Monday, March 26, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
The Dutch Euthanize Their Elderly, and Other Scary GOP Lies About Europe
Oh dear, seems being cretinously ignorant about the rest of the world is still no weakness in the Republican party:
"The American right sure seems to like stories about foreign countries killing their citizens. Most recently, leading GOP candidate Rick Santorum claimed that 10 per cent of the Netherlands' deaths were from euthanasia, 5 percent forced, and that "elderly people in the Netherlands don't go to the hospital" or, if they do, wear bracelets saying "do not euthanize me," all of which is false."
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-dutch-euthanize-their-elderly-and-other-scary-gop-lies-about-europe/254462
And this is from a man campaigning to lead the world's main superpower. Sometimes one reads a piece of information that really scares you about a candidate, and this reminds me of following titbit I encountered recently about Sarah Palin: "Schmidt [Mcain's campaign strategist] said he asked Palin about her serenity in the face of becoming "one of the most famous people in the world." He quoted her as saying, "It's God's plan."
Scary deja vu? You betcha...
"The American right sure seems to like stories about foreign countries killing their citizens. Most recently, leading GOP candidate Rick Santorum claimed that 10 per cent of the Netherlands' deaths were from euthanasia, 5 percent forced, and that "elderly people in the Netherlands don't go to the hospital" or, if they do, wear bracelets saying "do not euthanize me," all of which is false."
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-dutch-euthanize-their-elderly-and-other-scary-gop-lies-about-europe/254462
And this is from a man campaigning to lead the world's main superpower. Sometimes one reads a piece of information that really scares you about a candidate, and this reminds me of following titbit I encountered recently about Sarah Palin: "Schmidt [Mcain's campaign strategist] said he asked Palin about her serenity in the face of becoming "one of the most famous people in the world." He quoted her as saying, "It's God's plan."
Scary deja vu? You betcha...
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
polls, hearing what we want to hear
It's become natural to seize on polls such as 'X believe Obama is a muslim' to pour scorn on anti-obama voters, but as this article points out it's an irrational leap of logic to claim that ignorance in one area (knowing he's a Christian) means ignorance in all other areas. Indeed as this article points out, it's more coherent to think that initial rejection of Obama (whether based on policy or person) leads to buying into the more zany criticisms of him . Ironically the basis for liberal disgust at such conspiracy theories is they are irrelevant attacks on the person, not the policies, and yet in grasping with such glee on polls showing support for such theories, they are in fact doing the exact same - judging the voters on irrelevant beliefs and dismissing any other views they might have. Glasshouses and stones come to mind.
Liberal conviction affirmed by polling about faith!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/mar/14/obama-muslim-alabama-republicans-poll
Though this of course is not to mean that all tangential beliefs are irrelevant when it comes to politics. For example a recent poll found that "revealed that one in five Alabamians and more than one in four Mississippians believe interracial marriage should be illegal." (quote from this article). Such racist views really are relevant to the political process, since it is not illogical to think that someone who doesn't think black people should be allowed marry whites, might also think they shouldn't be leading white people. Not all prejudices are determining, but some indeed are...
Liberal conviction affirmed by polling about faith!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/mar/14/obama-muslim-alabama-republicans-poll
Though this of course is not to mean that all tangential beliefs are irrelevant when it comes to politics. For example a recent poll found that "revealed that one in five Alabamians and more than one in four Mississippians believe interracial marriage should be illegal." (quote from this article). Such racist views really are relevant to the political process, since it is not illogical to think that someone who doesn't think black people should be allowed marry whites, might also think they shouldn't be leading white people. Not all prejudices are determining, but some indeed are...
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Obama is still in a hole. It may yet be deeper than his Republican rivals'
"The trouble is, it's easier to see how things get tougher for Obama –
petrol prices, a eurozone collapse, Iran – than for Romney over the
next eight months. Soon Romney will be the nominee, Santorum and Newt
Gingrich will be his loyal advocates (who knows what Ron Paul will do?)
and the white evangelicals and Tea Party types will find motivation in
their Obamaphobia. This may well be the worst it gets for Romney and, in
national polls, he still only loses to Obama by just beyond the margin
of error.
Data isn't destiny and polls aren't elections. Republicans are doing their best to give Obama the weak opponent he needs and, on that count, Romney has been obliging. Low turnout in these primaries indicates Republicans also have an enthusiasm problem, and with every primary their internal dysfunction becomes more apparent.
All the more reason not to underestimate their potential and potency. The next time a Republican says something ridiculous about contraception, jihadist training camps in South America or how their wife has two Cadillacs, remember: that could be the next president you're laughing at."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/mar/11/obama-republican-rivals-mitt-romney
Data isn't destiny and polls aren't elections. Republicans are doing their best to give Obama the weak opponent he needs and, on that count, Romney has been obliging. Low turnout in these primaries indicates Republicans also have an enthusiasm problem, and with every primary their internal dysfunction becomes more apparent.
All the more reason not to underestimate their potential and potency. The next time a Republican says something ridiculous about contraception, jihadist training camps in South America or how their wife has two Cadillacs, remember: that could be the next president you're laughing at."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/mar/11/obama-republican-rivals-mitt-romney
Friday, March 9, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
belief and politics : making God in man's image
Always interesting to see cognitive dissonance at work, in this case in how both sides of the political divide interpret Jesus in line with their own biases. Of course like all scriptures the Bible is remarkably accomodating on that front, since between the slaughter-your-son-just-to-honour-me savagery of the old testament and the turn-the-other-cheek humility of the new, something for every stripe of philosophy.
"A study led by Lee Ross of Stanford University in California has found that the Jesus of liberal Christians is very different from the one envisaged by conservatives.
The researchers discovered that conservatives believe Jesus would have prioritised the moral issues close to their own hearts, and that disparities in wealth or the treatment of illegal immigrants wouldn't have been high on his agenda. Liberals believed the opposite."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2012/mar/04/jesus-liberals-conservatives
However, overall the conclusion is quite depressing, given the role religion plays in US politics, then one might at least have hoped it might have provided some common ground for debates, but as this shows, belief is personal, and personally biased.
"A study led by Lee Ross of Stanford University in California has found that the Jesus of liberal Christians is very different from the one envisaged by conservatives.
The researchers discovered that conservatives believe Jesus would have prioritised the moral issues close to their own hearts, and that disparities in wealth or the treatment of illegal immigrants wouldn't have been high on his agenda. Liberals believed the opposite."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2012/mar/04/jesus-liberals-conservatives
However, overall the conclusion is quite depressing, given the role religion plays in US politics, then one might at least have hoped it might have provided some common ground for debates, but as this shows, belief is personal, and personally biased.
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