If you want to know what .@politico thinks about the victims of #Harvey, here is the cartoon they just tweeted, then deleted. pic.twitter.com/9cr0Ne2Z06— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) August 30, 2017
Via Aaron Blake (at WaPo) who identifies 4 problems:
1. The "crassness" of making fun of people who are suffering.
2. The stark and negative stereotypes. (The "dismissive" attitude toward Christianity especially bothers Blake.)
3. The assumption that because it's Texas, people are conservative, when, in fact, Houston skews strongly Democratic.
4. The idea that "people who believe in smaller government and lower taxes believe everything should be privatized and that the government shouldn't be counted on to do anything."
Here's the second-highest-rated comment at WaPo:
I disagree completely. The cartoon epitomizes the essence of the rabid right-wingers ruling Texas, who insist that government IS the problem... until they need some government help. The hypocrisy of religious right fanatics like Cruz is so thick you could cut it with a spoon. Meanwhile, the PumpkinFührer in the White House hasn't drained the swamp, he's made it much, much worse. And remember, these are the same fanatics who insisted that President Obama was planning a forceful takeover of their State to remove all their guns. Personally, that would not have been a bad idea.I wanted to call attention to that comment because we're talking about the idea of "pumpkin spice" Trump over in my post "After all the titillation and anguish of Houston, will the news media ever find its way back to the hate-Trump story?" I answer my question "no," based on signs that include the fact that the NYT has a front-page-teased article today on the early return of pumpkin spice products. In the comments, I said:
Suddenly, it's fall and everyone's into orange... and the President is orange! Just add cinnamon and nutmeg and cloves and everyone will love him.That made me remember pumpkin spice Trump jokes from last year. In September, there was "Trump Launching New Pumpkin Spice Version of Himself to Woo White Women Voters." And, from Funny or Die: "Theory: Trump Rising in the Polls Because Voters Think He’s Pumpkin Spiced."
With kids heading back to school and the first hints of an autumnal nip in the morning air, there is something about Trump’s rich cinnamon-orange skin, with its artificial hues of nutmeg, an ample yet airy frosting of whipped sugary golden-white strands sitting on top of it all, that just feels comfortable to certain folks as fall’s shorter, crisper days approach. It’s like a warm cup of cider. Or a comfy sweater. Or, yes, like delicious, delicious pumpkin spice. That’s right—Voters must think Donald Trump is pumpkin spiced.And, most hilarious, on November 1st, just before the kick-in-the-head of Trump actually winning, "Ways Trump is like a Pumpkin Spice Latte":
1. Orange-ish
2. Liked by too many white people
3. Will hopefully go away after November
Posts
150 comments:
Don't Jews wear Confederate flags, too?
I could haver written the second highest rated comment. Any conservative could because if there is one thing we have learned over the decades it is how the poorly informed progressives "think." As in the second highest rated comment their "thinking" is normally a cut and paste job of as many anti-conservative cliches as they can remember as they type.
"Here's the second-highest-rated comment at WaPo: I disagree completely. The cartoon epitomizes the essence of the rabid right-wingers ruling Texas, who insist that government IS the problem... until they need some government help. The hypocrisy of religious right fanatics like Cruz is so thick you could cut it with a spoon. Meanwhile, the PumpkinFührer in the White House"
A data point suggesting that, contrary to claims made on this blog, "people" aren't seeking stability and "people" aren't tired of MSM TDS.
This leaves out the fact that private citizens in boats have helped a lot.
It really is City People vs Outside people. If you don't think you should have a right to have a firearm when you are trapped in your house, then there is no use talking about it.
BTW, it will be 5 years before things get back to normal. 3 hurricanes went through high and dry Polk County in Florida in one year. It took 2-3 years, and it wasn't the scope of Harvey.
Such events need everybody to contribute.
Government--safety and security is its primary responsibility we the people have given it
Private Sector--only they can make the stuff needed to assist people and their distribution capability is vastly superior to anything government can do.
Organizations--Bring expertise needed to assist both government and the private sector
People--can react quicker than any of the three above. Every person assisted by private citizens is one less that needs support from any of the above.
That portion of the left that wants to launch into partisanship over this further turns off the middle that abandoned them during the last election.
Here's the second-highest-rated comment at WaPo:
I disagree completely. The cartoon [precisely matches all of my ignorant stereotypes about what conservatives believe and is therefore on point.]
Hurricane Harvey has been a big reminder that all the online arguments we get so wrapped up in don't actually matter that much in the real word.
Ho-hum, a cartoonist thinks Texans are a bunch of stupid hypocritical yokels. Meanwhile, in the real world, a whole lot of people are helping each other out regardless of skin color, political affiliation, stance on Melania's completely inappropriate stiletto heels.
