Jerry's comeuppance?

NFL news this past weekend recalls an old saying about love and war. Jessica Simpson has made a career out of organic dumbness married to blonde hair dye. She was too dumb for a Tony Romo, which recalls another old saying about scorned women.

Tony got crunched by his arch-foes from New York. His injury tops the list of things quarterbacks really don't want to think about. Tony will be out for at least half of the remaining season.

It falls to his 38-year old, journeyman backup, Jon Kitna, to resurrect the Cowboy's season. I watched Kitna play in Cincinnati. Television somewhat masks a weak-armed quarterback. Sitting in the stadium it was obvious that, at least in his ability to throw the ball, Kitna wouldn't qualify as a good high school quarterback. Yes, this was during the Bengal's darkest hours, when the proletariat wanted Mike Brown's head on a pike. Brown saved his skin with an inspired choice for head coach and by drafting Carson Palmer. Kitna eventually went off to Detroit, where, yes, he won a few games and set a club passing record. Said record says more about the Lions, than of Kitna.

That Kitna ended up on the Cowboys roster is another indictment of Jerry Jones. Perhaps he and Al Davis have the same astrologer. Or, embalmer. I give Kitna credit for perseverance. This oft-injured, perennial free agent has drawn NFL paychecks for over a decade. That's a lot more than the vast majority of NFL players, past, present or future, will ever see.

He may have learned the art of a career backup since leaving Cincinnati. Kerry Collins is a good example of someone who profited from painful experience. He knows not to press past his limitations. Kitna blew many games trying to make something happen, a tough task when no DB in the league respects the velocity you can put on the ball. Or, ability to make good decisions while pressured. At least Kitna has sufficient reserves of painful experience.

I think Kitna will further expose Jones' folly. He's no improvisation artist. Unlike Romo, he lacks skills necessary to overcome a deficient offensive line, like being able to pass effectively while on the run. Jones now risks the ultimate comeuppance, the possibility that the first all-New York Superbowl will be played in his brand-new stadium.

Modern woman

With America's politics and economy in 19th century retrograde, we might as well look around for a few other supposedly modern notions that were actually established before anyone now living was born. For example, women who date or marry significantly younger men. Did the 19th century see any of these so-called cougars?

Jennie Jerome was born in Brooklyn, New York, 1854. She was raised there, too. At age 20, she married a man five years here senior. This photograph was taken before her marriage.

Jennie gave birth to a son eight months after her wedding and, six years later, to a second son. Her husband passed away in 1895. Five years later, at age 46, she married for the second time. Her new husband was 26 years old, the same age as her oldest son.

She married for a third and final time in 1918, to a man born in 1877. Her third husband was 41, while she was 64. He was three years younger than her oldest son.

Jennie would otherwise be a footnote to cultural history, were it not for her first marriage, by which she became known to us as Lady Randolph Churchill.

Her oldest son was named Winston.

Pathology

Angling for disaster

Mistress

 

Christine

Pretty evil

Outing the Black Tea Party

Which craft?

Feculent

Outreach to Albion

Albion – place name, archaic or poetic Britain or England (from Latin, of Celtic origin)

**********************************************
Memo to United Kingdom
c/o Simon Jeffery
The Guardian

Hello,

Just an ordinary American citizen here. Wanted to let you know that we're not all insane on this side of the salty pond. Glen Beck, who is otherwise unqualified for any form of gainful employment, has an audience of only 1% of the adult US population. Yes, he's a complete fraud. But only one percent buy his rubbish.

Sarah "Death Panels" Palin appeals to the same demographic. White, generally middle-aged+, less educated, dis-empowered, bitter, not terribly bright and wallowing in ignorance. We have 307 million people here and the bell curve applies like a human law of physics. Of course we're going to have millions of stupid people. It's just that the confounded Internet has everyone clacking away, even the illiterati.

