The Supreme Court’s Catholic Majority
Who comprises the majority in the Supreme Court’s recent 5-4 decision banning abortion?
Catholic males.
More, at NYT.
Posts by al
Toward a Lasting Democratic Coalition?
From the Sept 25 1970 issue of the Washington Post, an excerpt from “The Post-Southern Strategy,” by Kevin Phillips:
The fulcrum of Republican appeal is more or less the “social issue”—law and order, permissiveness, campus anarchy, racial engineering. . . . The [Nixon] administration cannot build a lasting new GOP coalition until it can articulate a positive philosophy and program to replace liberalism’s failure to meet the needs of Middle America.
I’d say the GOP has done pretty well since then, capturing the South and the White House for the greater part of the last half century, the Congress since the nineties, and packing the Court with conservatives.
Last November’s midterm election was a clear repudiation against the GOP and President Bush; not a clear endorsement of the Democratic Party (in spite of our substantial gains and present majority in Congress).
We have a prime opportunity to discern ourselves from the GOP, not simply as their antithesis, but as a viable replacement that serves the needs of most Americans. Of course, the terms of Democratic party building today are different than those faced by Nixon. Still, what kind of “positive philosophy and program” does the Democratic Party have to replace conservatism’s failure?
And more importantly, how will it generate a lasting Democratic majority coalition?
Coulter the Comedian
Ann Coulter calls John Edwards a “faggot” at CPAC.
“I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word ‘faggot,’ so I — so kind of an impasse, can’t really talk about Edwards.”
We already know she’s deranged, but her outstanding record of labeling Democrats as “fags” and “faggots” goes too far. I don’t know what’s worse: that her words are so violent and therefore are so denigrating the public discourse, or that Republicans and CPAC attendees are eating this shit up and loving it.
What’s the Punch Line?
Maybe you’ve heard of FOX News’s new show, The 1/2 Hour News Hour (THHNH). (There have been ads on Facebook, and also on FOX, if you’re the type who, like me, watches O’Reilly for kicks from time to time). The latest project of Joel Surnow, the producer of the FOX primetime hit 24, THHNH is billed as a conservative foil to The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, and as a more lighthearted version of other “news” programming on FOX News.
Most reactions I’ve heard have been to the tune of: “This has got to be a joke.”