Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2735

Deeper Dislogics

TNC is bone-tired of reporting that blames blacks for the passage of Prop 8. His larger point:

Why is the "black vote" on this issue anymore important than theyouth vote, or the Catholic vote, or the labor vote, or the Latinovote, or the Baptist vote? ...There is a deeper dislogic haunting this country on race. It can'tbe beaten with facts, stats and arguments. The notion that black peopleare a problem is super-religious. It is bone-deep. It haunts everythingand we can't, in this time, get...

Face Of The Day, Ctd

A reader writes:

Your childhood picture reminded me of a similar one of Palin that appeared in a quickie, one-off "magazine" from earlier this year.  Of course, I had to make a mashup.  I call it, "When Sarah Met Sully".

Magazine - Politics - United States - Parties - Republican

#shakespalin, Ctd

A reader writes:

In the rush to laugh at Palin's language gaffe, aren't we missing the real story here?  I'm watching MSNBC and reading the blogs and all everyone seems to be tittering about is that Palin made a "Bushism".  Why is no one pointing out that she's a stone-cold bigot?  What would the reaction be if she had referred to "peaceful Jews"?

Is it possible that dumb Sarah actually knew that the stupid press would fail to see the forest of bigotry for the trees of malapropism in her...

Stopping US Funding Of West Bank Settlements

Where there's a will, there's a way.
















West Bank - Middle East - Israeli settlement - Warfare and Conflict - Israel-Palestine

Breitbart's Skilled Editing

The quotes that former USDA worker Shirley Sherrod gave on the edited tapes disseminated by Andrew Breitbart are indeed indefensible, but is it not fair to provide some kind of context? To wit:

Sherrod said the short video clip excluded the breadth of the story
about how she eventually worked with the man over a two-year period to
help ward off foreclosure of his farm, and how she eventually became
friends with him and his wife.

"And I went on to work with many more white farmers," she...

Quote For The Day

"I know what America is. America is a thing you can
move very easily, move it in the right direction," - Binyamin Netanyahu, in a just-released and secretly taped private meeting in 2001. He also reveals his approach to the Palestinians:

"beat
them up, not once but repeatedly, beat them up so it hurts so badly,
until it's unbearable."

And so Operation Cast Lead makes more sense, doesn't it? He also describes how the notion that the Palestinians destroyed the Oslo process was a cover...

Maybe Josh Was Right

It is unwise to discount the intelligence of the American people - a trait more endemic among liberals than conservatives. The latest Gallup generic poll is striking - because it suggests that voters in the end may vote on substance not spin and ideology:

Maybe this is a blip. Here's Pollster's poll of polls (sans Rasmussen):

Of course, removing Rasmussen removes the one advantage Rasmussen has - of accounting for the enthusiasm of the older, whiter, Republican voter. And on that score, we...

The Flip-Side Of Meritocracy

Douthat examines it:

Part of the problem with meritocracy is that it homogenizes in the nameof diversity: It skims the cream from every race and class andpopulation, puts all of the best and brightest through the sameeducational conveyor belt, and comes out with a ruling class that'scosmetically diverse but intellectually conformist, and that tends to huddle together rather than spreading out to enrich the country as a whole. This is Christopher Lasch's lament in "The Revolt of the Elites"—...

Smart Sanctions

Drezner is skeptical of them:

The comparative advantage of smart sanctions is that they appear tosolve several political problems for sender countries.  Smart sanctionsreally do reduce the suffering by civilian populations.  Because theyare billed as minimizing humanitarian and human rights concerns, theyreceive only muted criticism from global civil society.  Because theydo not impede significant trade flows, smart sanctions can be imposedindefinitely with minimal cost.  They clearly solve...

The Birds, Ctd

Tyler Cowen adds a few wrinkles to an old Dish thread.
















Bird - Recreation - Asia - India - United States