Obama’s ‘Doctrine of Inconsistency’

Former Assistant Secretary of State P.J. Crowley wonders why the president hasn’t told Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down.

Although Obama seemed to embrace the concept of “responsibility to protect” in intervening in Libya and calling for Muammar Gaddafi to step down from power, he has not done the same in Syria. If Gaddafi must go because he is unwilling to reform and has employed extreme state-controlled violence against a population that no longer fears him, so should President Bashar al-Assad.

No doubt the brave protesters in Iran and Syria are wondering “why not us?”

Related Articles

• Obama’s Inconsistency Doctrine on the Arab Spring (thedailybeast.com)
• US senators press Obama to say Assad must go (alternet.org)

Does Univ. of South Carolina breed assholes?

An incredibly arrogant international business major from USC responds after learning he would not be rehired as a lifeguard (via Deadspin):

I have been offered a second internship with BMW, a profoundly respected world leader in luxury automobile manufacturing, for this upcoming summer and fall semesters. Obviously, looking to significantly enhance my resume to a level enabling me to one day run corporate America, I will be returning to this prestigious multinational corporation. Therefore, returning to the pool for another summer would be like Apple CEO Steve Jobs returning to Foot Locker for summer employment, especially seeing as that returning to the pool would mean being a subordinate to a woman of below average intelligence with the responsibility of teaching “ghetto” school children various topics and subjects that they couldn’t care less about. This would be the equivalent of Bill Gates (Microsoft CEO, in case you were unaware) applying to work as a personal computer salesperson in a local Best Buy retail store.

You may recall the scene from “Borat” in which the Kazakhstani journalist gets drunk with three racist USC frat boys. They later sued the filmmakers, claiming emotional distress but were rebuffed in their attempt to have the scene removed from the DVD.

The Atlanta weatherman, the Antichrist and Mr. Clean

Longtime Atlantans will remember Guy Sharpe, the courtly, silver-maned weatherman who stayed on the air for decades. You may also recall that he was a religious fanatic (and Amway salesman) who spread a very nutty rumor about Proctor & Gamble. According to Guy, the company’s trademark symbolized an allegiance to Satan, to whom P&G tithed 10 percent of its earnings.

It was a major suburban legend in the 1980s, swallowed by people who today would be questioning Barack Obama’s birth certificate. Witness this excerpt from a 1982 edition of 20/20:

Fox (voice over): None of these Southern California women are religious fundamentalists. But all were troubled by the rumor. (to women) What makes you uncomfortable?

1st woman: The thought of Satan being behind it.

2nd woman: I knew that I was going to use Cascade soap for my dishwasher before I ever got a dishwasher. I knew that I was going to use Pampers before I had kids. It’s incredible now it has affected my mind — and I never thought of using anything but Tide.

Fox: And you wonder what, whether there was some sort of mysterious draw to the products, is that it?

2nd woman: Yes, exactly.

I can relate. I always knew I’d be watching Guy Sharpe forecast the weather. I was convinced. Without sampling his competition. It was like he had affected my mind — and I never thought of anything but watching Guy Sharpe.

P&G eventually sued Guy, who settled out of court and publicly recanted. Somehow, he kept his job.

There’s no quitting crazy

Is that you, World Net Daily? Remember me? Boone Wing. Central State Hospital. 1999-2003. You haven’t changed a bit.

WorldNetDaily Exclusive
A tale of two birth certificates 
‘Rosetta Stone’ documents provide comparison
–WND

WorldNetDaily Exclusive Aligning birth certificate statements, evidence  Descriptions of document have varied by witness –WND

WorldNetDaily Exclusive Graphics pros challenge Obama birth certificate  Layers of images found in released computer document raise doubts –WND

WorldNetDaily Exclusive Is the name of Obama’s birth hospital somehow phony? …  Rumors swirl about entry in latest certificate issued by White House –WND

Another trial w/o jury by the queer establishment?

Atlanta Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell is accused of some boorish, ignorant remarks, for which he’s apologized — sort of.

