Pot/Kettle No. IV: Stupid Blogger Edition

what? did Marty Peretz really just say this?

This will annoy what's his name who blogs a lot about me. Has he nothing better to blog about? Actually, that's how makes a living: by writing about people who are smarter than him and know more about the world than him. And since neither smarts nor knowledge carry much cachet; with the left blogosphere (also not with the right blogosphere) its stars like what's his name ridicule the writers whose arguments he can't quite grasp.

"What's his name" is, of course, Matthew Yglesias. Who, of course, rips Peretz to shreds in one sentence:

In my next life, maybe I'll try to take a more respectable path to media prominence, something like using my wife's money to buy an established magazine.

Yglesias is a contributing editor at The Atlantic. Peretz is an editor at the magazine his wife bought him. and Peretz is talking about "cachet"?

Pot/Kettle No. III: Idiotic Politicking Edition

Did Dick Cheney really say what he just said?

"Democrats have to be responsible for the consequences of the policy recommendations they make."

Like his policies or hate them, the fact remains: Rumsfeld has resigned; Powell has resigned; Condi has been completely ineffective and is starting to get pressure to resign; Wolfowitz has resigned from the Bush admin., and may have to resign from the World Bank; Tenet has resigned; Brownie has resigned; Miers withdrew her nomination; Ashcroft has resigned; Gonzalez will probably have to resign, and several of his top aides have already done so; the GOP lost both the House and the Senate.

In fact, the only two people who have been immune to the "consequences of the policy recommendations" they have made have been Pres. Bush and Vice-Pres. Cheney. Cheney's biggest areas of policy influence - the energy policy and Iraq War - are both unmitigated disasters. His approval ratings are in single digits. By lying about pre-war intelligence instead of actually trying to educate the citizenry of the evils and danger of Saddam, he and Pres. Bush have likely set their party back a decade or more, and have virtually guaranteed a completely Democratic federal government in '08.

For the sake of his administration, his party, and the country, Dick Cheney should keep his mouth shut.

Pot/Kettle No. II: International Affairs Edition

the Bush admin.'s chutzpah would be amusing, at this point, if it weren't so damn destructive. And that goes well beyond Iraq.

"Any attempts to change the [Anti-Ballistic Missile] treaty will shake the strategic root and trunk of world peace and security." --Russian President Vladimir Putin urging the Bush administration in February 2001 not to abandon the pact, months before it ignored him and withdrew anyway.

"These are treaty obligations, and everyone is expected to live up to treaty obligations." --Condoleezza Rice lecturing the Russians last week not to scuttle a 17-year-old weapons treaty with Europe.

It's a truism by now that the Bush administration has damaged our moral authority in the world, but it's easy to forget that Iraq was only the apotheosis of this problem. I wish Putin wouldn't scrap Russia's deal with NATO; but, after the ABM treaty, steel tariffs, and the Geneva Conventions, you've got to admire Rice's chutzpah in demanding his fealty to "treaty obligations" -- particularly after the example we set for him in 2001.

The stalled WTO negotiations - at standstill because of the U.S. and E.U.'s reluctance to cut subsidies and tariffs on agriculture - are another example.

Pot/Kettle No. I: Special Racism Edition

Imus. There's commentary everywhere, and I'm tired of it. But the amazing amount of hypocrisy and simple-mindedness from both political ends warrants comment. A right-winger at Vagrant really set me off:

Wow, has this thing gone overboard or what?!?
Maybe he should have lost his job (probably more for past things than the "ho" statement) but the great irony of this whole matter is the usual suspects of Jackson and Sharpton. Two of the biggest black racists on the planet complaining about a comment that was more stupid and sexist than racist all the while never feeling the need to offer their own apologies for their own misbehavior.

I'm still waiting for Rev. Jackson to apologize for the Duke lacrosse rape nonsense...and let's not forget he's paying for that lying tramp's college education b/c she was "wronged" by them there white boys.

Likewise, I'll be waiting quite awhile for Sharpton's apology about the Duke issue aand Tawana Brawley as well...you know, rallying to get 88 pseduo-intellectual professors to sign a letter of condemnation less than 48 hours after the event, and so on.

