Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2628

In Defense of Talk Radio Listeners, Cont'd: A Host's Response

by Conor Friedersdorf

In response to my defense of talk radio listeners, and my respectful exchange with one of his fans, Mark Levin has posted the following on Facebook:

We are under constant scrutiny by bloggers, like Friedersdork, who run nothing, are responsible for nothing, and contribute nothing to the advancement of liberty. If you google his name, you will see what a menace he has become, who he likes, and who he dislikes. He is obsessed with me, this site, and will now try to make...

Pakistan's Tourism Deficit

by Patrick Appel

Laura Freschi asks why so few are paying attention to the Pakistani floods:

The difference in initial death toll reports may be one
explanation. The early figures for Haiti were 200,000 lives
compared to the 1,600 people reported to have died so far in
But less than ten percent of the variation in amount of TV
coverage given to foreign natural disasters can be explained
severity, according to one academic study.

The same study found that...

That 20%

by Chris Bodenner

Allahpundit says all that needs to be said about new polling on the perception of Obama's religion:

It's all very lame and obnoxious, especially given the testimony from pastors that Obama takes his Christian faith seriously,but much like the Birther thing, there's virtually nothing you can sayto convince someone who's sure that O is what he thinks he is. Irecommend re-reading Karl's post from earlier this month on thephenomenon of polling Birthers,as it holds plenty of...

The Wrong Man

by Patrick Appel

Kathryn Schulz interviews Innocence Project co-founder Peter Neufeld:

About 30 or 40 years ago, the Supreme Court acknowledged that eyewitnessidentification is problematic and can lead to wrongful convictions. Thetrouble is, it instructed lower courts to determine the validity ofeyewitness testimony based on a lot of factors that are irrelevant,like the certainty of the witness. But the certainty you express [incourt:] a year and half later has nothing to do with how certain...

Obama's Position On Marriage Equality

by Patrick Appel

James Downie has created a timeline.

History - Timeline - United States - Gay Lesbian and Bisexual - Marriage

Chart Of The Day

by Patrick Appel

is depressing but not surprising:

 

Serwer :

I'm going to reiterate what I said earlier about same-sex marriage,
which is that prejudice does not cease being prejudice because it is
widely held. Among both parties, prejudice against Muslims is widely
held, and instead of tamping down this kind of sentiment, Republican
leaders are exploiting it for political gain, and many Democrats are
following along.

Same-sex marriage - Democratic Party - United...

The Future of Labor

by Conor Friedersdorf

Reihan is thinking about less skilled workers:

One wonders if the deterioration of the labor market position of
less-skilled workers might lead to a more "Confucian" arrangement in
United States, in which shared cultural practices are used to mitigate
sharper economic inequality. The increasing cultural heterogeneity of
U.S. society suggests otherwise.

Another possibility is that skilled workers will continue to consume more in-person services, thus creating an...

Colbert Bait

by Chris Bodenner

Readers keep pointing to this story of a marijuana raid. Money quote:

Royal Canadian Mounted Police sergeant Fred Mansvield, said: 'They (the bears) were tame, they just sat around watching.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police - Cannabis - Mounted police - Drugs - Chris Bodenner

In Defense of Talk Radio Listeners, Ctd

by Patrick Appel

A reader writes:

I share Conor's belief that by having civil, reasonable dialogs, we can try to resolve or at least clarify our disagreements. My main beef with Talk Radio is that its stars pointedly do not share this belief. They thrive on endless conflict and illusions of persecution. It is more entertaining for them to pretend that the Left is not motivated by a desire to make the country better, but a desire to destroy it and enslave much of the population, so that's what...

The Daily Wrap

Today on the Dish, Palin had chutzpah (or something else entirely) on the First Amendment, and then got schooled by Linda Holmes. Ross responded to Andrew, and Patrick parried with the heart of a Sullivan response until his return. 

On the Mosque, Conor accounted for both sides of Imam Rauf while Goldblog continued to bat for him. Conor tallied up post-9/11 Muslim backlashes; Dreher acknowledged we have trouble talking about controversial issues and Bush evaded comment entirely. Steinglass