Calling them anti-gay slurs, as I did in an article about the incident yesterday, may be a bit much. “Are you a  homo couple or a threesome?” McDowell allegedly said before using a bat to imitate a sex act. Derisive, no doubt, but I’ve heard worse. I find it more troubling that McDowell is accused of threatening a fan, though I’d like to hear from some witnesses.

Not surprisingly, gay rights groups have already convicted McDowell. A Georgia Voice reporter thinks he should be fired. Why wait to hear all the evidence? It’s just a man’s livelihood.

The Braves are also being tarred and feathered for one employee’s alleged outburst. In a letter to team president John Schuerholz, Georgia Equality demanded the entire Braves organization undergo sensitivity training. Why should Chipper Jones be punished (would you want to sit through sensitivity training) for something one of his coaches said? I find that offensive.

I’m also troubled by the linkage to John Rocker, a racist asshole without peer. McDowell is no Rocker. If he was, I’d be calling for his head.

With the  rush to judgment already underway I wonder if the queer establishment will pause to consider one gay fan’s opinion.

One man who rushed to McDowell’s defense in the fall-out Thursday was Jerry Pritikin, 74, a long-time Cubs fan, who used to interact with McDowell from the bleachers at Wrigley Field in the 1980s when McDowell pitched for the Mets. He also happens to be gay.

“Being openly gay, I understand why some people would be disturbed, as I was,” Pritikin said. “But he made an apology and I accept that.”

Pritikin said he got to know McDowell personally during exchanges back and forth from the bleachers. The two used to throw Frisbee.

“He’s been such a good guy,” Pritikin said. “He always had fun with people in the bleachers, no matter what ballpark he was in, but because Chicago had such a great bleacher crowd, they really looked forward to him coming whenever he came to town. He was truly a great entertainer.”

Pritikin voiced his support of McDowell in an e-mail to Selig Thursday. He’d written Selig in recent years after anti-gay comments by former Cub Julian Tavarez and former Brave John Rocker, but those e-mails were much more critical, he said.

“I could understand someone who would not have known of Roger’s career or his antics at the ballpark might consider, ‘Well this is another hot-headed person,’” Pritikin said. “The other two guys were definitely prejudiced in what they were saying. I don’t believe Roger is that kind of guy.”

I’m not saying McDowell shouldn’t be punished or even fired. But he deserves a fair hearing.

The most PC movie review ever

Back in Oct. 2009, Todd Boyd, a professor of mine at USC and Tyler Perry’s fiercest critic, wrote:

[In] spite of the demeaning stereotypes and utter disregard for black humanity, TP’s dope has some people reluctant to criticize him. Many point to TP’s money and success and in turn use this to justify their support of his nefarious enterprise. No one is crazy enough to actually try and defend the garbage that he puts out, so praising his business success allows them to shift the focus away from the amateurish flicks that he makes.

Now read the New York Times’ non-judgmental review of Perry’s latest Madea movie.

Score one for Professor Boyd.

Related Articles

• Tyler Perry, Spike Lee and Negative Media Imagery (psychologytoday.com)

Cap du jour

“China is raping this country,” says Trump. Guess who’s an enabler.

(via Andrew Sullivan)

Donald Trump is everything your mother taught you not to be

1. He’s a liar. There was never any proof Obama was NOT born in the U.S. Simply put, Trump used McCarthyite tactics to manufacture a controversy, a strategy he’s repeating by questioning Obama’s academic record.
2. He’s arrogant. If I ever said, “I’m very proud of myself,” as Trump said Wednesday after Obama released his birth certificate, my mother would’ve sent me to bed without any Suzy Q’s.
3. He’s an asshole.  Obviously.

Trump can’t open his mouth without breaking one of the commandments, yet he’s attracted support from evangelicals such as Franklin Graham — a poor imitation of his father. (Thou shalt not bear false witness, Franklin.)

I suspect Trump may be the Antichrist. I await proof that he’s not.

Related Articles

• Bob Schieffer Accuses Donald Trump of Racism (thehollywoodgossip.com)

America keeps crown as silliest nation

The lead story in The Independent:

The day America took leave of its senses

Rupert Cornwell: Polls show a quarter of the population – and close on half of Republicans – still refuse to believe the unassailable fact that President Obama was born on American soil.

