Favorite poster from NR's "The Corner"

Nice, Jonah just played the race card on a straw Obama's behalf

Sounds like Jonah was jealous he didn't get invited to the George Will dinner.

Is there a name for that? The reverse race card? The race trump card? This delusional argument that goes "Nobody's allowed to say anything bad about this person because this person is non-white / female / gay / a spotted owl / etc."

an asshole.

Alfred otm.

The Geraldine Ferraro's Credibility Memorial Race Card

I think complaining that you can't criticize someone without people thinking you have racial hangups is pretty much the flashing neon sign stating that you have racial hangups.

Poetic Etymology [Lisa Schiffren]

Was the Reverend Lowery's little race rhyme racist? I don't know. I personally found it more than a little jarring—because of where I had previously heard a version of same. During various water shortages in California in the 1970s signs appeared in public bathrooms with the conservationist suggestion: "If it's brown, flush it down. If it's yellow, let it mellow." Yes: yuck, gross, ick. Flushing toilets always seemed like a reasonable use of water to me. I understand that there is some cultural debate about this. Actually, the original jingle was a personal favorite of former California Governor Jerry Brown—an early 'conservationist.'

Having googled the phrase, I now understand that there is a longer history still involving the capacity of septic systems and/or common practice in rural areas during extended power outages. In any case, bringing up that jingle and the imagery inevitably associated with it seems like a pretty unnecessary addition to an inaugural benediction. And no, I probably shouldn't have written this post.

And no, I probably shouldn't have written this post.

OTM

Kirchick’s Distortion [Ed Whelan]

On David Frum’s new website, James Kirchick claims that at the National Review Institute’s post-election symposium “social conservatives Maggie Gallagher, Jeffrey Bell and Ed Whelan all encouraged conservatives to stress gay issues even more in the future, and most everyone in the audience nodded in agreement.” If my recollection is correct, that is hardly a fair representation of our comments. I’d bet that I made the obvious point that judicial imposition of same-sex marriage is an ongoing threat, and I’m sure that we cited the widespread popular support for traditional marriage and the need to continue to defend traditional marriage. But I don’t think that any of us believes that the best way to defend traditional marriage is to frame the matter as a “gay issue”, and I don’t recall any mention of any other “gay issue”. In other words, Kirchick’s comment would be accurate, I think, if he had written: “social conservatives Maggie Gallagher, Jeffrey Bell and Ed Whelan all encouraged conservatives to stress defense of traditional marriage even more in the future.” (If Kirchick or anyone else can quote comments that support his assertion, I’d be happy to correct the record.)

I’d prefer much less mention of gay issues in the public square.

01/22 11:51 AM

ourobouros.jpg

Between Frum's site and TheNextRight.com, there's going to be a slew of 'why are YOU guys attacking us?' complaints on the Corner to come.

this is the 2nd gis result for ed whelan, btw

http://flickr.com/photos/hades-central/76577041/

mildly nsfw

RE: Still #1 [Mark Hemingway]

When I pointed out that Reagan still bested Obama in the Nielsen ratings below, I immediately recieved several emails noting that the Nielsen figure isn't a good barometer for popularity as it doesn't include the 18 million webstreams that were open during the inauguration. Add the two together and Obama easily bests Reagan. (That's just one figure — the numbers of webstreams I've seen reported are all over the map.)

Aside from the fact that no one had the opportunity to watch Reagan's swearing in from their computer at work in 1981, you might look at their relative popularity in proportional terms. So 41.8 million people watched Reagan's swearing in to Obama's 37.8 million. But according to the 1980 census, the population of the U.S. was 226.5 million compared to over 300 million now. According to my back of the envelope math, even if you add in the webstreams Reagan still narrowly bests Obama in terms of percentage of the country that watched the inauguration. And that assumes that all of those webstreams came from within the United States. I would find it very hard to believe that a significant percentage of them weren't international, whereas Nielsen ratings only measure domestic televisions.

Yes, I realize that there are a million variables here. (Nielsen's statistical models, people that watched in classroom/institutional settings, etc.) Theoretically some statistician could eventually come up with some complex model that convincingly demonstrates that a larger percentage of Americans did in fact watch Obama's inauguration. But the take away here is simply that even though the media worked overtime this week to convince you all the hoopla means Obama's relative popularity is unprecedented — it's not.

I was going to point out their obsession with Reagan's ratings.

reagan still sucks fwiw

I was going to point out their obsession with Reagan's ratings.

Can't wait for the midseason break.

srlsy these guys.... "WELL MORE PEOPLE WATCHED REAGAN'S SO THERE!!!"

where's Derbyshire these days? We need him.

Obama could get wounded by a crazed Anne Hathaway devotee in a few weeks after his inauguration, say, and they would insist that Reagan's comparable ratings were better.

(I would also believe that Hilary would happily say "I'm in charge here" at that point.)

I assume Derbyshire threw up his hands at figuring out whether to despise those in power or those he found himself hanging out with.

Crying in a cupboard somewhere. xp

Given that many voters were born after Reagan's presidency ended, it's "to;dr lol" for the NRO again.