I suppose I could be outraged at this cartoon, but I just can't care enough about it. It doesn't matter.
[This is not a criticism of our host for posting on it - I was interested enough to comment, after all.]
In related news, I saw Charlie Hebdo cast the flood victims as neo-Nazis. OK. Hey, Charlie Hebdo? I'm genuinely sorry your offices got shot up and your friends were murdered over a cover that offended people. I can just about guarantee that won't happen over this one, even though Texans have lots of money, guns, and pride. Congratulations, you sure are brave and edgy.
I had a small visual meme-hit this morning. On the lobby media feed, Trump was standing at a podium. Arms open. Black suit, white shirt, red tie. Boom. He's locked in the look.
It's an outrageously stupid cartoon. Once again, reinforcing my belief that liberals can muster no thought or argument about their positions beyond what would fit on a snarky bumper sticker.
Didn't the Houston area vote for Hillary over Trump?
And the picture in cartoon should actually be a Texas National Guard helicopter -- flown by Texas citizen-soldiers who stand ready in their state's time of need.
I'm mostly offended by the poor drawing.
I remember when cartoonists were supposed to be adept at drawing.
I am Laslo.
" The hypocrisy of religious right fanatics like Cruz is so thick you could cut it with a spoon."
I'll bet Cruz could care less.
"the essence of the rabid right-wingers ruling Texas, who insist that government IS the problem... until they need some government help."
What's interesting is how this quote seems so damning as an argument to liberals. It really goes back to the binary worldview. There's either good or bad. It's such a fundamentalist, almost cosmic dualistic, approach to life. There's good people and bad people. There's no complexity, no nuance. If you are against intrusions by the government, you're anti-government?
If you're against government overreach than you don't think government should provide emergency services? Do they think Texans are anarchists? I'll bet if you talk to them, they'd have a pretty coherent understanding of what the government is intended to do and what it shouldn't be involved in, with differing answers based on local, state, or federal governments.
But that would be seeing people as people rather than as caricatures or as villains. Villains always are evil and do evil things in stupid ways that have to be saved by virtuous, right-thinking heroes.
It's an outlandish way of framing the argument. It's also all about power, not ethics. People should accept whatever the government wants to do, hand over all social and personal rights, so that when trouble comes, the government will be there to help. That epitomizes the paternalistic mindsight of progressives. They want to be daddy.
Government is the problem when it is active in ways that go beyond its intended role. A lot of people don't want to be everyone's daddy and a lot of people don't want government to be daddy. They think government is a way to organize society, providing rule of law and defense and emergency services. Why is that a hard position to understand? It's not. So either people are trying to be intentionally misleading or they are shockingly limited in complex thought.
No mention of the Cajun navy or locals (some might even be known to own a Confederate flag or two) rescuing their neighbors. Harvey is just another example of the government not having the competence to save everyone or do a God damn thing to prevent Force majeure.
As far as Houston and stereotypes go, I ran across one online comment that equated Houston and Dallas in terms of the flooding.
That's like equating Baltimore and Pittsburgh -- both in terms of distance and cultural difference.
""these are the same fanatics who insisted that President Obama was planning a forceful takeover of their State to remove all their guns. Personally, that would not have been a bad idea.""
How would the fanatics ever get such an absurd and paranoiac idea like that? Could it be that they are actually aware of what the left would like to do?
The cartoon is also very ignorant when it comes to old, well-known jokes. I think I heard this one when I was under 10:
A terrible storm came into a town and local officials sent out an emergency warning that the riverbanks would soon overflow and flood the nearby homes. They ordered everyone in the town to evacuate immediately.
A faithful Christian man heard the warning and decided to stay, saying to himself, “I will trust God and if I am in danger, then God will send a divine miracle to save me.”
The neighbors came by his house and said to him, “We’re leaving and there is room for you in our car, please come with us!” But the man declined. “I have faith that God will save me.”
As the man stood on his porch watching the water rise up the steps, a man in a canoe paddled by and called to him, “Hurry and come into my canoe, the waters are rising quickly!” But the man again said, “No thanks, God will save me.”
The floodwaters rose higher pouring water into his living room and the man had to retreat to the second floor. A police motorboat came by and saw him at the window. “We will come up and rescue you!” they shouted. But the man refused, waving them off saying, “Use your time to save someone else! I have faith that God will save me!”
The flood waters rose higher and higher and the man had to climb up to his rooftop.
A helicopter spotted him and dropped a rope ladder. A rescue officer came down the ladder and pleaded with the man, "Grab my hand and I will pull you up!" But the man STILL refused, folding his arms tightly to his body. “No thank you! God will save me!”
Shortly after, the house broke up and the floodwaters swept the man away and he drowned.
When in Heaven, the man stood before God and asked, “I put all of my faith in You. Why didn’t You come and save me?”
