who'll be anything his backers want him to be.

Liberal? Conservative? Communist? Whatever it takes to slake his ambition, Romney will be that guy for you. And certainly, Republicans aren't concerned about hypocrisy. Just ask David Vitter or Newt Gingrich about "defending marriage." But Romney might be a little too blatant about it, even for them.

And Romney has "Obamacare" hanging over his head. Not only did the Democrats take that plan directly from the Republicans, but Romney actually implemented it when he was governor of Massachusetts. So it makes it a little harder for him to join the others in claiming that it's vile socialism, the worst thing that's ever happened to America.

Yeah, he still claims that, of course. It's just even sillier when he does it. And since he's got a record from when he was governor of trying to seem liberal enough for Massachusetts, there's more than enough ammunition for his political enemies to use, now that he's trying to convince GOP voters his positions are all just the reverse.

But then, who else is there? Romney might win the nomination by default, since at least he's white and at least he's a Republican. I never thought his chances were very good, but... look at the competition. You couldn't get any weaker by trying to elect George W. Bush again.

Oh, wait, they're going to do that, too, aren't they?

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Voter fraud

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Voter ID Laws

Four instances of fraud out of more than 9 million votes? It's no wonder Republicans are up in arms!

But, of course, Republicans are faith-based. That means they believe what they believe, regardless of the evidence. And when they can disenfranchise 178,000 Democratic voters - just in South Carolina alone - they're quite willing to make that sacrifice.

Well, minorities vote "wrong," huh? And so do students. And the poor. And,... well, all those people who tend to vote Democratic. If only it were just evangelical Christians and the rich who were allowed to vote...

Personally, I'm so disgusted with how few Americans vote - or even bother to register to vote - that I'm almost willing to congratulate those four people who voted fraudulently, just for being willing to do their civic duty.

Stephen Colbert out of character

Great stuff, isn't it?

I hope these "it gets better" videos can convince kids that their current situation isn't their whole life. (And I'm not just talking about gay teens here.) Things can seem so important when you're a kid, things that completely lose their importance when you get older.

And when you're bullied, it's not about you. Seriously. It's entirely about the bully. Bullies feel the need to bully someone because of the way they are. It really has nothing to do with you. If they didn't have you as a target, they'd pick someone else.

Of course, it's not fun to be the target of a bully. But it's not as personal as if feels, either. Bullies generally need to pick on someone in order to try to feel better about themselves. And they will pick anyone they can. It's not really about you. It's about them.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

The internet as the greatest threat to faith

(Jesus and Mo)

Christians are worried. Now they can't raise their kids in a bubble, protected from any contrary information that might make them think:

“The Internet has given atheists, agnostics, skeptics, the people who like to destroy everything that you and I believe, the almost equal access to your kids as your youth pastor and you have... whether you like it or not,” said [Josh] McDowell...

It used to be that most American kids were surrounded with Christian thinking, encountering no one who'd even express doubts about the adult version of Santa Claus. I know when I grew up, I never knew a single other person who wasn't a Christian, at least as far as I knew.

Of course, I always read a lot, so I did have access to other ideas. But people who didn't read could be remarkably ignorant about anything that believers didn't want to acknowledge.

But this is why religion overwhelmingly depends on where you are born. A child born of Muslim parents in Iran or Saudi Arabia is highly likely to believe in Islam when he grows up. A child born of Hindu parents in India is highly likely to be a Hindu as an adult. And a child born of Christian parents in America is quite likely to believe in the Christian mythology later in life.

...But not as likely as it used to be, apparently. Or that's the Christian fear, at least. You see, Christianity just can't compete with evidence and rational thought. If children aren't brainwashed at a young age, they'll start thinking for themselves - especially when diverse views are so easy to find on the internet.

Now I think of that as a good thing. Hmm,... doesn't that tell you something? After all, shouldn't I be worried that children of atheist parents will find Christian or Muslim thinking online? Shouldn't I want to shelter impressionable atheist children from such things?

But no, I'm confident enough of my own opinions that I'm willing to compete in an open forum. If believers think they have something to say, let them say it. It's only believers who worry that they just can't compete on a level playing field. Gee, I wonder why that is?

Obviously, all parents want to teach their children what they themselves believe. There's nothing wrong with that. But religious believers want to block off any diverse views. They often send their children to religious schools, so that their kids encounter no one different, no one who disagrees with their own pet dogma.