 

Carl Paladino can only be described as someone who seeks suicide but lacks requisite courage. As opposed to flinging himself off a bridge, he'd rather self-combust by giving voice to antique notions precisely aligned with his age, gender, ethnicity and political representation in the Tea Party. Paladino would be a breakout star in South Carolina. Perhaps he just needs a map.

Christine no-ohhh'Donnell is another dreary huckster who discovered the stupid demographic as a road to riches. It's no coincidence she looks like Palin's little sister. At least the American Right has the decency to serve female ignorance in distasteful packaging. Palin, Coulter and Gellar are "sexy" or "attractive" only if you're sight-impaired. Seeing women prostitute truth for filthy lucre becomes untenable in a smart package.

Which brings us to Michelle Malkin. Why would a bright, well-educated babe like Malkin forge a career of filthy lies? She earns $300,000/year from her blog alone. Throw in book deals, TV and speaking engagements and she's easily at a half-mil per year. At least we know her price.

And then there's Rich the idIott, Tea Party candidate for Ohio's 9th Congressional district. This is the SS 5th Panzer Division fool who claims ignorance while impersonating someone who understands history. It's the same story, with O'Donnell's broomstick swapped for symbols of genocide. He's badly trailing a seasoned opponent. Republican party reaction was swift and furious. This signals that IdIott's chances weren't terribly good to begin with and that SS optics retain their luster after all these years.

All things considered, America's sudden lurch towards the late 19th century isn't as bad as it appears. Ratios of education attainment have never been higher and the proportion of people holding university degrees tracks higher still in younger cohorts, even in our developing states. This explains a paucity of young adults at Tea Party events.

No, our seeming return to populism is more like a system purge. Stupid was contained for so long that a pressure release is prudent. Recent displays of mass ignorance are due more to Republican disintegration, and less to Democrat rule. Reagan put a lid on Stupid and Rove let it slip off. Michael Steele isn't exactly a disciplinarian.

It should come as no surprise that a black, democrat outsider to national machine politics in the White House has sparked visceral reaction from the stupid demographic. Obama is only the best President since Truman and he may prove to be the best since Roosevelt. That would be Teddy Roosevelt. The Right simply has no answer - they've got no one who comes close. Scare-mongering is always a last resort but it was the only Republican option. The eruption of Stupid calls to mind an old saying regarding care in what one asks for.

 The real America is urban, literate and worldly. Millions of us ordinary folk have good command of history. Not university professors, hobbyists or military fetishists. People with mere bachelors degrees who study American history and quickly learn that mastery is impossible without also studying Europe's. Do we counter-balance Stupid?

Time will provide an answer. Meanwhile, I offer this bit of weighty evidence. David Hackett Fischer is an American professor, historian and prize-winning author. Fischer's treatise on the origins of American culture is worshiped by professional historians and read by all serious students of history. No other book provides so many answers regarding modern America.

It's called Albion's Seed.

Best to all,

TRS

Winning the War

What's the likelihood of a black man from West Baltimore becoming passionately interested in the American Civil War? If your view of West Baltimore was primarily shaped by The Wire, you'd probably think the odds of such individual existing in real life are fairly low. Perhaps so, but Ta-Nehisi Coates is alive and well. He's a journalist, author and leading public intellectual who found a home, and a large & like-minded following, at theAtlantic.

Coates recently received an unintended endorsement from the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The SVC is one of those Alice-in-Wonderland, Lost Cause groups who exist to deny historic facts. They recently singled out Coates as an advocate for unvarnished truth and based on the tone of their attack, they've been watching Coates' blog for some time.

Coates and his mob, alternatively known as a The Golden Horde and the Lost Battalion of Conversationalists have explored Civil War history for the past two years. Co-Horder/Conversationalist absurdbeats has compiled a list of links to all of Coates blog posts on the Civil War.

theAtlantic blogger Jeffry Goldberg, an international journalist who was recently invited by Fidel Castro to a multi-day interview session, conducted a hilarious interview with Coates two years ago. TheRaven has shamelessly copied it for your reading pleasure.....

