Wednesday, 10 June 2009

In Passing

Can we NOW tell the noisy feminists to STFU?

Victor Davis Hanson:

Two of the rhetorical cornerstones of the feminist movement used to be zero-tolerance for sexual slurs by men alleging promiscuity (“slutty flight-attendant look”), and jokes about something as serious as rape...  David Letterman, who has become ever more creepy in his dotage, on both counts proved a boor — and receives only silence?
Glenn Reynolds explains:
Because sexist smears aimed at 14-year-old girls are fine if they’re Republicans.  Duh.

UPDATE (via Hot Air) 090612 17:27:  Credit where credit is due:[1]
National Organization for Women - Media Hall of Shame

The Offense:  Late night TV host David Letterman “joked” that during their recent trip to New York, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s daughter “was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez” during a Yankees baseball game.  The next night Letterman said that the hardest part of Palin's trip was “keeping Eliot Spitzer away from her daughter.”

NOW Analysis:  After two nights of “jokes” at the expense of Palin and her family, Letterman tried to explain himself and offer something of an apology.  On his June 10 show, Letterman said he was referring to Palin's 18-year-old daughter, Bristol -- not the 14-year-old daughter who actually accompanied Palin on her New York trip. Letterman said “I recognize that these are ugly” jokes. NOW agrees.  Comedians in search of a laugh should really know better than to snicker about men having sex with teenage girls (or young women) less than half their age.

The sexualization of girls and women in the media is reaching new lows these days -- it is exploitative and has a negative effect on how all women and girls are perceived and how they view themselves.  Letterman also joked about what he called Palin’s “slutty flight attendant look” -- yet another example of how the media love to focus on a woman politician’s appearance, especially as it relates to her sexual appeal to men...


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[1] I will note that it took NOW three days to issue this release.  (Compare to the two others currently on the page:  One condemning G. Gordon Liddy was issued the day after the broadcast in question, and one criticizing Glenn Beck was issued on the same day the show aired.)  And they couldn’t manage to condemn Letterman without playing the moral equivalence game by dredging up a remark Rush Limbaugh made sixteen years ago about Chelsea Clinton’s appearance.

So:  Sincere objection, or belated attempt to maintain credibility?  I’ll be charitable: 7 out of 10, and hope for improvement in the future!

LATER (090612 22:38):  Reclusive Leftist has a different opinion

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In Passing

Border-control theater


Last night Instapundit linked a CaymanNetNews story that reviews the Department of Homeland Security’s new passport-required-for-reentry rules for American citizens travelling to Canada and Latin America.

The new requirement is the final phase of the US Department of Homeland Security’s Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which requires all American citizens re-entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean to have official proof of identity when crossing the border.

The move is part of a raft of US Government initiatives designed to improve the national security of the United States following the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, DC in September 2001.
...
Before the new rules went into effect, land and sea-based American travellers were only required to show a birth certificate plus a form of government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s licence to regain entry into their country.
More hassle and difficulty for Americans, all in the name of “security.”  This from the agency that can’t seem to spot vanloads of illegal aliens coming in from Mexico, or houses full of illegal aliens[1] in Arizona.

So I’m supposed to be impressed?


Previously:

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[1]  Dear Wall Street Journal:
“Illegal Immigrants Become Hostages as Gangs Prey on Mexicans”
Fixed it for you!

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Tuesday, 09 June 2009

In Passing

Because she’s annoying the right people...


The Hill:

Sarah Palin has begun to get on the nerves of Republican senators...

...Palin, who does not have a lot of Washington connections, energized the party’s grass roots in 2008 while bucking the D.C. establishment, leaving much of the party’s elite grumbling about her appeal to the conservative base.
...
Republicans are frustrated that Palin has wavered over whether to accept an invitation to appear as the headline guest at Monday’s fundraising bash for National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).
...
A... GOP senator, who endorsed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) early in the 2008 primary, argues Palin would face a lot of difficulty raising money.  He said she had little appeal among the major fundraisers who made up McCain’s financial base.
...
For Monday’s high-profile fundraiser, NRSC Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) offered Palin a seat at his table and organizers discussed the possibility of her making an appearance on stage.  But NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions (Texas) objected to the arrangement, according to a source outside the NRCC but involved in planning the dinner.
Via “It’s Vintage, Duh,” who calls it “More proof that Sarah Palin is teh awesomez.”

Elsewhere:

Later:  “Middle-aged, bile-filled husk” heard from.

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Friday, 05 June 2009

In Passing

Balance of coverage?


Brent Baler, Fox News[1]:

In the media, [the killing of Dr. George] Tiller was a top story for almost three days. Several liberal analysts blamed pro-life groups for inciting the murder.  In contrast, there has been relatively little coverage about the killing of Army Private William Long and the wounding of Private Quinton Ezeagwula outside the recruiting center in Little Rock, despite the fact that the alleged shooter was a convert to Islam who police say probably had political and religious motives for the attack.
But it’s not just the legacy media.  Consider Little Green Footballs:

“Tiller” stories:
May 31:

June 1:

June 2:

June 3:

June 4:[2]

“Long” stories

To date: 14 “Tiller” stories, 3 “Long” stories.  Missing from LGF’s “Long” items (although possibly linked by commenters) are Tuesday’s revelations that Long’s confessed killer, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, had already drawn the attention of the FBI’s Terrorism Task Force, and that the killing is now being investigated as part of a wider plot.

Of course Charles can select whatever stories he wants, and I not only respect his past performance in the fight against Islamofascism and MSM dishonesty, I also understand his efforts to insulate the legitimate right from its racist, anti-scientific, and religious fringes.

But if his beliefs are sincerely held, so are the those of many who oppose abortion.  For them it’s about the sanctity of life.  And there are others, those who accept abortion in general but remain disturbed by the late-term procedure of which Tiller was an exponent.  This is an issue that is not going away: It will only be accommodated (not “settled”) through uncomfortable compromise.  In a sense, abortion is the right’s “gay marriage.”

But compromise we must.  Or we will waste our time arguing about the “dangers” of the anti-abortionists while other forces work to bring the world down around us.  For as Ann Coulter notes:
...In a country with approximately 150 million pro-lifers, five abortionists have been killed [in the 36 years] since Roe v. Wade...

Meanwhile, fewer than 2 million Muslims live in America and, while Muslims are less murderous than abortionists, I’m fairly certain they’ve killed more than five people in the United States in the last 36 years.  For some reason, the number “3,000” keeps popping into my head.

So in a country that is more than 50 percent pro-life -- and 80 percent opposed to the late-term abortions of the sort performed by Tiller -- only five abortionists have been killed.  And in a country that is less than 0.5 percent Muslim, several dozen Muslims have killed thousands of Americans.


Related:

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[1]  quoted in “FNC’s Baier Contrasts Media Focus on Murder of Abortion Doctor vs Army Recruiter” by Brent Baker of NewsBusters.

[2]  as of the time of this post (10:45pm EDT)

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Thursday, 04 June 2009

In Passing

Mission creep


It’s long been said that one way to distract people from your lousy performance at your assigned duties is to noisily take on additional stuff:

“I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.”
O RLY?

(I guess negative stereotypes about the U.S. don’t show on his radar.)

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Wednesday, 03 June 2009

In Passing

And considering the ones they hang around with...


“Ragspierre,” in a comment at Malkin’s place:

I have never known a real Leftist male who was not…at his core…either afraid of women or secretly hated them.

(I prefer the Heinlein type, myself: Smart and sexy.  But then smart ones wouldn’t be lefties, would they? )

(Loosely) related:

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