Diversity is a danger when you can't support what you believe. It's not a danger at all when you can. That should tell us something.

I don't know if the internet is actually such a threat to believers, since most people won't bother looking for contrary opinions - and won't believe it if they do encounter something contrary to church teaching. But just knowing that there are other people - many of them - who think differently might help to deprogram them.

Still, I'm sure most people will continue to believe what they've been taught since infancy. After all, it's very easy to believe what you want to believe, and who wouldn't want to believe that they're never going to die - and, more importantly, that the people they love will never die, either?

I know I'd like to believe that, myself. There's only one reason I don't: there's absolutely no evidence to indicate that it's anything but wishful-thinking. And I prefer the truth, even a difficult truth, to a pleasant lie.

The Muslim-Nazi-Vietcong conspiracy

Debt Ceiling Deadline Conspiracy

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Yeah, I know I posted one clip from The Colbert Report already this morning. But this was too good to pass up.

Really, with the right-wing around, these comedy skits must virtually write themselves, don't you think? I mean, tell me that Rush Limbaugh isn't deliberately going for the laughs. But it's not so funny when you think it's our country we're talking about.

Isn't our economy in enough trouble already? (And note that it was the Republicans who got us into this mess. So why is anyone still listening to them?)

Rick Perry/Yahweh 2012

God calls Rick Perry to Run

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Another right-wing evangelical Republican governor from Texas in the White House, faith-based and letting "God" make all the decisions? What could possibly go wrong with that?

The piling on

Horrible Bosses - Fox News Won't Dumpster Dive

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

This is the second part of Jon Stewart's "Horrible Bosses" segment (the first part is here). I just enjoy seeing Fox's hypocrisy displayed so clearly.

And I enjoy seeing them play defense, too. Fox would be easier to take if they were always on the defensive. They still wouldn't be admirable, of course. But their hypocritical outrage is kind of fun.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Fox News circles the wagons

This is Steve Doocy on Fox and Friends going all out to defend his boss in that News of the World hacking scandal. But it's really hilarious how he does it, don't you think? Could anyone but a regular Fox "News" viewer buy any of this?

First, he and his guest, Robert Dilenschneider, argue that we should move on. Nothing to see here, right? "We know it's a hacking scandal. Shouldn't we get beyond it and really deal with the issue of hacking? Citicorp has been hacked into. Bank of America has been hacked into. American Express has been hacked into."

(Note that all of the quotes here are from Dilenschneider, unless I specifically note otherwise.)

You see what they're doing? These companies were all the victims of hacking. Rupert Murdoch's News of the World was the perpetrator of this hacking scandal, not the victim. Fox is deliberately trying to confuse their viewers in this matter.

And yeah, everyone gets hacked, right? So what's the big problem? This tabloid was hacking into the phones of family members of 9/11 victims. They were hacking into the phones of the families of soldiers killed in Iraq, to prey on their grief.

They not only hacked into the phone of a missing girl, so they could publish the anguished appeals of her parents, they also deleted messages when the phone's voicemail got full, giving the parents (and the police) false hope that their child was still alive!

And yeah, they were bribing police officials, too.

"So we have to figure out a way to deal with this hacking problem. That's what we have to do." Um, maybe arresting the people who commit this crime is a good start?

And Rupert Murdoch has apologized. My God, why isn't that enough? Heh, heh. It's funny how quickly that right-wing "get tough on crime" meme disappears when it's one of their own, isn't it? Hey, we committed a crime. Oops, my bad. But now that I've apologized, can't we just move on?

"For some reason the public, the media, keeps going over this, again and again." Gee, you think media outlets grab a scandal like a dog grabs a bone? Wow, that's unusual isn't it? Imagine not wanting to give a scandal a rest! These two guys must not actually watch Fox, themselves.

But he's still trying to make Rupert Murdoch the victim in this. And at the same time, he's reinforcing the Fox "News" message that conservatives are under constant attack by the liberal media. The right-wing has this victim mentality anyway. Even when they're at fault - maybe even especially when they're at fault - they imagine themselves as the victims, battling valiantly against oppression.

"But I think the bigger issue is really hacking, and how we as a public are going to protect ourselves and our privacy, and deal with it." Er, by arresting those responsible, perhaps? That would be a nice start, don't you think? And by making a BIG DEAL out of a serious matter like this?

"And I would also say, by the way, Citigroup - great bank - Bank of America - great bank. Are they getting the same kind of attention for hacking that took place less than a year ago that News Corp. is getting today? (Doocy says, "Right.")