Ta-Nehisi Coates is the New Frederick Douglass

Aug 6 2008, 12:30 PM ET

 

In this week's episode of "Know Your Bloggers," Ta-Nehisi Coates talks about black nationalism and hummus. Here is a transcript of our conversation:

JEFFREY GOLDBERG: Do you realize that you're the first black blogger at The Atlantic since Frederick Douglass?

TA-NEHISI COATES: He doesn't count. Frederick Douglass had a white father -- and he married a white woman. Thus by the evolved standard of our new post-racial America, Douglass wasn't really black. Thus, I claim the crown. My father was a Black Panther. I'm from West Baltimore. I haven't married the mother of my son. You don't get much blacker than that. I am The One. I am The Only.

JG: What about Harriet Tubman? Didn't she blog for The Atlantic? You're not going to write her out, are you?

TC: No, no. Harriet's the truth. Just not that Douglass character. But Harriet's a woman, so she doesn't qualify. There are no black women.

JG: You say that you are the One. But Barack Obama is the One. Does that mean that there are, in fact, Two?

TC: Ugh, how many times do I have to say this. Obama isn't black. I keep trying to tell people this. No black man could win in Iowa. Did you see him dancing on Ellen? Barack is half of One. I am The One.

JG: Do you like hummus?

TC: Dude I effing LOVE hummus. Hummus is awesome! My folks were black hippies and embraced anything that looked alternative -- and tasted good. In the '80s -- at least in West Baltimore -- that was hummus. Of course the real question is, do you like falafel?

JG:  I love falafel! Next question: What's your favorite Led Zeppelin song?

TC: "The Battle of Evermore." Come on, I played Dungeons & Dragons.

JG: Are you now, or have you ever been, a neoconservative?

TC: No, I'm not a neoconservative -- but I did laugh at the anti-war marchers in Union Square. Regrettably, they're now laughing at me.

JG: Who is the greatest Jew ever, Bob Dylan or Jesus Christ?

TC: Bob Dylan. He's one of the biggest reasons my Dad went into the Panthers. Which ultimately led him to meeting my mom. Which subsequently led to the birth of The One. Us black people have Jews to thank for everything -- even our very existence.

JG: Finally, the words we've been waiting to hear. On behalf of the Jewish people, let me just say, you're welcome. The inevitable follow-up: How, exactly, did Bob Dylan bring your father to the Panthers?

TC: Oh, man, you gotta buy, and possibly read (more concerned about the former than the latter) my book to get that story. You think I do this thing for free, Jeffrey?

JG: I'll buy yours if you buy mine. In my book, I tell how the Panthers made me a Zionist. Seriously. Page 48. Last question: What do you have against Jesus?

TC: Black Jesus or blond, blue-eyed Jesus? Black Jesus is a tool to get us to believe in the white man's religion. Blond blue-eyed Jesus is, well, blond blue-eyed Jesus. I think I could worship a Cablinasian Jesus. Maybe that explains why I'm for Obama.

Cartoon nation

High tech under the sea

Telecommunications has lost its technology luster. The telecommunications industry seems to have commoditized itself overnight, although its been a few years since the industry was in growth mode. I went looking for some scrap of the past to show us when communication over great distance was really fresh and exciting.

Three years before South Carolina committed treasonous acts that pitched America into the Civil War, Frank Leslie published the most high-tech illustration ever seen. Leslie was a cutting-edge engraver, illustrator and newspaper owner. In 1858, he published this map of the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable.

Click image to see full size

Leslie indulged a bit of exuberance here. There were five attempts to lay transatlantic telegraph cables beginning in 1857 before permanent connections were established in 1866. The first transatlantic connection was completed on August 5, 1858, by Atlantic Telegraph Company, led by Cyrus West Field.

It lasted three weeks.