And God said, “Son, I sent you a warning. I sent you a car. I sent you a canoe. I sent you a motorboat. I sent you a helicopter. What more were you looking for?”
What I've noticed is the despotic tendency of those who advocate larger government to immediately want to deny whatever benefit comes out of the other end of that spending to those who they just forced to pay for it.
And isn't it California with all the secession talk?
Since the 1990 Census, Houston's population has become[sic] majority-minority.
Google link to show how common that joke is. It was even in a West Wing episode!
I'm not offended by cartoon because it was anti-religion, I'm offended because it wasn't funny.
Regarding Charlie Hebdo and the Nazi cartoon: Satire is only funny when there is some element of truth. Why does Charlie Hebdo think that average Texans are Nazis? CNN perhaps? If anyone at CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS etc takes issue with the cartoon, perhaps they should first do some internal reflection if they are capable of such thought.
Never let a crisis go to waste...
The real joke is California threatening to secede.
Liberals are all about the supposed "gotcha" when the government does something that nearly everyone agrees it's supposed to do, as if that somehow undermines the entire GOP agenda. Oh, you don't like paying for this or that? Guess what, the government just filled a pothole on a road that you use, so shut up why dontcha.
I'd like to add that in all my years in Texas, I don't think I ever saw a confederate battle flag.
To be honest, I only like pumpkin spice because nutmeg is psychoactive.
walter said...
Never let a crisis go to waste...
The real joke is California threatening to secede.
As a former Californian, I'm all for it. It would wipe out Hillary's popular vote "victory" in one swell foop.
Fuck you liberal media assholes.
JPS makes good comments. I dont think most people, in time when action is required, take notice of the large scale big picture philosophy on human relationships and divergence of opinion re: systems of governance etc. In the end, when immediacy is called for, you act as an individual, with other individuals, and you wont care gender or color or whatnot. You will act and you will care, firstly, based on the capacity you have to work with.
Next week, while you chat over coffee, it'll be same ol same ol. But thats just coffeehouse talk.
Haters gotta hate. I doesn't even take any brains on their part, which is very fortunately for them is not a problem.
You can feel the hatred and disdain of the elite progressives oozing through comments like this. The fact that it's a top rated comment is very telling. Trying to win people over to your side by insulting victims of a natural disaster with cookie cutter cliches isn't exactly the best strategy. It's stupid. It's pathetic. And it's how you get more Trump.
Ginned up the mob and now they won't listen to you anymore, eh media? I'm shocked.
Paddy O said...
Google link to show how common that joke is.
"Common" as in "lacking refinement".
The funny part is how god made that guy so damned stupid and then complains about that fact as if he's not prescient, and also tries to take credit for what people did to alleviate the flood he caused. It's a laff riot all right.
The real funny part? The part the cartoonist didn't get?
Houston was With Her.
"Never let a good natural disaster go to waste. There are homeless people to mock dammit!"
Damn it, Nonapod beat me to it.
This, the attitude expressed by the cartoon and cited comment, actually does matter. It is an accurate illustration of the actual world-view of your leadership class.
In an emergency the rules are being, properly, tossed out as common sense requires. That emergency is the exceptional situation, not the state of mind displayed here.
However it is this state of mind that drives the decision making of regulators and administrators in the conduct of ordinary business, and for that matter your intellectual class that educates them, and your corporate management as well. Their arrogant attitude towards anyone not on the inside is ubiquitous and runs very deep.
The cartoon is just another revelation of the disdain that the ignorant liberal city dwellers have about the people who work, live and survive in Fly Over America.
We know what they think about us.
Forewarned is forearmed.
I live in Houston area. My house sustained water damage and we took shelter across the street for the worst night and across town for the other two. I spent the first nigh back in my house last night and it may be my last because the damage may be more costly than tearing the house down.
The cartoon shows the worst of liberal arrogance Politico should retract it and apologize to the people of Houston AND Texas in general. No one seems to have pointed out that Texas is one of those states that pays more in federal taxes than it generally gets in return for Federal services. I for one won't be getting any federal assistance from this (no subsidized flood insurance) So I'm "self insured". The people that you see being rescued are more likely to be poor black or hispanic Americans. And the Cowboy booted swaggering "Alt" right conservative is a myth perpetuated by liberal resentment for the lifestyle that works for us. As someone pointed out most of urban Houston is Liberal. And liberals are usually impoverished black or hispanics or white liberals that want to be identified with a "cause" to help keep poor liberals as a cause to promote so that they themselves can feel good.
Affluent blacks and hispanics are likely to be conservatives and living in neighborhoods like mine I can assure you that these people were on high ground by the time the Coast Guard showed up in their helicopters.
Politico and the Washington Post are both the MSM right?