Heh, heh. Again, these "great banks" were the victims of hacking, not the perpetrators of it. We really do tend to focus our attention on finding and catching criminals, not their victims.

But note that Doocy's guest is a PR executive. He knows exactly what he's doing, and so does Doocy. They're trying to confuse Fox "News" viewers - not a difficult problem, I'm sure - by equating News Corp. with the victims of hacking, rather than as the organization responsible for it.

Doocy randomly throws out China and government secrets and debt, in a desperate attempt to change the subject. "Where is that as a big story?" he asks. Heh, heh. Well, you know, Fox does claim to be a news network, so why is Doocy wasting his time defending his boss when he could be covering something important?

Dilenschneider again: "It's really very, very scary. And I think that we should be very concerned as a public about our privacy and about people getting access to what we have, and we have to find ways to defend ourselves." Right, which is exactly why this hacking scandal is big news.

But what Fox "News" viewers will pick up from this is that Fox is being picked on (again) by the "lamestream media." Doocy presents Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. as the victims here. Yeah, it's insane, but his viewers are conditioned to believe that kind of thing.

Doocy complains again about the media "piling on." Heck, you'd think that Martians had landed or something! Yeah, Fox "News" never does that, does it? Whoever heard of the media piling on to a juicy scandal? (And Fox is always one of the worst perpetrators, provided only that it's not a right-wing scandal.)

Doocy: "We've got some serious problems in this country right now. We are teetering on default. And what do they do? They talk about this." Yeah, they talk about a serious crime - ten people have been arrested already - and a horrible scandal that preyed upon grieving people (and also bribed the police). How foolish of "them," huh?

More from Doocy: "And Mr. Murdoch himself has said that he's going to cooperate, he's going to show up at Parliament next week, and now news this morning that Rebekah Brooks, who headed up that unit, is calling it quits."

But what Doocy doesn't tell his viewers is that Murdoch initially refused to testify before Parliament, until the scandal just got so serious for him that he was forced to change his mind. And Rebekah Brooks isn't just "calling it quits." She was actually arrested on suspicion of illegally intercepting phone calls and bribing the police.

Should a simple apology and resignation be enough restitution for that? As I say, whatever happened to getting tough on crime?

"It really should get put behind us. Investigators, the courts, should deal with this, and we should move on and deal with the important topics of the day." Heh, heh. That's certainly a change of attitude for Fox, don't you think? What's next? Will Fox "News" join MoveOn.org, then?

How do these people sleep at night? More to the point, why isn't Fox "News" the biggest laughing-stock in the world, instead of making money hand over fist?

Monday, July 18, 2011

QOTD: Communicating skepticism

Quote of the Day:

Sure, there is [an] irrational, unbreakable core to the opposition, but there are also great masses of people with mere leanings one way or another, who must be approached as honest actors, and where the best tactics for winning them over are open, polite communication and appeal to their values, rather than a full body tackle. ...

But I am also troubled by it all.

What they were talking about is politics. I'm no good at politics, I freely admit, but I can at least look and observe and see what's going on. And here's what bothers me: the other side doesn't follow Sadie [Crabtree] and Carol [Tavris]'s advice, and they're doing great. The Republicans in congress aren't negotiating honestly; they're sticking to an absolutist ideology. The god-botherers aren't negotiating with us; they want to club us over the head with dogma. And while we can point to those tactics and see that they clearly don't work on us, the kind of people who'd come to TAM, they clearly do work to win over a great many people.

And then I look at the president of the US, and I see a smart man who represents many of the strategies discussed here, somebody who is a fantastically skilled negotiator and compromiser who can achieve many partial victories...but I also see a Democrat who has been steadily worming himself closer and closer to conservative ideals. Maybe he'll win the next election and explode into a liberal socialist superhero, but that's a more audacious hope than I have.

Let's not ignore that unswayable core on the other side. That is a great strength for them: there is no doubting that when Sadie and Carol come calling and make their sincere, rational and often effective appeals, the target of their persuasion can look to the right and see the giant figures of Michele Bachmann, Mike Huckabee, and Rick Perry standing like rocks in the tide, unmoving and impenetrable, and be comforted.