*********************************

BONUS: How many Frank Leslie's were there? Were they all the same gender? This piece at American Heritage is highly entertaining, especially for those who think the 19th century was all about Victorian  propriety, and shy & retiring women.

Legacy nation

These ruminations on Andrew Jackson caused your favorite 3-pound pundit to wonder about the unintended irony of some American place names. Jackson is famous for his nullification smackdown. He's also infamous for the Trail of Tears. If the reader will bear with a nerdy level of introductory detail, your patience will be rewarded with permanent knowledge. This stuff will never, ever change. All data presented here was obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau and accessorized using Wikipedia.

There are 3,141 counties in America. "County" includes county-level government entities called parishes, boroughs (Alaska) or some cities (e.g. Baltimore City). The names of America's counties are in many cases unsurprising. The interesting thing about county names is that whomever chose them couldn't ignore implications for posterity. For example, the five most frequently occurring names are:

Washington - 31
Franklin - 26
Jefferson - 26
Jackson - 24
Lincoln - 24

Other presidential names appear outside of the top-5, for example, 12 counties are named "Polk". (I didn't check every county for the possibility of coincidental naming, but, for example, most counties named "Jackson" are named for Andrew Jackson).

County names include a fair representation of military figures. Some of the most popular are:

Wayne - 16
Grant - 15
Greene - 14
Perry - 10
Knox - 9
Pulaski - 7
Custer - 6
Decatur - 5

The same caution on unchecked possible coincidental naming applies here. I've left the injustice of Custer outnumbering Decatur unchallenged (please feel free to chime in). One the one hand, we've got a velvet-clad glory hound, on the other, we've got America's first post-revolution military hero, whose exploits would make a movie every bit as good as Master and Commander.

Many of the oldest counties, like other place-names on the eastern seaboard, evoke the homelands of our founding English cultures or they honor period royalty. For example:

Essex - 5
Kent - 5
York - 5
Middlesex - 4
Suffolk - 3
Bristol - 3

"King" appears in three other county names and "Prince" appears in five.

Names used for three or more counties account for 41% of all county names. There are 1,386 counties (44%) with unique names. Some counties were named by folks with perhaps less appreciation of their historic opportunity, or perhaps they were in a hurry, or thought commodities would forever rule, or maybe they just preferred small words, to wit:

Carbon - 4
Iron - 4
Mineral - 4
Cedar - 3
Bay - 2

"Coal" and "Petroleum" were each used only once. Oddly enough, Coal County is in Oklahoma and not West Virginia. Petroleum County isn't found in Pennsylvannia, Louisiana, or Texas, but rather in Montana.

"Liberty" appears as only four county names although "Columbia" appears eight times and we might construe similar meaning or intent. Pre-colonial or pre-territorial explorers were given short-shrift. Hernado de Soto inspired four county names, one of which is Hernando County, Florida. "La Salle" appears just twice. That puts their legacy on a similar plane as Jefferson Davis, since two counties are named "Jefferson Davis" and two others (in Texas and Georgia) are named "Jeff Davis". Are four counties named for Jefferson Davis worse than six named for Custer? You bet!

County names also provide an interesting counterpoint to belief that America is a "Christian country". Indeed, if the Founder's intent (despite constitutional absence of a state religion) was to create a "Christian country", you'd think those who followed would have honored such legacy with a spate of county names drawn from  Christian tradition. Oddly, only three counties are named "Christian", in Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri. There is no "Bible County" and no counties are named for Abraham, Moses or Jesus. There are, however, counties named "Deaf Smith", "Beaverhead", "Glasscock" and "Jim Hogg". The latter was a 19th century populist governor of Texas. He had his own unique take on names.

The most common county names derived from Christian tradition are:

St. Clair - 4
Christian - 3
St. Louis - 3
St. Charles - 2
St. Joseph - 2
Trinity - 2

There are 16 other counties named for saints, plus Assumption and Ascension Parishes, which totals 34 counties (1%) named from Christian tradition, most likely by Catholic missionaries. As I recall, the Founders were largely Protestants who looked askance on Catholicism.

