Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2749

Is New Black Panther panic the right's answer to militia panic on the left?

by Dave Weigel

Jesse Walker, keying off my argument about Fox News and the Panthers, thinks that's the case.

The New Black Panther Party plays the same role for the rightthat Hutaree-stylemilitants play for the left: They're a tiny, uninfluential groupwhose importance is magnified to keep the base excited. Left andright wind up worrying more about each other than they care aboutthe institutions that actually govern the country. It's great ifyour goal is maintaining movement identity, but not...

Bristol's Fairy Tale

by Chris Bodenner

Chris Rovzar gets in the mindset of the millions of teen girls for whom Bristol is trying to be a role model:

Thought: What if I can't raise this baby alone?
Well, What...

Another Odd Lie?

by Chris Bodenner

Palin is off to climb a non-existent mountain peak.

United States - Republican - Politics - Parties - People

An Arms Race On The Right

 by Patrick Appel

This Noah Millman post is excellent:

I don't actually expect revival of full-throated anti-interventionismon the American right, something like the pre-World War II AmericaFirsters. I don't think even Daniel Larison expects that. But some kindof tendency to counter militarism is necessary, and right now, with Sarah Palin and Mitt Romneytrying to outdo each other in their appeals to the militarist tendencyon the right, I kind of despair of any counter-dynamic getting traction.

...

Cool Ad Watch

by Chris Bodenner

Lauren Indvik explains:

Passersby can use their smartphones to snap a picture, which will pull
up an exclusive, 40-second commercial featuring models Lara Stone,
"A.J.," Sid Ellisdon, Grayson Vaughan and Eric Anderson. After the spot
plays, viewers can then share the code with their Facebook and Twitter networks. The billboard marks the official premiere of Calvin Klein Jeans's Fall 2010 advertising campaign.

Lara Stone - Twitter - Facebook - Calvin Klein -...

Free Birth Control For All?

by Chris Bodenner

Dana Goldstein looks at the possibility:

Experts expect the Department of Health and Human Services, led bypro-choice Obama appointee Kathleen Sebelius, to spend the next six to18 months researching women's health before releasing new guidelinesfor women's "preventive health care."Under the new law, services and medications defined as "preventive"must be offered to customers of new insurance plans free ofco-pays—whether that insurance is employer-provided or purchased on...

Ten Nations

by Patrick Appel

Argentina became the first Latin American nation to legalize same-sex marriage at about 4 am this morning. The list:

2001 Netherlands

2003 Belgium

2005 Spain

2005 Canada

2006 South Africa

2008 Norway

2009 Sweden

2010 Portugal

2010 Iceland

2010 Argentina

(Image: A girl spray paints figures of male and female couples in front of the Congress building during a demonstration supporting the gay marriage bill, while Senators discuss said bill on July 14, 2010. By Juan...

Non-Monogamy vs Adultery

by Chris Bodenner

This reader responds to Savage:

I don't and didn't mean to make moral judgments about sexual non-monogamy.  If I were making moral judgments, they would be about honesty, trust or lack thereof, abusiveness of various kinds, etc.  I ended my comments with "More power to them," which Dan Savage seems to have missed or chosen to ignore.  It wasn't meant sarcastically.

One point I was trying to make, and perhaps didn't make very well, was that sexual monogamy is something of a red...

Believing Sarah Palin, Ctd

by Chris Bodenner

Litbrit's rebuttal of Weigel is the most comprehensive I've seen.

Chris Bodenner - United States - Africa - South Africa - Democratic Republic of Congo

The Palin Model, Ctd

by Chris Bodenner

The aspiring senator from Nevada has become a keen disciple:

David Brody: I just want to understand. You're saying that you're not willing to play this mainstream media "gotcha" game basically? Is that what you're saying?

Sharron Angle: No. There's no earnings for me there. We're looking at how can we best benefit from the media. We get so many requests. I do sometimes 7 interviews a day so it's not like we're running from the media. It's just that we're earning with that...