Not that this should come as any surprise, but we now have confirmation that the Bush administration refused to award Harry Potter author JK Rowling the Presidential Medal of Freedom because the […]
Free to be as dumb as we want—even if it kills us
“The culture wars are over,” says journalist Charles Pierce, “and the idiots have won.” Woe be to the rest of America. To a rational, thinking person, the rise of idiocy in America […]
Choose one: Bang ( ) Whimper ( )
A couple of weeks ago Slate did an entertaining if occasionally dopey series on how America might end. Frankly, SF authors have done a much better job on this theme, and it’s […]
Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?
If by “there” you mean … the “F” word, well, we’re probably closer than we’d like to be, aren’t we? Thoughtful and unsettling take on Fascism in America by Sara Robinson, dead […]
New phone 'apps' make it easier for pols to stray
Sanford case shines a spotlight on the central paradox of marriage. South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford not only played fast and loose with the institution of marriage, but with email. However, help […]
Democrats to Progressives: We're just not that into you
A modest proposal, perhaps. It’s been entertaining watching American public “discourse” since the election. (I use that word in its broadest, most ridiculous sense, since nothing that hinges so completely on self-absorption, […]
Domestic terrorism: the mainstream media must stop spreading the Lone Wolf Flu
There’s a wicked little meme is going around and it seems to have infected a lot of people we’d have hoped were immune. Unfortunately this mental and linguistic virus is particularly virulent, […]
Time for the War on Terror 2.0?
Two people have been shot at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. The shooter has been identified as James Wenneker von Brunn, a man with ties to various right-wing hate groups. His […]
Tiller assassinated: anybody want to make a bet on who did it? – UPDATED
Note: Relevant updates will posted to the bottom. By all means, read all the way to the end, where it gets interestinger and interestinger. ______________ Dr. George Tiller was murdered at his […]
The tributaries of the mainstream
Break out the linguistic life jackets, folks. We’re about to be inundated with the overuse and abuse of the word mainstream with regard to President Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the […]
Progressive Culture | Scholars & Rogues 