How does representation of Christian tradition in county names compare to traditions of people who weren't English royalty, Presidents, military leaders, explorers, governors or treasonous secessionists? Such people were known by many names. They were widely regarded, at the time, as the antithesis of "Christian". We'll do a another top-5 list, this time in reverse order:

Chippewa - 3
Cheyenne - 3
Ottawa - 4
Delaware - 6
Cherokee - 8

Tribal names, place names and other words of native peoples were used to name approximately 312 American counties*. The most popular native name for a county is Cherokee. "Cherokee County" is found in Georgia, Texas, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas, Iowa and Oklahoma. It's safe to say that county names representing native American tradition outnumber those expressing Christian tradition by a 9:1 ratio.

Cherokee is also tied with 11 other names, including "Boone", as the 44th most popular county name overall. An ironic and permanent legacy for a displaced, vanquished people.

Remember Jim Hogg? He was born in Cherokee County, Texas. He named his daughter "Ima", although this picture shows she didn't look like the phonetic interpretation of Ima Hogg.

 Circa 1900

The legend that Jim had another daughter named "Ura" is, sadly, pure myth.

* The list of all county names was reviewed for native American names, marked & tallied. County names that may be translations of native words weren't included. A few erroneous inclusions may have occurred.

The Grinch who trashed marriage

A sixteen year old boy begins a sexual relationship with his twenty-four year old teacher. He marries her three years later. As an adult he routinely lies about their early relationship, telling all who’d listen that they met when he was eighteen.

The boy becomes an educated man over fifteen years of marriage. He embarks on a risky, high-profile career. Then he meets someone else. He's now thirty-four years old. Instead of a wife eight years his senior, his new love is eight years younger than he. He asks this new woman to marry him after knowing her for just a few weeks, and before even telling his wife. Her notice arrives as divorce papers, served to her in a hospital bed, where she's  recuperating after cancer surgery. Cancer and divorce will leave her destitute.

The man discovers a confidant and professional ally in his second wife. She is a friend, advisor and coach all in one loyal spouse. His vaulting ambition is finally realized during their marriage. He achieves national fame and influence but his own hubris ultimately poisons the well of good fortune. He loses his job, is nearly bankrupted, suffers clinical depression and wallows in public displays of self-destructive behavior. She sticks with him through the worst of times and provides a modifying influence, laying the groundwork for his resurrection.

Then he meets someone else. This time it's a woman twenty-three years his junior. After eighteen-years of marriage he tells his second wife it's over – by telephone. She had been recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He behaves badly in the otherwise uncontested divorce proceedings. She remains loyal after the dust settles,  maintaining her silence about a very public figure.

Until now.

If this man was less known, our morality tale wouldn’t compel much consideration. Many middle-aged men have been known to treat their wives as disposable commodities. If this man were an ordinary politician the story would still suffer a dearth of uniqueness. However, the man in this story is an out-spoken, conservative defender of family values. He’s been a national champion of the conservative cause for three decades, a strident voice defending the sanctity of marriage.

And now he wants to be President of the United States.

**************************************

Read the in-depth profile in Esquire.

Watch Colbert go to town.

In the field, 1864

In the Field, September 20, 1864

I am happy to know that the wicked prosper not, and that the traitorous schemes of our political antagonists, the enemies of our country and our cause, are in a fair way to come to naught.

How sublimely ridiculous has been the performance of the whole farce -- the terrific splutter and fizzle at Chicago -- the high horse which they rode after "little Mac" was announced as the nominee of the party, and their subsequent great trepidation and disgust upon the receipt of the letter of acceptance of the little saint! I have always thought that the true and loyal men of the North would prove sufficient in the contests between parties, where the questions at issue are of so great and vital importance, involving, as they do, the principles upon which our government is based, and we exist as a free people, independent and united; besides the consideration of the great problem of humanity and morality which is now being solved, and which is to affect the whole human race, and influence the destiny of coming generations.