I like the Charlie Hebdo cover a lot better than the Politico cartoon. It's a better drawing, it's simpler and it has the virtue of sheer outrageousness going for it. It's funnier. And lulz covers a multitude of sins. I'd much rather hang out with the Hebdo crew than with the Politico cartoonist.
I wish the left actually understood the right instead of thinking that anyone slightly right of Hillary wants a pure anarchistic Might Makes Right Mad Max world.
Fernandinande, you have a future working for Politico!
No mention of the Cajun navy
How many boats do BLM and AntiFa have in Texas?
Anyone who thinks that a spoon is the right utensil for cutting thick things has definitively self-identified as an idiot. Or is in an institution where the inmates aren't trusted with knives or forks.
And remember, these are the same fanatics who insisted that President Obama was planning a forceful takeover of their State to remove all their guns. Personally, that would not have been a bad idea.
I am still surprised how openly these people express exactly this sentiment. I think they really must be unable to observe their self-refutation.
"Only a crazy person would think the Left really wants to confiscate all guns. I, of course, am on the Left and firmly believe it'd be great if we could confiscate all guns. Anyone who draws the very-obvious conclusion from my often-repeated preferences and calls for political action, though, is a crazy person."
I think the cartoon illustrates the Ted Cruz's of Texas or the mayors who said they didn't want to tell their citizens to evacuate because they don't want the government telling them what to do( and there seem to be plenty of those),but Cletus Lee has taken the high ground and pointed out that most of the folks suffering the greatest from the flood seem to be the poor folks of color who built in the flood plain and who are being helped by the Texas navy of neighbors as well as government funded troops. It is a complicated picture and the cartoon, as any cartoon, can only represent one image.
I wish the left actually understood the right
Yeah, but unfortunately the left is a homogeneous blob with no individuality. Oh well.
I guess the thinking at Politico and Hebdo is, 'We're better than the Nazis and the KKK because we're bigoted and hateful towards the right people.'
the cartoon, as any cartoon, can only represent one image
It very effectively represents the pig-ignorance and ugly heart of the cartoonist and its intended audience.
Yeah, but unfortunately the left is a homogeneous blob with no individuality. Oh well.
Well you know you can disprove a negative with a single counterexample. Why not give us an example of a lefty who understands the right. Jonathon Haidt came close, but you guys excommunicated him for heresy, since he didn't define all differences as proving the superiority of lefties.
Camile Paglia. Ooops, she is in bad odor with the left now as well.
I think the cartoon illustrates the Ted Cruz's of Texas ....
TL;DR: "I like the cartoon because it feeds my prejudices and makes me feel superior."
Funny how he turned the Democrat mayor of Houston into a "Ted Cruz" I must be wrong because I know how careful of the facts college professors are.
The left always conflated dislike for government doing what it shouldn't do with dislike for government altogether. Since we don't want them micromanaging our lives in accordance to how they think we should live then surely we are hypocrites for wanting emergency help in an emergency.
What really undermines the cartoon is the secession bit given that it is California where secession is the talk of the day. It is just another indication to me of just how un-self aware progressives are.
Why not give us an example of a lefty who understands the right. Jonathon Haidt came close, but you guys excommunicated him...
Well of course, and why? Because a "lefty" is by definition someone who doesn't understand "the right". It's in the hyper-partisan blob style book, but of course only the super-centrist majority types are able to comprehend it's true significance.
antiphone: "Yeah, but unfortunately the left is a homogeneous blob ...."
Pretty much. Although some are violent and others are violets. I'm not sure whether that's more, or less, unfortunate. Time will tell.
@tim in vermont
I'm also pretty sure the mayor of Houston didn't fail to tell people to evacuate because of concerns "about government telling people what to do." What with him publicly stating he told people to shelter in place due to logistical concerns, such as people getting stuck in a huge traffic jam and gas stations running out of fuel. Which are actually valid things to consider.
"Yeah, but unfortunately the left is a homogeneous blob with no individuality. Oh well."
-- Statistically, it is correct though. On the whole, the left greatly misunderstand the right, compared to how well the right understands the left. I'm sure there are a few people on the left who understand how the right approaches problems. But, when you look at what the left promotes and pushes forward, it's clear that, for the most part, they have a Stewart/Colbert skewed view of the right.
"the cartoon is the secession bit given that it is California where secession is the talk of the day."
And the fact that Sam Houston was against secession!
Anyway never forget: these people hate you and want you to die.
There was a time when that was probably too extreme a sentiment--probably for a bit it should have been "these people hate you and want to see you fail." But we're beyond that now. Mainstream media figures openly talk about how great it is that bad demographic groups (usually expressed as "angry old white men") will die off and/or be replaced. Media figures actively downplay Leftist-administered political violence--including attempted mass assassinations of Republican officials!--and give cover for violent Leftists groups. The Media praises and excuses Leftist violence: "punch a Nazi, yeah!"