And then I've talked to a great many people who have left religion behind, which includes quite a few people here, and you know, many of them weren't coaxed into joining us. I have met so many people who became atheists after reading Richard Dawkins' book, The God Delusion, and in case you haven't read it, it's not a diplomatic book. It was like a thunderbolt from the sky. What won people over wasn't subtlety and gentle appeals, it was clarity and strength. While strength alone is tyranny, kindness and charity without confidence and resolve behind them become nothing but weakness and surrender. [my emphasis]

Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying we must endorse only our rock-ribbed heroes of godless skepticism, or that they can do no wrong. I'm saying we have to do it all, embracing a wide range of tactics, including the proximate tools of psychology and holding high a coherent and strong set of principles. ...

So here we are, once again talking about how to communicate, and I fear that we'll lose is the sense of what to communicate. Don't forget: the truth is our pole star, science is the vessel we use to progress, and a passion to explore and learn is the engine of our purpose. If we lose sight of that in our concern to be gentle with those who impede us, we'll lose our way. - PZ Myers

Friday, July 15, 2011

Murdoch is in the toilet - time to flush

Murdoch's Media Empire Might Go Down the Toilet

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Rupert Murdoch has also been paying off Scotland Yard officers, apparently. And, well, we know how many politicians he's bought.

But we've let Murdoch buy so many media outlets that all too many of us get our news from him. How can you expect to learn the truth, when your news comes from people willing to do anything to make money and to push their own right-wing political views?

Murdoch's media empire - including Fox "News" - has been in the toilet for a long time now. It's time to flush.

Are we giving up on the dream?

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Final Countdown

See if you can find Nebraska

That's a map of the United States as seen by a New Yorker, from Funny or Die. Click on the map to embiggen.

Of course, I had to post it here because of the treatment of Nebraska. (At that, we did better than Iowa, huh?)

Thursday, July 14, 2011

The first gay couple in the White House?

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Field of Dongs

"Pray the gay away"? And these are the people we want in the White House???

I don't usually speculate on anyone's sexual orientation. It's none of my business. And if you're milking it for laughs, that seems to imply there's something intrinsically wrong with homosexuality. There's not.

But when it's one of these repressed loons like Ted Haggard or... Marcus Bachmann, that's another matter. Humor is appropriate here. Ridicule is appropriate. I think the difference is clear, don't you?

Incidentally, Jon Stewart followed this segment with a visit from Jerry Seinfeld for "comedy repression therapy." It continues the theme from this clip, and you can find it here if you wish.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Rick Perry's prayer event

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Nice, huh? These are the people Texas governor Rick Perry has speaking at his loony prayer event - you know, the one he's invited all the other governors to?

Note that Perry is welcoming these religious loons at least in part because he thinks that's his ticket to the presidency. Yes, the GOP base is really that crazy.

But I hope the rest of us remember that George W. Bush was also the evangelicals' preferred candidate. We all know how that turned out. We're still trying to dig out of the hole he dug for us.

(John Darkow)

Republicans just can't help themselves

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Flavery

Incredible, isn't it? Even as obsessed with homosexuality as these right-wing loons are (what does someone else's sex life matter to me?), they can't help but bring race into it, too.

Think these people aren't racist? Then what does this preamble have to do with gay marriage? Sure, they try to be politically-correct by using the term "African-American" - and I'm sure they're very proud of themselves for that - but just bringing up race all the time shows their racist mindset.

Slavery wasn't so bad, right? Slaves had mommies and daddies, too, didn't they? (After all, someone must have raped slave women in order to produce more slaves.) And we white people know slavery, too. After all, we have to pay taxes! Yeah, think of that! And you think your ancestors had it bad...

That's like the widespread belief these days - and I'm sorry, but I hear it from white men all too often - that white men are the real victims of discrimination in America. Yeah, we've got all the good jobs, and our bosses are all white men, and we live in good neighborhoods, and our median income is ten times the median income for blacks (and we're paid more than white women for doing similar jobs),...

But that's just because we deserve it, right? Yeah, we had to work for that, not like those lucky minorities who get everything they want. Gee, I sure wish I was a minority. Lucky bastards!

Republicans would oppose any Democratic president, of course. And there was no shortage of crazy conspiracy theories when Bill Clinton was president. But the real hysteria today, the complete gibbering lunacy on the right, has a lot to do with the fact that Barack Obama is black.

The right continues to do things like this which clearly show that. But I doubt if they understand why that is. Well, that's because they think it's natural to be obsessed with race, just like being obsessed with homosexuality.

Tax cut religion

Dancing on the Ceiling - Tax Cut Religion

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c