Calvin Rees’ DemoOkie

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Filed under: Newspapers

Comedian John Hodgman headlined the yearly Radio and TV correspondent’s dinner. The main gist of his routine was that there is an ongoing culture war between “Nerds” and “Jocks”, and that Obama may be our first modern “Nerd” president.

It was meant as comedy of course, but I think he may actually be onto something here. Let’s have Hodgman’s definitions:

Jocks: “I am not speaking of Athletes…It is a question of philosophy. The last administration was clearly a “jock” administration….They proceeded at all times from intense confidence and certainty that what they were doing was correct. They privileged gut instinct over complexity and bookish rumination….and they were led by a cheerleader.”

Nerds: “…proceed from a different philosophy; not of certainty but of questioning. You are the questioners, the reality testers, the nit-pickers. That is why you are so annoying sometimes.”

My favorite point of his was when he described the US Constitution as “perhaps the most geeky document of all time” and “The FAQ of the United States”, written by “moneyed, sickly, bookish bifocal-wearing nerds who believed that God was a distant uncaring dungeon master.”

The Nerd-in-Chief did a routine too, of course:

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Filed under: Newspapers, Poll

Wow. Where to start on this?

OK, so Senator John Ensign of Nevada is one of those Republicans. You know, the ones who make morality part of their identity, and that identity their politics. He’s not at all like those immoral Democrats, and you need to know it.

When the President of the United States was caught having an affair and lying about it in 1998, Ensign called for him to resign. In 2004 when pushing for a constitutional ban on gay marriage he said:

Marriage is an extremely important institution in this country and protecting it is, in my mind, worth the extraordinary step of amending our constitution.

Three short years later, this same man is showing how important an institution he finds marriage, by having an affair with a married staffer. A woman married to another employee of his, no less. While he is doing this, he makes this statement to CNN:

There’s too many people that paint with a broad brush that we’re all corrupt, we’re all amoral,” he said. “And having these kinds of things happen, whether it’s a Republican or Democratic senator — we certainly have had plenty of Democratic scandals in the past — we need people who are in office who will hold themselves to a little higher standard.

So now that this has come to light, is Ensign going to resign from the Senate? Heck no!

Massive hypocrisy from a Republican. So cliche. Is it time yet to just start assuming none of them mean what they say, so we can stop being surprised about it?

Today there is more news that fills in a lot of interesting background. First off, it turns out that the woman’s husband sent a letter to Fox News detailing the whole affair. He apparently made the common mistake of confusing Fox with an actual news organization. Of course, being instead a Republican propaganda voice, they sat on the story, and only mentioned it after MSNBC and CNN broke it.

The letter has since turned up. You can read the full text here. I’ll warn you, for a married person, it is a heart-rending read.

One further interesting tidbit: It turns out that as early February of last year many of Ensign’s fellow Republican colleagues knew about this. That includes our own paragon of public-facing morality, Tom Coburn.

In fact one of the confrontations took place in February 2008 at his home in Washington DC (sic) with a group of his peers. One of the attendee’s (sic) was Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma as well as several other men who are close to the Senator. Senator Ensign’s conduct and relentless pursuit of my wife led to our dismissal in April of 2008. I would like to say he stopped his heinous conduct and pursuit upon our leaving, but that was not the case…

Note that Coburn actually shares living accommodations with Ensign in DC. Realistically, there is no way that he didn’t know this was going on almost from the beginning. At the absolute least a roommate in such situations is often called upon to help by clearing out the premises for a while, misleading callers, etc. Given no further information, people are going to speculate (and dig for more facts). Clearly Tom Coburn needs to come clean and explain exactly what his role in this affair was for the one and a half to two and a half years that he knew about it and helped keep it silent.

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Filed under: Editorial, Events, MuleSkinner

My favorite lines:

Too many tears have flowed. Too much blood has been shed. All of us have a responsibility to work for the day when the mothers of Israelis and Palestinians can see their children grow up without fear; when the Holy Land of three great faiths is the place of peace that God intended it to be; when Jerusalem is a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims, and a place for all of the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully together (delay for applause here) as in the story of Isra, when Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed (peace be upon them) joined in prayer.

…and this bit at the end

It is easier to start wars than to end them. It is easier to blame others than to look inward; to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share. But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path. There is also one rule that lies at the heart of every religion – that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. This truth transcends nations and peoples – a belief that isn’t new; that isn’t black or white or brown; that isn’t Christian, or Muslim or Jew. It’s a belief that pulsed in the cradle of civilization, and that still beats in the heart of billions. It’s a faith in other people, and it’s what brought me here today.

We have the power to make the world we seek, but only if we have the courage to make a new beginning, keeping in mind what has been written.

The Holy Koran tells us, “O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.”

The Talmud tells us: “The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace.”

The Holy Bible tells us, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

The people of the world can live together in peace. We know that is God’s vision. Now, that must be our work here on Earth. Thank you. And may God’s peace be upon you.

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Filed under: Events, MuleSkinner, Video

Keith here is suggesting we no longer put up with places of business that inflict Fox’s Right Wing Propaganda channel on their patrons. I’m willing to try this, but that’s a lot of businesses here in Oklahoma.

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Filed under: Editorial, MuleSkinner, Video