Earlier this week, fellow FTBorg Ashley Miller told a heart-wrenching story of being disowned by her father: He was with me for Thanksgiving, to meet my mom and stepdad and brother and rest of my family. Except my dad. My mother, who is much wiser than me and deserves full credit for being right, told …
Category Archive: politics
Dec 04 2012
PPP looks about to snap
Imagine you had to talk to Republicans. Every day. And pretend they weren’t idiots. How long do you think you’d last before you just snapped? Public Policy Polling looks like its patience is wearing thin: 49% of GOP voters nationally say they think that ACORN stole the election for President Obama. Wefound that 52% of Republicans …
Nov 24 2012
Tom the Dancing Bug gets ‘traditional’
After the election, Fox News’ resident zeppelin opined: The demographics are changing. It’s not a traditional America anymore, and there are 50 percent of the voting public who want stuff, they want things. And who is going to give them things? President [Barack] Obama. He later “clarified”: If you look at the exit polling, you’ll see …
Nov 22 2012
The terrible burden of religious persecution
Part of the reason I have such a difficult time taking complaints about the “persecution” of Christians in North America (and indeed, most of the world), is because by degrees they demonstrate again and again that they have simply no fucking clue what persecution looks like. To wit: Jamaica’s public transport authorities have banned lay …
Nov 22 2012
The freedom of religion
I have to admit that I have a massive throbbing hate-on (read it again) for the phrase “freedom of religion”. It is an over-used canard that really has no useful value. The protection of a right to freedom of conscience, along with similar protections for speech, ensures that any religious belief or practice is protected. …
Nov 19 2012
Oh, Canada…
It’s really easy (and fun!) to point out the raft of egregious racism that in many ways defines the American political landscape. Part of the appeal of framing racism in an American context is that cornerstone of Canadian identity: rage/jealousy of our bigger brother. Without our American counterparts against which to contrast ourselves, the challenging …
Nov 19 2012
SERIOUSLY?! Episode Six
Happy Monday, all! The Rev and I were at it again, this time taking on a pair of stories of political nonsense from the United States. Video and links are below the fold:
Nov 16 2012
The New Fascism
This past Sunday, I went with my partner to our city’s Remembrance Day ceremony, which I do every year. My brother has served two tours in Afghanistan with the Canadian forces, and a tour in Bosnia after the civil war there, and many other members of my family have also served. I’m not one for …
Nov 16 2012
Movie Friday: Suspicious
So last night we had a bit of a chuckle at the expense of a hapless boob from Maine who is the chairman of the state Republican party. After the laughter subsided, I said this: What I will say is that this fits neatly with the larger Republican narrative from this last election cycle: that black people …
Nov 15 2012
The black vote is the Maine problem
One common utterance you’ll hear when people go on the defensive about a racist statement or behaviour is that they couldn’t possibly be racist because they “have a black friend”. This “black friend” is sometimes a spouse, sometimes an actual friend, but just as often it’s a co-worker or someone they do business with, or maybe …
About the Author
Recent Comments