Ned, dare I recommend a "New Right" thread re: Frum and NextRight? I have a feeling a Corner thread on ILE will become as stagnant as NRO will become in the near future.

re: the March [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

I was struck by how prevalent the themes of "mercy" and "healing" were. In my experience of it (both the march itself and some surrounding events), the crowd was overwhelmingly concerned with saving lives, helping those who are hurting, and hoping that those on the other side of the debate might reconsider. Anger and despair were hard to find. Smiling faces were all around. I can't remember the last time I was wall-to-wall with people for a few hours and did not hear one foul word or see one inappropriate incident among young people (in fact: I even experienced both in the Catacombs in Rome last year!)

This is almost too Teasdale to be real.

Ned, dare I recommend a "New Right" thread re: Frum and NextRight?

Do it. I'm enjoying a temporary (and possibly extended) break from regularly trawling the usual sites so a tracking thread for the winners would be good.

i'd like that, too. a la douthat, salam et al, too? i enjoy reading those guys

what march is she talking about

For a second I thought Lopez was talking about the inauguration and I was all "Strangely generous of her." (Right to life march in DC the other day, omar.)

lol i thought that too, i was like, "zuh?" i should have known this wackjob was on some roe v wade shit.

"I can't remember the last time I was wall-to-wall with people for a few hours and did not hear one foul word or see one inappropriate incident among young people (in fact: I even experienced both in the Catacombs in Rome last year!)"

What is she talking about with Rome here?

This incident, I think:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/34198

My vote for the most grotesque post ever.

i can set up a household of affection and sexual favors now?

best president ever!

i can set up a household of affection and sexual favors now?

Only in Nevada, I'm pretty sure?

Michael Novak must enjoy shouting at that one wall.

man, nixon style revenge on the populars is always a hit with these guys:

Kristol vs Damon [Mark Steyn]

Big Hollywood is offering to put their money where Matt Damon's mouth is, and sponsor a debate between Mr. Damon, a renowned foreign policy analyst, and Bill Kristol, his bête noire.

Okay. But, after the Iraq round, let's really clean Damon's clock and have Bill sing "Scottie Doesn't Know" from Eurotrip.

01/26 02:38 PM

Insight of the Day [Mark Steyn] (...no, Mark, post of the day)

Rebecca Goodwin of Danvers, Mass., writes to The Boston Globe's letters page:

"I WAS running around with typical errands - picking kids up from school, cleaning the house, laundry, paying bills, getting dinner - all the chaotic daily chores of a working mother. In the middle of my self-induced whirlwind, my 6-year-old son handed me a letter he wrote to the president at school: "Dear President Obama, Congratulations! Please make no more wars. I will not litter. Sincerely, Michael Goodwin."

In times such as these, with the economy struggling, people out of work, our healthcare and schools in disarray, and global turmoil, his letter made me stop in my tracks. As I hugged him, glad for this brief moment of peace, I thought, why not? It should be as simple as that. Make no more wars and I promise not to litter. Give everyone a job and I promise to clean my room."

Great! Surrender in Iraq and I promise to recycle. Let the mullahs go nuclear and I promise to carpool when I go to buy fair-trade coffee. Stand idly by while those goofy foreigners slaughter everyone in Sudan and I promise to sign up for an authentic African-style interpetative dance fundraising event commemorating the Rwandan genocide. It really is that simple!

uh

"We learn, second, that this president’s guiding light in matters of national security is not a realistic assessment of the national interest but personal concern for what kind of figure he is cutting in the international eye."

3 sentences later

"Moreover, it is a mistake to think that people in most other nations love, honor, and respect the secularist preoccupation with abortion."

¯\(º o)/¯

Remind me, is Steyn still arguing that there were no gay people involved with the golden age of the Broadway musical?

The first week did not have to begin this way. These first steps were unworthy of a great nation and unworthy of a serious leader. These decisions humiliated those who voted for President Obama because they had been assured, and assured others, that the new president would take seriously the culture of life. It is now clear that the new president was willing to allow those who risked their moral reputations to support him to feel in retrospect like liars.

I thought all pro-life people thought Obama wanted to abort living babies????

unlikely, sky-is-falling worst case scenarios and "stuff white people like" mixed in with received wisdom = a+ corner post

"Stand idly by while those goofy foreigners slaughter everyone in Sudan and I promise to sign up for an authentic African-style interpetative dance fundraising event commemorating the Rwandan genocide."

had to be intentional, right????

i can understand African-style interpretative dances, i think...but how is fair-trade coffee something evil & liberal?

as if all the 'pro-lifers' or catholics who voted for O were all fanatics like novak who somehow got fooled. no dummy, they thought he'd be a good, if pro-choice president. who has been SuRpRiSeD, exactly, by obama's reversal of bush policy on this?

love when these dudes dramatically pull away the curtain on shit everyone can already see plainly

eh that "fair trade" kinda shit is just liberal strawman stuff. if i was a liberal columnist i might start up some strawman campaign about how conservatives only drink coffee made from crystals or specifically seek out coffee made by companies whose workers are paid not with money but with the promise of fewer beatings.

steyn's choice of opponent is kinda hilarious. like, "TAKE THAT you harried mom from Danvers, MA. you can stick your reader's digest sentimentality up your ass! oo, burn!"

fight the power, yeah.