At Random, 8/2/06

This Really Pisses Me Off:

I got this story in an email at work.

Knight says the local Meade newspaper is trying to put him out of business and was frustrated when it ran an article about the flag and did not even bother to contact him regarding why he put it up. In fact, most people we spoke to in Meade said they didn’t even know what the flag meant until the article ran. But once word got around, the reaction was harsh.. . . .

Knight says his son gave him the flag after a trip to Dorothy's house, a museum about the Wizard of Oz. The flag reminded the boy of "somewhere over the rainbow."

Knight's son is twelve years old, and just liked the flag. These are "values" Americans. One seriously wonders what American values they hold.

I also got a follow-up email: Knight is getting a lot of support, tons of e-mails and letters, and people making a point of stopping by if they're in the area.

I think it would be appropriate to write a letter to the local paper (the Meade County News, which doesn't appear to have a website) and also to the Knights to show your support: innkeeper@lakewayhotel.com


Of Note

A very nice dissection of right-wing rhetoric, by paulsavage at Epinions.


Evolution on the Rollercoaster

I seem to remember predicting this some while back: the anti-evolutionists have have lost the Kansas school board. Again.

On Tuesday, three members of the majority faced GOP primary foes who support evolution. A fourth Republican conservative is retiring, and her seat was up for grabs.

The fifth seat was held by Janet Waugh, a Kansas City Democrat who opposed the new standards. Facing a more conservative Democrat who favored the anti-evolution language, she won with 65 percent of the vote and will be unopposed in the fall.

With the unofficial count virtually complete, two of the three conservative Republican incumbents — John Bacon and Ken Willard — held onto their spots on the ballot.

However, the third conservative, Connie Morris, lost to Sally Cauble, a moderate Republican who supports evolution. Meanwhile, the Republican nod for the board's open seat went to another moderate, Jana Shaver. That combination would swing the balance of power toward those who oppose the board's current educational standards.


Gibson and Coulter

From Andrew Sullivan:

Both Coulter and Gibson have made a fortune catering to bigotry. But one is sincere; and one is completely cynical. In some ways, perhaps, an argument could be made that Gibson is preferable.

I noted in my brief digression on bigotry a couple of days ago that in my opinion, if you think your emotional biases are justified solely because you believe in them, then you are more of a bigot -- you're not amenable to reason or even self-interest. Frankly, Coulter turns my stomach; Gibson has turned a gift into a travesty. It's a hard call, but I'd say on that basis, Gibson is the worse bigot -- there's no evidence that Coulter is really a bigot at all, just a cynical manipulator. The same could be said of George W. Bush -- supposedly he's very supportive of gays personally, but he has no compunctions about joining the bashing when there's political support at stake.

Sullivan finished by asking why Coulter is still on TV. That should be obvious -- she sells.


Besen on Andersen

A small item I neglected to comment on, from Wayne Besen:

But Justice Madsen wrote that the plaintiffs were not entitled to such review because they had not demonstrated that homosexuality is an immutable characteristic like race or gender."

Besen ascribes it to swallowing ex-gay propaganda, and frankly, the whole opinion reflects that attitude: I keep running across statements in the opinion that come straight out of Exodus Ministries, Focus on the Family, Family Research Institute (an official hate group) and the like. This is just one more example of the intellectual poverty of this decision. I don't really care that GayPatriot and Dale Carpenter think it's solid -- quite aside from the Christianist talking points, the opinion is a prime example of John Yoo justice. It simply confirms my opinion that GayPatriot and Carpenter are missing something somewhere -- like a moral foundation.