My primary opposition to the war in Iraq was not based on my certainty about the weakness (or downright fallaciousness) of the evidence against Iraq. I doubted it, but I didn't know and I saw where a rationale case could be made for war against Iraq. But even given the possibility that that war could be justified, I saw no reason it had to be done when it was done. The "smoking gun and mushroom cloud" scenario was obviously overwrought and there was no reason that, given the position of weapons inspectors in Iraq, we couldn't wait at least another year to invade, or two or three... (OK, no reason but the political and psychological reasons that in the end drove the decision for the administration in the first place).
Well, after Iraq, Afghanistan became the new Forgotten War. That's started to change again as Afghanistan has become scarier. So hearing something at least somewhat heartening is a good thing.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Saturday, March 03, 2007
A personal question about Ann Coulter
This question has bugged me for a while. Let's think about Ann Coulter's position. She's the hero of the right-wing Christian conservative faction of the Republican Party. Now, I've never heard her talk about the role of Jesus and religion in her life, other than to declare that they do indeed play a part in her life. She claims that, "I'm a Christian first and a mean-spirited, bigoted conservative second, and don't you ever forget it."1
Well, I guess I'm guilty of forgetting that, but I blame her a little bit for not reminding me. Because she never writes about it. At all. Check out her archives. No mention of Jesus or God in any title (other than when she's positing that liberals are godless, mainly in service of promoting her book of the same name). In fact, her site brings up only a few relatively tangential hits talking about Jesus at all and certainly nothing describing Ann's devotion to her faith.
OK, but I would be the first to say that your religious or spiritual life is your business and is not a fair target for political discussion. For example, I have many issues with Mitt Romney as a candidate, but the fact that he's LDS is of little or no consequence to me. I would certainly feel the same about a public person's particular Protestant denomination or Catholicism or Judaism or Muslim...ism or whatever the hell the correct word would be in that grammatical context.
But I have a question that, again, I would never ask about almost anyone unless they made people's personal lives an issue. If Ann didn't condemn people for their sexual habits, then her personal and sexual life would be, outside of criminal conduct, absolutely inappropriate for public discussion. But Ann does. Let's leave aside her involvement in the Paula Jones and Bill Clinton brou-ha-ha. This can be explained away (rather disingenuously, I think, but never mind that) as being about the exploitation of power by Clinton and the subsequent perjury Clinton committed when trying to avoid accountability for his malfeasance. So let's just not deal with that.
But Ann doesn't like homosexuality. Against Christianity and against the Bible. And premarital sex is obviously right out the door. All programs run by the government that deal even tangentially with sex should focus, not just primarily, but exclusively on abstinence. This is Godly and any intimation otherwise just encourages promiscuity, homosexuality, and all the other "ity"s that irritate James Dobson and his compatriots.
So Ann's a virgin, right?
I mean, she's 45 years old and has never been married. Never been married, although she's had a few boyfriends. Her official bio is pretty much all professional stuff, which would be fair for people who don't make the point of their professional career spearheading a movement that demands a high level of intrusiveness into people's lives in order to pass judgment on the morality and acceptability of their personal practices.
So I have to know, Ann, are you a virgin? In the years since you have accepted Christ into your life, have you had sex (obviously out of wedlock, since you're not married)? If you are on solid enough moral ground to call a married man a faggot, it's only fair of us to demand of you: are you practicing what you preach? Which is it, Ann: virgin spinster or hypocritical Jezebel?
1. Not linked to actual source because it's subscription only.
Well, I guess I'm guilty of forgetting that, but I blame her a little bit for not reminding me. Because she never writes about it. At all. Check out her archives. No mention of Jesus or God in any title (other than when she's positing that liberals are godless, mainly in service of promoting her book of the same name). In fact, her site brings up only a few relatively tangential hits talking about Jesus at all and certainly nothing describing Ann's devotion to her faith.
OK, but I would be the first to say that your religious or spiritual life is your business and is not a fair target for political discussion. For example, I have many issues with Mitt Romney as a candidate, but the fact that he's LDS is of little or no consequence to me. I would certainly feel the same about a public person's particular Protestant denomination or Catholicism or Judaism or Muslim...ism or whatever the hell the correct word would be in that grammatical context.
But I have a question that, again, I would never ask about almost anyone unless they made people's personal lives an issue. If Ann didn't condemn people for their sexual habits, then her personal and sexual life would be, outside of criminal conduct, absolutely inappropriate for public discussion. But Ann does. Let's leave aside her involvement in the Paula Jones and Bill Clinton brou-ha-ha. This can be explained away (rather disingenuously, I think, but never mind that) as being about the exploitation of power by Clinton and the subsequent perjury Clinton committed when trying to avoid accountability for his malfeasance. So let's just not deal with that.
But Ann doesn't like homosexuality. Against Christianity and against the Bible. And premarital sex is obviously right out the door. All programs run by the government that deal even tangentially with sex should focus, not just primarily, but exclusively on abstinence. This is Godly and any intimation otherwise just encourages promiscuity, homosexuality, and all the other "ity"s that irritate James Dobson and his compatriots.
So Ann's a virgin, right?
I mean, she's 45 years old and has never been married. Never been married, although she's had a few boyfriends. Her official bio is pretty much all professional stuff, which would be fair for people who don't make the point of their professional career spearheading a movement that demands a high level of intrusiveness into people's lives in order to pass judgment on the morality and acceptability of their personal practices.
So I have to know, Ann, are you a virgin? In the years since you have accepted Christ into your life, have you had sex (obviously out of wedlock, since you're not married)? If you are on solid enough moral ground to call a married man a faggot, it's only fair of us to demand of you: are you practicing what you preach? Which is it, Ann: virgin spinster or hypocritical Jezebel?
1. Not linked to actual source because it's subscription only.
Blogging Hiatus
Yes, I have been on one. Basically. I just haven't blogged. Busy busy. My audience of one and a half is crushed. I'm going to try to get back in the swing of it.
I've also been thinking about exactly what I'm trying to do with this Slapfest. Most of my posts are political rants, but I'd like to branch into some other types of writing. I'm not normally a particularly confessional sort of person, so discourses on my breakfast and how it made me feel are probably out. But there's lots of other topics I'd like to cover:
The other thing is that I'm not so good at "blogging" as such. Many of my posts, like many of my e-mails and phone calls and so on, tend to be long. I write dissertations as opposed to nice succinct little bits. I'm really going to also try to put up thoughts and observations in addition to dissertations on why John Yoo should be strung up by his goddamned toe-nails.
So... we'll see how that goes.
I've also been thinking about exactly what I'm trying to do with this Slapfest. Most of my posts are political rants, but I'd like to branch into some other types of writing. I'm not normally a particularly confessional sort of person, so discourses on my breakfast and how it made me feel are probably out. But there's lots of other topics I'd like to cover:
- Sports, especially football and baseball
- Music
- Writing
- Code
The other thing is that I'm not so good at "blogging" as such. Many of my posts, like many of my e-mails and phone calls and so on, tend to be long. I write dissertations as opposed to nice succinct little bits. I'm really going to also try to put up thoughts and observations in addition to dissertations on why John Yoo should be strung up by his goddamned toe-nails.
So... we'll see how that goes.
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