They can't wait for an opportunity to ruin your life. Say the wrong thing, think the wrong thing, donate a little money to the wrong organization...it's over for you, and the Media will happily cover every juicy moment of your personal destruction.
Again, that's not hyperbolic! The "Has Justine Landed" ringleader was a guy named Andrew Kaczynski. At the time he was with Buzzfeed. Where's Andrew now? He's got a cushy high-profile job at CNN. He's the one who threatened to expose the identity of the Trump slamming CNN wrestling meme. Funny, huh?
These aren't accidents. The Left is tactically and strategically committed to the destruction of their political opponents. They want that destruction to be complete--they want your life ruined at a minimum, and they laugh at the idea that you'll die.
For some reason that kind of hate is more acceptable to nice centrist people than a similar hate based on, say, race or sexual orientation. To me it looks just as horrible, but you'll notice the nice centrist people for some reason consider things like this cartoon a forgivable aberration instead of a true peak into the "soul" of the Left.
You'd think the nice centrist people would rouse themselves and denounce such expressions as "ugly," but you'd be wrong. The Left knows their brand of hatred is acceptable. They want you to forget just how strong that hate is, though. Don't forget: they want you dead.
Aside from those four problems with the cartoon, there is also the religious incompetence of the author. Ask pretty much any religious person if there is any conflict between a helper being "an angel of God", and being "from the government", or "a policeman" or "an emergency room doctor".
This isn't a hard point, but the author hasn't gone to kindergarten yet.
I like the cartoon and Cruz is a big hypocrite and butt ugly. Good thing wingnuts have no stereotypes of the left.
The commenter is right. Cruz is such a hypocrite. I mean, here is a guy who thinks government shouldn't exist and there should be only anarchy, and he is a senator! Ha! The hypocrisy!
roesch/voltaire said...I think the cartoon illustrates the Ted Cruz's of Texas or the mayors who said they didn't want to tell their citizens to evacuate because they don't want the government telling them what to do( and there seem to be plenty of those
Since there are "plenty" of Republican officials who didn't want to tell people to evacuate for the reason you state you should be able to name a few and provide some support for that assertion, right?
I mean that's totally not just some stereotype you made up without any evidence in this case, is it? That'd be embarrassing.
Roesch,
The cartoon and comment are however quite complete and accurate in describing the world view of the class of people it was intended for.
You could, for instance, consider it completely descriptive of the world view of nearly everyone with decision-making authority in any State office building in Sacramento.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Coast Guard wasn't particularly involved in Harvey rescues. Not a knock on them, but they have a different charter.
Statistically, it is correct though. On the whole, the left greatly misunderstand the right, compared to how well the right understands the left.
Statisticly?LOL. I can only say (anecdotally) that statements like this can only be made subjectively,and probably only by those with limited understanding of left, right and all points in between.
Unlike the 7th century pedophile warlord worshipping savages, I don't think that Wuerker should be murdered for his retarded cartoon. Unlike the antifa commie thugs, I don't think that he should have bottles of urine thrown on him, be punched in the face, or have riots when he speaks. I do think he is a disgusting lefty toad who should be insulted and mocked mercilessly, and that the world will be a much better place when he is dead. Hopefully from drowning in a flood, which would just be karma.
Antiphone: There've actually been studies/research done into how well the right and left understand each other.
I thought secession was just kind of a West Coast thing now?
There've actually been studies/research done into how well the right and left understand each other.
Color me skeptical but gosh, have you got a link or this a television only offer.
Jonathan Haidt did a study on the topic. Guess why leftists don't know the results.
Leftists don't have to go as far to have biases confirmed.
@Achilles, bad link
Not that Harvey isn't important news but this from the WSJ yesterday:
"WASHINGTON—The U.S. economy expanded at its most robust pace in more than two years in the spring and appears to have momentum going into the second half of the year, supported by solid consumer spending and a pickup in business investment.
Gross domestic product, a broad measure of the goods and services produced across the U.S., rose at a seasonally and inflation-adjusted annual rate of 3% in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. That was the strongest quarter in more than two years and some forecasters expect growth will remain around that pace in the third quarter."
Three months in office and GDP growth has reached the threshold one of the goals Trump talked about. Amazing what those "animal spirits" will do. Now we need to change tax law to make it attractive for American companies to repatriate the billions (trillions?) that they are holding overseas.
Also today the Trump administration blocked Russian entry into the US oil refining market through Citgo liens Russia held on Venezuelan loans. Nice to have somebody on the US side in the White House.
Achilles, bad link
Yeah, so I'm looking at the wikipedia page because I've never heard of him, which is probably true of most people (left or right).
Fixed Achilles link
I can't wait for what they post when "The Big One" hits California I bet I'll laugh and laugh and laugh.