When I read the proceedings of the Chicago Convention, during its organization and continuance, crouching as I was behind a friendly heap of dirt, which only protected me from the balls of the sharp-shooters -- amid the roar of cannon, the bursting of bombs, the screeching of shell, and hurtling balls and hissing of bullets -- tons of iron and lead being pitched about in a most promiscuous and careless manner -- my heart almost failed me. I was fain to give up in despair and disgust. Then, in a day or two we got more particular accounts -- the speeches, platform, and nominations --  and my blood boiled in my fierce wrath and impotent rage!

I have no doubt but I made some wicked and foolish remarks and resolves, but I finally cooled off a little, and took a more extensive and reasonable view of the matter. I thought of the character of the men engaged, compared them with many others enlisted in the good cause and true party; compared platforms & c., and came to the conclusion that the thing wouldn't work. The people wouldn't swallow it, and although the party might cause us much trouble and sorrow, yet the mass of the people would, all in good time, show the true mettle and come to time.

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." We must use every means of an honorable character to controvert and overthrow the designs of our enemies. Grant and Sherman are great generals; Farragut is king of his craft or art -- yet, would they make good presidents? It demands different qualities to constitute a soldier and a statesman and ruler of a nation; much besides scientific knowledge, or the great qualities even of patriotism, determination, and strong will.

Please excuse this hastily written letter; it is after tattoo, and I am sleepy.

I remain your affectionate cousin,

C. C. Cone

**************************************

The strong heart of Charles Cone almost failed him. Not because of the the roar of cannon, the bursting of bombs, the screeching of shell, and hurtling balls and hissing of bullets -- tons of iron and lead being pitched about in a most promiscuous and careless manner but because he's reading an account of the Chicago convention, while crouched behind a "friendly heap of dirt", in the middle of a battle.

He was fain to give up in despair and disgust not because he was in mortal danger, but because he was disgusted by the thought of the little general as a presidential candidate. He's more concerned with great problem of humanity and morality which is now being solved, and which is to affect the whole human race than with his own life. He's funny and articulate, too. Could there be any worse epithet for a general than "little saint"?

There is so much period context packed into this letter I almost don't where to begin:

A) He writes better than a lot of modern college graduates.
B) How many people today would be more worried about political process in a calm situation, let alone while they're being shot at?
C) So much for Johnny Reb's unique courage.
D) We make too few such men in modern America.

Charles C. Cone was appointed first lieutenant, Company I, in the 8th U.S. Colored Troops in late 1863. The son of a wealthy attorney in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, he had first enlisted in 1861. He was wounded in in the Battle of Olustee in Florida, in February 1864. Nine days after writing the letter, he was severely wounded at the Battle of Chaffin's Farm.

Lieutenant Cone died on October 23, 1864.

He was nineteen years old.

**************************************

 Click here for source and original comment.

Who has $250,000?

Higher education is an inherently unfair market. Elite private universities practice hereditary privilege while the state colleges and universities, home to three-quarters of America's undergraduates, suffer a dearth of resources. American higher education perpetuates a system of inherited wealth and power while ensuring that the middle class must struggle just to stay in place.TheRaven proposed a simple policy fix that would level the playing field. The idea is so hot that it will never see the light of day.

Accepting higher education as it is, a quest for education attainment really turns on value concepts for the overwhelming majority of parents and aspiring students. Where are the colleges and universities that haven't consigned their "star" professors to research roles (with graduate students handling teaching duties)? An undergraduate degree at an elite private university can top $250,000. This price is completely out of reach for most Americans. Best education for lowest price is the name of the game.

