Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2638
August 16, 2010
Bush Who?
by Patrick Appel
Nearly half of Americans incorrectly believe that Obama signed TARP. Weigel muses:
I just think it's fascinating that TARP has been the entry point forRepublicans bashing Obama's social democratic economic agenda. It's oneof the reasons I disagree with liberals who say the tea party is rootedin racism. Now, there's a case to make that some opposition to bigspending, welfare programs is rooted in fear of money beingredistributed to non-whites. But every big initiative of the...
"Depressing Because It Is So Persuasive" Ctd
by Chris Bodenner
A reader writes:
While I understand your readers' arguments that socioeconomic factors are the major contributors to a seemingly perpetual black underclass, I am not persuaded. I have to agree the problem is cultural. My parents grew up in a time when racial discrimination was rampant and opportunities for poor blacks were scarce. They were both born in the rural South. My grandparents were farmers and had not graduated high school. Not only were there no examples of...
Hello Again
by Conor Friedersdorf
A great pleasure of The Daily Dish is interacting with as thoughtful and diverse an audience as I've found in the blogosphere. You've my belated gratitude for the advice offered prior to a road trip I took across The South, when I drew liberally on suggestions shared in this space to guide my travels. Those e-mails also prompted many of you to remark on how enjoyable it is to ponder the thoughts and life experiences of fellow Dish readers.
In that spirit, I'd like to...
August 15, 2010
Home News
I'm going off-grid for my annual bloggatical. Aaron has forbidden me to blog or write in this period, and for good reason, so, with apologies to my colleague and friend, Jeffrey Goldberg, and his challenging and chilling piece, I won't respond until I return. Maybe that will also allow me to respond to it with less immediacy and more perspective. The debate about it is, however, already in full swing and the Dish will be covering that in detail in my absence.
Meanwhile, for the first time...
The Pope Is Not Gay
I find it hard to carve a single passage from Colm Toibin's quite astounding essay in the London Review of Books on the Catholic church and the homosexuality question. It's beautifully crafted and honest and true and inescapably Catholic. It covers a lot of ground that this blog has covered, but its description of the crisis of moral authority in the hierarchy is particularly nuanced and fine. What Toibin conveys is the special love many homosexuals have had - for two millennia - for this...
The Other Sex Abuse Conspiracy, Ctd
A reader writes:
Unfortunately, in the mid 90s, I spent just over four years (52 months) in prison. During my incarceration I spent time at San Quentin, Susanville, DVI, Solano, Tehachapi, and Jamestown. I did at least six months in each institution and also had the pleasure of spending weeks inside the SHU (Secured Housing Unit) at five of the institutions.
While popular culture is fascinated, dare I say oddly obsessed, with prison sex - it's usually the first question I get from men - I can...
Voices In The Void
A stirring piece produced by Claire L. Evans for the World Science Festival:
This video montage is a meditation on [the Voyager Golden Record], our loneliness,and the herculean, courageous task of SETI. The now-distant voices --all of whom make statements of earnest peace, curiosity, and goodwill,our best human attributes -- are paired with images of the night skyfrom their countries of origin. It seems they are shouting out into thevoid; indeed, the people on the Golden Record (and perhaps...
"Depressing Because It Is So Persuasive" Ctd
A reader writes:
Your reader commented:
The school systems in black neighborhoods are underfunded and undeniably worse on average than those in white neighborhoods. The quality of the school, its teachers and leadership has a direct influence on graduation
As an inner city teacher, I am sick and tired of being the nation's scapegoat for all of the problems in the inner city. There are cultural and socio-economic patterns that have been set in motion by racism that have taken on a life...
The Support Of The Grapevine
Jeffrey Polet mounts a defense of gossip:
Imagine, for example, that a close mutual acquaintance seems to be drinking too much, which causes increased levels of concern among that person's intimates. It would not only be natural but also right for those persons to discuss it. Are we perceiving this correctly? What kind of problem is this person facing, and how significant a problem is it? How ought we address it? That it becomes a matter of mutual concern is due to the fact that we are...
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