Houstonian
There is a certain percentage of WaPo readers and commenters who are no better than, nor distinguishable from, rabid dogs. And reliably they come out from under their rocks whenever the WaPo dog whistles.
Ok my first impression is this:
1)The date on the Hot Air article is April 13, 2012.
Like I said, I'm skeptical about the premise, that a standardized test could be devised and administered to meet standards precise enough to qualify as real science.
Putting that aside for a moment, this is from 2012. In my opinion the traditional values of the political right wing coalition, various as they were, have undergone serious changes and in positions on major issues and priorities between that time and now. Would 2012 answers be the same as today? I don't think so. This bring into question the accuracy of any such test
Affluent blacks and hispanics are likely to be conservatives and living in neighborhoods like mine I can assure you that these people were on high ground by the time the Coast Guard showed up in their helicopters.
Thank you, Cletus Lee! A lot of people just don't realize that many Hispanics and blacks in Texas are conservative and not just the affluent ones.
And God bless you and your family!
There is a saying: Satan always overplays his hand. I'd like to think that, if there is any good to come from Harvey, it will be the total collapse of credibility of the MSM. I was happy to hear CNN reporters booed. They so richly deserve it.
AEI resident scholar Andrew Biggs highlights an interesting study that confirms what most conservatives probably already know to be true...
I mean today it would be "AEI resident cuck" and the link to AEI is bad. The article is mostly about political rhetoric, the same old --which works better-- marketing drivel that's used to sell cat food. This is the stuff of political consultants market testing framing choices, psychology in the service of advertising.
That portion of the left that wants to launch into partisanship over this further turns off the middle that abandoned them during the last election.
This.
"Like I said, I'm skeptical about the premise, that a standardized test could be devised and administered to meet standards precise enough to qualify as real science."
This applies to all social science research actually.
This does not prevent people from making public policy, devising regulations, or deciding legal cases with the use of social science.
Now, one can say that this is not good enough for the purpose of Internet argument, the standards being much higher, and this might even be correct. Still, if such a standard must be applied it must be applied also to non-social-science-research based grounds for opinions.
As for 2012 vs 2016, given the pattern of voting in that years election, where for the most part most states voted in about the same way in about the same proportions, the differences being in the margins such that only a few states "flipped", it is not reasonable to assume that these were very different groups of voters. Slightly and marginally different at best.
Nonapod said...
Fixed Achilles link
Article: Whereas progressives think that rights are given by the government, conservatives think that “we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights.” Among our God-given rights ...
Funny they should write that after mentioning Haidt, who doesn't believe either of those things (neither do I):
https://evolution-institute.org/article/profiles-in-evolutionary-moral-psychology-jonathan-haidt/
I would also argue that they said "our Creator" rather than "God" because they didn't mean "god". (Jefferson was an agnostic or atheist).
The cartoon is a reaction to Ted Cruz and other Texas politicians blocking Sandy aid. The blue team should make Cruz walk a mile on broken glass before he gets to pat himself on the back for using government money to help Texas. The guy is the most opportunist hypocrite in politics. And, given that they are all opportunistic hypocrites, this is something of an achievement, in the negative sense.
This applies to all social science research actually.
Yes, 4 out of 5 dentists can tell you there are plenty of questionable studies in all fields of research as well.
As for 2012 vs 2016, given the pattern of voting in that years election, where for the most part most states voted in about the same way in about the same proportions, the differences being in the margins such that only a few states "flipped", it is not reasonable to assume that these were very different groups of voters. Slightly and marginally different at best.
Exactly, and this despite, in the case of Trump, radical changes from previous Republican (establishment) positions on, for example "free trade". So this demonstrates something. Perhaps something that is not adequately represented within a static world view limited to conservatives vs liberals and in which all social policy choices can be charted along a two dimensional axis from left to right.
It's the usual ignorance of the coastal elites showing.
The State of Texas is a regional area bigger than the entire area holding all of the effete Ivy League Asshole Schools. In the Panhandle area they are survivors of Comancharia occupation still talk about being all alone and going off as their own State. But the Texas coast line inland to Houston and San Antonio and up to Austin's hill country is the actual heart of Texas. And that area has been a home of Texas-Mexican Catholics since before the Scots Irish guys came in from Tennessee and stirred up a revolt, in which the Mexican guys insisted on fighting alongside Sam Houston's guys at San Jacinto. Then the Germans came in, and settled ranches still in their family.
But that cartoon is good as a reminder how much Trump and myself are despised by ignorant assholes. Now when is that next election?
Paddy O said...
Fernandinande, you have a future working for Politico!
No, it's just that I've always though that joke was really stupid, even more so if you're religious.