Two veteran instructors tackle quality and cost issues in a new book titled Higher Education? They wrote an insider look and were recently interviewed by theAtlantic. They generally damn the Ivy League as a collection of over-priced education brands. Responding to a comment from yours truly, one of the authors (Claudia Driefus) had this to say:

If we had a child looking at schools now, we'd look first to the value state universities--of which Virginia has several. In our book, "Higher Education?" we have a chapter, "Schools We Like," based on some of own visits and research. It's an impressionistic list--but parents might find some "out of the box" ideas there. A condensation of that chapter appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education and is also on our blog, www.highereducationquestionmark.com

I popped on over to the author's blog and found an interesting list with a few surprises and confirmation of what may be the best unknown higher education option in America, a genuine honors university hiding in a state system. The President of this university has been at the helm for the past 18 years. U.S. News & World Report named him one of America's Best Leaders in 2008 and Time magazine named him one of America's 10 Best College Presidents in 2009. His academic and professional achievements defy summarization. He also appeared in a documentary film titled 4 Little Girls.

This university enrolls almost 10,000 undergraduates and close to 3,000 graduate students. There are 480 full-time and 250 part time faculty teaching in 42 majors, 41 minors and 17 certificate programs in the physical and biological sciences, social and behavioral sciences, engineering, mathematics, information technology, humanities and visual and performing arts.

Top-quartile average SAT score is 1,362 and more than 40% of undergraduates are minorities. Resident tuition and fees are $8,872 and 72% of freshman live on campus. U.S. News & World Report named this school the #1 “Up and Coming” university in the nation and fourth among all colleges and universities in the nation for commitment to undergraduate teaching.

Not only do these two people provide strong endorsement from experience but our authors had this to say about UMBC:

University of Maryland-Baltimore County. The Meyerhoff Scholars Program has greatly increased the number of African-Americans in the biological sciences and engineering. In addition, although the university is a research institution focused on science and engineering, undergraduate instruction in the liberal arts is not an afterthought. President Freeman A. Hrabowski sets a tone at the top that says teaching undergraduates is important, and the faculty knows he means it. Of all the research universities we’ve visited, it is the place that has most capably connected research with undergraduate education.

The excerpt from Higher Education? that was published in the Chronicle can be found here.

************************************* 

UPDATE 8/19/10: The concept of higher education as value investing is catching on. The author of a new book called Debt Free U, in an interview with the NY Times, says: "Attending an in-state public institution is the easiest and most powerful way to reduce the cost of college".

The Lie that will not Die

We mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in 246 days.

While April 12, 1861 saw the initiation of a shooting war accruing from hostility that had simmered for decades. Tension between North and South reached the boiling point almost 30 years before the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter. Andrew Jackson's smackdown of nullification and almost three decades of ensuing compromises and appeasements couldn't prevent the inevitable cataclysm for one and only one reason.

Slavery caused the war.

Governor McDonnell's proclamation of Virginia's "Confederate History Month" four months ago set off a firestorm and a well-earned Presidential rebuke. McDonnell forgot to mention why the war was fought as he eagerly pandered to the Sons of Confederate Veterans and other denialists. Realizing that Virginia's black voters outnumber her white idiots, a chastened McDonnell issued an apology. Analysis of his law school thesis reveals that McDonnell is a Christian extremist, a misogynist and likely a bigot. His apology is therefore a fraud.

Which brings up a question regarding big states of denial. Could any denialism top McDonnell's unpardonable proclamation? Only if proclaimed by the Texas State Legislature.

Texas elected officials saw fit to enshrine the lie that will not die by proclaiming "April is the month in which the Confederate States of  America began and ended a four-year struggle for states' rights, individual freedom, and local government control...".

Did they really say "individual freedom"?

Texas brushed off slavery with liberal use of legislated ignorance: "the morally abhorrent practice of slavery has in the minds of many Texans become the prime motivation of Southern soldiers, despite the fact that 98 percent of Texas Confederate soldiers never owned a slave and never fought to defend slavery; and WHEREAS, Politically correct revisionists would have Texas children believe that their Confederate ancestors fought for slavery when in fact most Texans joined the Confederate armed forces to defend their homes, their families, and their proud heritage as Texans..."

