Sunday in Outer Blogness: Another Day in the Culture Wars Edition!
Via Gen. J. C. Christian comes the plight of the right-wing parent: “I cant even sit my kids in front of ‘Sesame Street’ without having to worry about the Left attempting to undermine my authority.” While Sesame Street makes a joke about “Pox News,” Jon Stewart does a full parody of Glenn Beck’s routine, and Alan Grayson (D-FL) violates the rule that says that “liberals are required to be thoughtful, high-minded, and terrible on TV.” It’s actually kind of fun to inhabit this communication wonderland (the Internet) where people have such an entertaining competition over who are the good guys! How about some Hot Mormon Muffins? Et tu, scientific research? Just check out my kids’ favorite science research news from this past week “Pitcher-plants: Nature’s toilet bowl.” 😉
We got a pretty good overview of the culture wars in Outer Blogness this week. Religion actively promotes sexism and homophobia. Atheism is growing — and bringing a number of social benefits — not the least of which is playing loyal opposition to keep the theists honest. For example, let’s make an effort to look objectively at the claims surrounding the Book of Mormon. (Note: here we have a fine example of religious folks keeping their leaders accountable on their own.)
Meanwhile, reasonable conservatives are asleep at the wheel of loyal (political) opposition. Right-wing discourse has apparently become so hobbled by the insane fringe (eg. pundits that encourage leaps of logic that are nearly beyond description) that serious issues (such as “the Obama administration ignoring or even undermining justice and the rule of law in exchange for expanded, arbitrary power of the executive branch”) don’t get any airtime or discussion…
Glad you enjoyed(?) the post. I never thought of this guy as a part of the insane fringe, but now that I think about it, he is BSC.
(((Billy))) — I didn’t actually mean that the particular guy you were quoting was necessarily part of the insane fringe. What I mean is that “conservative” discourse has become dominated by the lunatic fringe (Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin), and that they encourage reasoning like that guy’s. It’s a serious problem, IMHO, in part because it leaves a gaping hole in the responsible, reasonable criticism of the current administration.
Chanson: Reading what I wrote (and that post was a pastiche of multiple discussions), I think he really is part of the lunatic fringe. When I talked with him yesterday, I inquired after his news sources: AM radio and Fox News. Everything else is “dominated by liberal left-wing Obama worshipping fascistic commies.” And yes, that is a direct quote.
I agree, though. Responsible criticism (and there is now lots to criticise) and discourse is sadly lacking — I honestly have not heard an honest rightwing objection to health insurance reform. It’s all lies, distortions, and argument by hypothetical “it’ll lead to’s”. Right now, the political discourse is not reality based.