Ah America...

to which i was forced to respond:

- Imus deserves to be fired for two reasons:

1. what he said was obviously offensive, was intended to be offensive, and had no purpose other than being offensive. he may maintain that it was a "joke," but there was no punchline. it was racist, sexist, ageist (if that exists), and offensive in other ways as well. it wasn't the first time he's done this sort of thing, and it belies deep-seated and long-standing cultural, societal, and personal black eyes. this is not something that an old white man should say in jest in private, much less with seriousness in front of millions. there is no defense for this.

2. his offensive actions caused sponsors of his show to stop giving his employer their money. he should lose his job if for no other reason than the fact that his actions had a detrimental effect on the profitably of the company he represents.

- right-wing "defenses" of Imus (like the "isn't this over-blown" line) are stupid, morally reprehensible, intellectually self-defeating, and illogical for a few reasons:

1. this hasn't been over-blown. a very public figure committed a very public sin: he slandered and dis-reputed a team of people by disrespecting them solely based on their race, gender, appearance, and age. to say that this is over-blown defies common sense: Imus is a high-profile media figure employed by two of the largest media corporations in the world (CBS and NBC). when high-profile media figures commit high-profile sins, they should expect (and receive) full condemnation from the media.

2. It doesn't matter what Al Sharpton and/or Jesse Jackson say, do, have said, or have done. This is about Imus... not Sharpton/Jackson. similarly, it doesn't matter what rappers say or do. as Andrew Sullivan said, "it's legitimate to criticize both Imus and hip-hop, while recognizing that the color of the speaker does make an obvious difference in impact and intent, with respect to hate speech. When black culture deploys its own n-words about itself, it's a form of self-abasement as well as self-defense. It's sad and ugly, but it's different than perpetuating contempt for minorities from a position of majority power and privilege. Neither is defensible, but one is less defensible than the other." Imus is an old white man, disparaging young black women in about the worst way that he possibly could do. that is worse than a young black man (or woman) disparaging a young black woman (or man), even if all other factors of the act are the same.

3. it's possible to say that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson should be ridiculed - if not ignored completely, which would hurt them far more - for their racism, and also that Imus should be. i don't know of any right-winger who would protest if MSNBC announced a policy of no longer having Al Sharpton on as a guest on their shows because of the racist things he has said (e.g. about the Duke lacrosse team). however, i hear plenty of them crying because poor little Don Imus has lost his job on the same network for what he said. that sort of double-standard is exactly why people Sharpton and Jackson still have the power they have: because there really IS hypocrisy, and the right-wing doesn't see it (or refuses to acknowledge it). of course, this does not excuse Jackson and Sharpton for the horrible things they've said. but neither does it excuse Imus, or his defenders.

4. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are not the only ones who have fault in the Duke lacrosse thing. there's plenty of blame and finger-pointing to go around. for example, to the university for suspending the kids, canceling the lacrosse season, and firing their coach. to the media, both MSM and indie, both right-wing and left, for automatically assuming guilt (and thereby displaying prejudices about rich, privileged, white jocks) and for immediately making this story one of racism (and thus indulging Sharpton/Jackson, if you wanna look at it that way) when it should have been about criminal accusations. to Nifong, who will likely face civil charges for abusing his office for political reasons, and playing upon civil unrest caused by racial tensions to achieve political gain (those who think Imus shouldn't be fired: do you think the same about Nifong?). look, these kids shouldn't exactly be held up as some fucking heroes: they were still violating school policy and several laws with their illegal party; they still hired strippers (possibly prostitutes) to indulge their baser instincts, and probably did it with their parents' money. they are still assholes and degenerates, no matter what actually happened that night (and i still believe that something untoward happened that night; probably not gang-rape, but i'm sure all sorts of verbal abuse occurred, and probably some sort physical abuse as well).

that's most of it. but i won't have simple-minded defenses of bigots presented in my presence without a rebuttal. this sort of "aw, it ain't no big deal 'cos the blacks do it too" race-baiting is impermissible. wrong is wrong, no matter who does it, and criticizing Sharpton as a defense of Imus is just ludicrous.

obviously, this mindset isn't limited to this one guy. Similar things have been repeated on right-wing talk shows and blogs all over the place, and I'm not really sure why. Who would willingly defend Imus? Other than the overt threats of violence, how is this different from Michael Richards?

Elsewhere, Andrew Sullivan takes the side of sanity. Michelle Malkin does not.

-wkw