evolution

I have now finally seen all three of the latter-day Star Wars movies, and I have to say that, except for a few sequences, they are fairly horrible examples of celluloid crapola.

In fact, I will go so far as to say that everything Lucas has touched since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade has been ham-fisted and predictable.

There would seem to be a way to address the concerns of a woman who was (allegedly) sexually assaulted by (ahem) somebody in a way that shows respect for this horrifying and dehumanizing experience.

This would not seem to be it.

An excerpt from this Salon bit that plumbs the depth of frustration of Clinton supporters:

11. They are mad that everyone believes them to be old, white and racist. They are mad at the people they thought were supposed to be progressives for treating them badly.

They are mad at their party and its leaders because they feel this race has opened up a door, allowing people to rag on white women — as irrelevant and buffoonish, as ambitious and preening, as old school and boring and nagging and hectoring — in a way that demonstrates that women have a questionable place in liberalism and progressivism. Since when is the party supposedly interested in social justice not interested in the advancement of women to the highest office?

My response to these people is: Fuck you. And get in line. I have found that when a “progressive” puts his arm around you and calls you “brother/sister”, it’s usually just long enough to slap you in the face.

I get your frustration. A lot of the things in this piece were on target. But - go and complain to someone else.

The (stupid and pointless) Federal Marriage Amendment is resurrected and xo-sponsored by… Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana and… Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho.

Brilliant.

UPDATE: A fundamentalist Christian news portal replaces “gay” with “homosexual” in all its AP stories… including those about Olympic sprinter Tyson Gay. Sheer, unadulterated (!) genius.

Our city leaders, the wise people whose firm, all-encompassing hands we couldn’t possibly live without — Adrian Fenty in DC, William Bratton in LA, and Daley the Younger in Chicago¹, have all pitched hissy fits in the wake of the Heller case.

I find this astonishing², as well as the fact that it was 5-4, when all that was needed to come to the correct decision was a copy of the Constitution and either at least one fully functional eye or a decent pair of reading glasses.

1. All fine examples of crime prevention and city management, aren’t they? How have their gun bans worked out for that? [↩]
2. and by that I mean “entirely expected”. [↩]

You probably think that I have a lot to say about the Heller case. I haven’t read the opinion yet, but if what I have read is any indication, the arguments against in the opinion were as weak as those given at the hearing, the audio of which I did listen to in its entirety.

Others have said plenty, though, so I will just say that it’s nice that we could find five Supreme Court Justices who can read words in English on paper and understand them.

And that anything that sends Slate writers into hysterics¹ and the shivering douche-chills cannot be a bad thing.

If it’s a more… dispassionate commentary extravaganza you want, you can hit the Volokhians (start at top, scroll down) and the super-excellent SCOTUSblog (same) — if you can load them, that is. I’m trying not to read a whole lot until I can read the opinion.

1. How unsurprised I am to find Dahlia Lithwick’s name attached to this monument to wrongitude; is there a reason she is considered a serious legal commentator? [↩]

Because the race-baiting has begun.

I say that because it doesn’t come close to solving the problems it was intended to solve, and has made other problems worse.

Why this utterly unsurprising development comes as news to anyone remains beyond my grasp.

Since we’ve been talking about the purpose of higher education, here are the thoughts of one Yale professor on the subject in the American Scholar.

The piece drifts toward high-minded claptrap¹ in the second half, but is overall very good. If you’ve followed my discussion about certain world-views in this country and how they come to exist despite all of the evidence of history that destroys them, parts of this will make sense to you. Read it all.

1. ”speaking truth to power” is a phrase that sounds nice but has come to reek of pretensiousness, and the idea that making yourself miserable for low pay at a job you’re ill-equipped for and may not want for the “greater good” is somehow noble is just wrong [↩]

1. All of them.

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