Religious people seem to think it's a cute joke but it makes god look like some combination of incompetent (tried to save the guy but he died) and perverse (directed other people to uselessly risk their lives to help the guy, but didn't direct the guy to accept their help).
Then the Germans came in"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tejano_music
Americans say "uh", not "er".
it makes god look like some combination of incompetent (tried to save the guy but he died) and perverse
Well God is constantly trying to save you, but since you have free will, you are able to refuse him. The point of the joke, to religious people, is that the believer is looking for God to intervene in a big, obvious way, and refuses to use his God given reason and the opportunities placed in his path.
One example of a warning against that sort of thing from the Bible that springs to mind is the story of Naman. He is told to bath in the Jordon River to cure his leprosy. He thinks that is trivial, but he is reminded that if he was told to do a big thing, he would do it, so why is he refusing to do a small thing. The answer, not explicitly given, is pride.
Just in from Tom Perez:
Will you make one of the 24 donations we need from your community before midnight?
Friend --
The 14 months between now and Election Day 2018 may seem like a long time, but they'll go by faster than you think.
So we're not waiting around to lay the groundwork to take back our majorities in the House and Senate. That's what tonight's deadline is all about.
As bad as Donald Trump is, the Republicans in Congress who have sat on their hands -- or, at worst, enabled him -- as he's attacked our country's most fundamental values are an even bigger disgrace. They need to go, and we're already hard at work to throw them out of office next year.
We're so close to hitting our goal tonight. We just need 24 more donations from your community before midnight to get over the finish line.
Will you make one right now?
Then the Germans came in
Yes, it was Germans who settled in the Hill Country. Still lots of German influence there as well as German descendants. Some towns, like New Braunfels, have Oktoberfests.
Who says east coasters know nothing about the great middle.
From the NYT:
Not long after a pair of New York real estate speculators founded Houston on the banks of a torpid bayou in the 1830s, every home and every business flooded. Though settlers tried draining their humid, swampy, sweltering surroundings, the inundations came again and again, with 16 major floods in the city’s first century.
mockturtle said...
Yes, it was Germans who settled in the Hill Country. Still lots of German influence there as well as German descendants. Some towns, like New Braunfels, have Oktoberfests.
For which we should be forever grateful, because Shiner Bock!
Titus said: Good thing wingnuts have no stereotypes of the left.
8/31/17, 10:23 AM
Titus, you don't need the right to stereotype you. You stereotype yourself.
You're the gay equivalent of Step'n Fetchit.
"radical changes from previous Republican (establishment) positions on, for example "free trade"."
This is because most politics is tribal.
Public policy positions tend to come as suites, where ones position on x is highly correlated with ones position on y, even if the two are only marginally related or unrelated as for justifications.
These positions tend to be more tribal markers than actual preferences wrt public policy.
This is not a new observation.
As for changes in suites of political positions, these do mutate, there are such things as preference cascades where people change their minds once they realize that an alternative is well supported and viable. On the whole though not a great deal has changed in the Republican/Conservative policy suite from the POV of the typical voter. Free trade may have been a big deal for the big shots and their academic courtiers, as also liberal immigration (though both of these have been unpopular for a long time; these were at best tolerated. Even Ronald Reagan had to show his teeth vs the Japanese at a few points).
These suites change on the other side too. Immigration restriction, especially illegal immigration, for instance, was a Democratic policy platform in California even through the 1980's. It was Republican Central Valley farmers who wanted cheap labor, and Democratic unions who were against it, unanimously.
From the NYT:
In 2010, city voters narrowly passed a major financing mechanism, ReBuild Houston, to improve roads and an out-of-date drainage system. But some have bridled at the idea of the new taxes and fees involved, and the program has been the subject of at least two lawsuits.
AReasonableMan said...
From the NYT:
In 2010, city voters narrowly passed a major financing mechanism, ReBuild Houston, to improve roads and an out-of-date drainage system. But some have bridled at the idea of the new taxes and fees involved, and the program has been the subject of at least two lawsuits.
8/31/17, 12:49 PM
Houston is a Democratic city.
ARM: "Though settlers tried draining their humid, swampy, sweltering surroundings, the inundations came again and again, with 16 major floods in [Houston's] first century."
Lucky they didn't have to deal with climate change - sorry, I meant Climate Change.
These positions tend to be more tribal markers than actual preferences wrt public policy.
Sad!
Except the volunteers and rescue folks are overwhelmingly State and local. The number if Coast Guard helicopter rescues is vanishingly small.
Talk about your East Coast idiotic snobbery - example 20000000000000.
antiphone said...
Ok my first impression is this:
My first impression, Auntie Phony, is that you don't like to lose.
But keep struggling honey, it's hot when you fight it.
My first impression, Auntie Phony, is that you don't like to lose.
But keep struggling honey, it's hot when you fight it.