We should be looking down our noses at the Brits, not the other way around. The royal wedding is their Super Bowl halftime show — a garish embarrassment, a chance for the rest of the world to say, “What the fuck is wrong with you people.”

But America will not be out-mocked. We have Donald Trump to thank for that.

From the state that gave us Tom DeLay

Increasing government spending to appease their fundamentalist base — how very Republican of the Texas House of Representatives:

The Texas House approved a budget provision late Friday requiring state colleges and universities, if they use state funds to support “a gender and sexuality center,” to spend an equal amount on a center promoting “family and traditional values.”

While many members in the chamber cracked jokes and guffawed, the amendment’s author, Rep. Wayne Christian, said the University of Texas, Texas A&M and “some other schools” have centers promoting “alternative sexual practices.”

“I’m not treading on their rights to that, to teach alternative sexual behavior,” said Christian, R-Center (right). But he said they must match it, dollar for dollar, with advocating heterosexual, “traditional values.”

Finally, someone with the guts to stand up for downtrodden Christian heterosexuals. It’s hard to take a party seriously when they have so many juveniles doing their bidding.

There’s a reason it’s called public works

Atlanta’s reputation as having some of the worst surface streets in the South was confirmed by a stinging internal audit that shows that the city has done little to monitor private utility companies and contractors who routinely rip up the streets.

Sloppy paperwork and a lack of oversight by the city department responsible for roads have been blamed for a proliferation of metal plates on Atlanta streets and costly legal claims the city has paid for damage to cars.

In a 32-page report released last week, auditors found the Department of Public Works, the division in charge of permitting and inspecting city road work, had no way of tracking the work or companies responsible for making repairs.

No surprise that Georgia Power and Atlanta Gas Light, chiefly responsible for the disrepair of our roads, have found yet another way to screw their customers. Our elected officials, meanwhile, keep finding reasons to look the other way.

‘I have to tell myself I’m a superstar every morning’

It’s the only way poor Stefani Germanotta can overcome the bullies that still haunt her. Who knew privileged Gothamites had it so rough. “It hurts how much authenticity and how much genuine blood is in my spirit.”

Spoken like a true phony.

One GOP presidential contender who won’t insult your intelligence

He’s a two-term governor who left office with a substantial budget surplus. A successful businessman who’s climbed Everest, Gary Johnson is refreshingly unconventional, supporting the decriminalization of weed, favoring a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants (the only solution, since they’ll never be deported) and ending our interventionist foreign policy.

That won’t fly with the fundamentalists and teabaggers who prefer self-aggrandizing moralists to unassuming thinkers. Hopefully Johnson can get some traction in the GOP primaries. Being the rational candidate has to count for something, even in the party of Limbaugh.

Never mind.

Only 34 percent of Mississippians glad Union prevailed

Fergit, hell.

Except in Mississippi, most voters in these states are glad the Union won the “War Between the States” instead of the South. 53% say that in Georgia, 48% in North Carolina, and 34% in Mississippi. But still fewer in Mississippi (27%) would prefer that General Lee’s troops had prevailed; a 39% plurality are not sure. Similarly, only 21% in North Carolina and 23% in Georgia wish the South had won.

Related Articles

• Unfortunately for some, old times there are not forgotten. (blutarsky.wordpress.com)

The insanity goes both ways

Politico’s Ben Smith reminds us partisan delusion isn’t limited to just one party.

“How likely is it that people in the federal government either assisted in the 9/11 attacks or took no action to stop the attacks because they wanted the United States to go to war in the Middle East?” the [2006] poll asked.

A full 22.6% of Democrats said it was “very likely.” Another 28.2% called it “somewhat likely.”

That is: More than half of Democrats, according to a neutral survey, said they believed Bush was complicit in the 9/11 terror attacks.

Two distinctions:

1. Accusing someone of murdering 2,752 innocents is much worse than lying about another’s birthplace.
2. None of the Democrats running for president in 2008 sought to appeal to the lunatic fringe by claiming Bush engineered the 9/11 attacks.