Obama called Kanye West a jackass for interrupting a meaningless awards show with a rude (albeit aesthetically justified) outburst, but didn’t seem to mind when Van Jones was forced to resign after calling the infinitely more contemptible Republicans assholes. Obama also accepted Joe Wilson’s apology for a similarly rude outburst (remember, when he called [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘Politics’
July 2, 2009
Gore Vidal on The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
It was in 1972 when Nixon won and there was not much to laugh about. And I was speaking in Boston to a large, youthful audience…And somebody said, “How do you explain that we here in Massachusetts were the only state to vote for McGovern?” And I said, “Well, I could compliment you [...]
April 6, 2009
Divided Cities Conference
I’ll be volunteering for most of this next week:
Leaders from Divided Cities to Meet at UMass Boston April 14-16
Building on his successes at bringing together leaders from divided societies in South Africa, Northern Ireland, and Iraq, Padraig O’Malley, the John Joseph Moakley Distinguished Professor of Peace and Reconciliation at UMass Boston’s McCormack Graduate School of [...]
March 23, 2009
Two Quotes on the Law
In this sphere, in contract law that is, the moral conceptual world “guilt,” “conscience,” “duty,” “sacredness of duty” has its genesis—its beginning, like the beginning of everything great on earth, was thoroughly and prolongedly drenched in blood. And might one not add that this world has in essence never again entirely lost a certain [...]
December 29, 2008
“It’s only making it worse…”
I heard this discussion on the current military conflict between Israel and Hamas on the BBC World Service while driving home from Boston last night.
Chilling stuff. I haven’t been able to find any information about whether Jihad Rustum is okay.
Someone should tell Itay that the international press is being denied access to Gaza.
November 17, 2008
A triumvirate of nerds philosophers dims the post-election afterglow…
Simon Critchley
“Obama’s politics is governed by an anti-political fantasy. It is the call to find common ground, [to] put aside our differences and achieve union. Obama’s politics is governed by a longing for unity, for community, for communion and the common good. The remedy to the widespread disillusion with Bush’s partisan politics is a reaffirmation [...]
November 5, 2008
Yes We Can(nabis)!…and other ballot-related matters…
Voters approve marijuana law change
By David Abel, Boston Globe Staff / November 5, 2008
Voters yesterday overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, making getting caught with less than an ounce of pot punishable by a civil fine of $100. The change in the law means someone found carrying [...]
November 3, 2008
Two Quotes on Politics
…there was a conviction—a well-founded one, moreover—of the futility of rationalizations and ratiocinations. In 1982 or 1983, in Foucault’s apartment, we were watching a televised report on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; at one point one of the combatants (which side he was on is utterly unimportant) was invited to speak. Now this man spoke in terms [...]
October 20, 2008
The real reason why Powell supports Obama…
I spent my morning commute listening to the hosts of the local hard rock station’s morning show blather on about how Colin Powell is only supporting Obama because they’re both black. This argument is unbelievably naive. Powell is obviously supporting Obama because they’re both communist muslims.
October 11, 2008
“…but life imitates TV…”
Exhibit A: Things have gotten so ridiculous that we’re now at a point where political satire can succeed by merely replicating the exact content of reality in humorously exagerated style. Bush Jr. is clearly the individual most responsible for this shift.
Exhibit B: When this guy announces his candidacy, we’ll have reached a point where [...]