Really?

Because only 2% of fighting Texans - over 2,100 men - were slave owners, Texas can disavow slavery as the cause of the war? The founding documents of the Confederacy explicitly cite the preservation of slavery as raison d'être. Texas was an acknowledged, belligerent member of the Confederacy. Therefore, Texas has ownership of slavery as the cause of the war. Notions of "proud heritage" in context of the Civil War are simply execrable.

Andy Hall, guest blogger at theAtlantic and purveyor of the insightful Dead Confederates, provides expert analysis of a deeper lie. The two-percent figure is an exercise in profound ignorance. Andy is a Civil War scholar with a Texan's intolerance for bullshit. His guest post on theAtlantic explains why slavery is the only root-cause of 600,000 Americans killed in a titanic struggle that redefined war itself.

Hop on over, give it a read and introduce yourself. You can mention TheRaven, they know me there.

Lunacy in better focus

Glenn Beck's use of the racially coded phrase "Planet of the Apes"  in yet another of his idiotic rants caused the TheRaven to ponder his target audience.

Congressmen Bob Inglis' remarkable interview with Mother Jones revealed a genuine conservative's perspective on the Tea Party. Inglis is the real deal. He's about as far from liberal as you can be without crossing the line on delusionalism. He offers a compelling case for the Tea Party as a collection of crack-brained wing-nuts.

The very next day another piece has fallen into place. This post on AlterNet is reporting that a Massive Censorship at Digg has been uncovered. Digg is the leading social media website.As reported on AlterNet:

"A group of nearly one hundred conservatives have banded together on a Yahoo Group called Digg Patriots, and a companion site at coRanks to issue bury orders and discuss strategies to censor Digg and other social media websites. Digg Patriots was founded on 21 May 2009. This group is the heart of a complicated web on various networks, including Twitter, Propeller, StumbleUpon, YouTube, and Facebook, all dedicated to ramming an extreme right wing viewpoint down the throats of those communities and censoring opposing viewpoints. 

This includes such means as cyber stalking, bullying, and terror, as exposed on YouTube yesterday (something not one of the Digg Patriots group condemned).  Not surprisingly, there is also a heavy contingent active on the ultraconservative FreeRepublic.There are a few differences of opinion within Digg Patriots, although for the most part, they are extremely similar in perspective.

• They hate Obama. 
• They hate progressives. 
• They hate the UN, diplomacy, and peace/disarmament efforts. 
• They hate reforms of health care, Wall St., and immigration. 
• They hate science, in fact many are creationists, and some even blog about it.
• They hate the secular nature of our nation. 
• They hate environmental protection, requiring polluters to be responsible for their own cleanup, and especially hate climate efforts. 
• They hate unions and any attempt to level the playing field to give all Americans economic opportunities. 
• They hate the government, except the military-industrial complex. 
• They hate abortion rights. 
• They hate public schools and really hate higher education. 
• They hate anyone in the media except far right personalities like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Michelle Malkin. 
• They hate anyone who doesn’t think Obama is a secret islamist and/or marxist who was born in Kenya. 
• They just love to hate.

Although this is a fringe group of Teabagging wingnuts, many well established figures in the Digg community are also present..."

The only thing worse than wing-nuts is well-organized wing-nuts. A tip of the hat to the folks at Digg who ferreted out this nonsense and put a stop to it.

********************************************** 

UPDATE 1: TheAtlantic discusses an idea that may seem radical to right-wing extremists: we are each entitled to our own set of opinions, but we aren't entitled to our own set of facts. Abandonment of truth in the Internet age is yet another manifestation of the Law of Unintended Consequences. The Atlantic piece opens with Alternet's discovery of Tea Party trolls carrying on like Grant's wolves. Read all about it, here.