Way to represent, dumbshit.
"Sad!"
Human.
Except the volunteers and rescue folks are overwhelmingly State and local. The number if Coast Guard helicopter rescues is vanishingly small.
Yes, of course. But 'they' don't want the public to know that people are inclined to help themselves and each other well before the government is involved.
Jefferson was an agnostic or atheist).
No he wasn't...he was a deist. He believed in a creator, and actually edited the Bible to create a version he could use.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Coast Guard wasn't particularly involved in Harvey rescues. Not a knock on them, but they have a different charter." I will correct you. Search and Rescue is a part of the Coast Guard mission, They have been doing that round the clock here in Houston. Even when the rains and wind only permitted marginal flight conditions
Though settlers tried draining their humid, swampy, sweltering surroundings, the inundations came again and again, with 16 major floods in the city’s first century.
Climate change came early to Houston.
It's a terrible cartoon mainly because political cartons exist to provide insightful criticism and observation of political topics of the day, but anyone with even a casual understanding of the facts can easily identify that the artist is woefully ignorant of multiple subject matters and anyone who is not a ghoul can see it is in very poor taste and mean spirited. The only audience for this is unthinking partisan bigots. Why anyone would want to pay someone to produce this drivel, other than perhaps the lowest of propagandists, is beyond me, though perhaps the audience of unthinking partisan bigots is larger than I suspect. Stupid and mean are typically not considered selling points in employment opportunities.
As to the Hebdo cover, it is so overwhelming ignorant to the point of absurdity that I cannot take it seriously. It's just random monkey flinging poo stuff. I cannot even tell if I should be offended.
I like Michael Ramirez Political cartoon. It speak volumes about the reality here in Houston
https://cdn.creators.com/218/211275/211275_image.jpg
antiphone: Yeah, so I'm looking at the wikipedia page because I've never heard of him, which is probably true of most people (left or right).
Here's a link to the book by this obscure scholar. (Amazon #1 Bestseller in Church State Religious Studies.)
"the essence of the rabid right-wingers ruling Texas, who insist that government IS the problem... until they need some government help."
Ah, yes, the old LIBERTARIAN TRAVELS ON INTERSTATE HIGHWAY! gotcha.
It's more likely that a redneck with a Gadsden Flag and SECEDE! sign in his yard also has a bass boat in which he and his kids are out rescuing trapped strangers and their pets.
Also, Texans don't tuck their jeans into their boots. It's a good way to end up with a scorpion crawling on one's calf.
P.S. The rednecks are pitching in and rescuing the National Guard sometimes, too.
"Matt Wuerker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American political cartoonist and founding staff member of Politico."
All you need to know. So if Politico deleted his cartoon, then even they (he?) knew it was a bridge too far.
Liberals are such class diversitists and notorious color diversitists.
Democrats are suppose to care, but they come off as complete d-bags. Sorry. They don't care either, all of my progressive friends are so smug. The things is I actually tend to agree with some progressive views on social spending for specific programs at a state level.
After this week, I would love to move to Texas.
No he wasn't...he was a deist. He believed in a creator, and actually edited the Bible to create a version he could use.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/how-thomas-jefferson-created-his-own-bible-5659505/
I actually appreciate highlighting the second-highest rated comment.
Because it shows me - in no uncertain terms - just who the left is in America today.
This is you, leftists. This is how you think. This is how you feel. This is what you believe to the very bottom of your heart.
Every one of you.
Own it.
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...
Climate change came early to Houston.
The problem seems to be that the climate only ever got worse.
Unreported theory for the deletion:
5. Texans hold that God always backs our military, and Texas plus military plus God are Three-in-One, and this truth as embodied in Corpus Christi is self-evident and obvious and boring and redundant because Joel Osteen already Tweeted, “God’s got this!,” but not before Westboro Baptist predicted such calamities, both extremes causing Politico temporary internal moral confusions.
Jefferson was a Unitarian before there were Unitarians; he believed in God, he believed in Jesus, he did not believe Jesus was God, he did not even believe in Jesus's miracles, but he thought Jesus was an excellent person and moral teacher.
"To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian, in the only sense he wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference to all others; ascribing to himself every human excellence; & believing he never claimed any other"
"To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian, in the only sense he wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference to all others; ascribing to himself every human excellence; & believing he never claimed any other"
Unfortunately for Jefferson, it was not Christ's doctrines that save us but his sacrifice on the cross.
The cartoon is a reaction to Ted Cruz and other Texas politicians blocking Sandy aid
Cruz voted no on the Sandy aid bill because, like most bills that the Democrunts want to pass it was larded up with millions of dollars for things that had NOTHING to do with either Sandy or aid.
It was just another chance to throw everything onto the bill that had nothing to do with relief efforts and sweep it all up in one package. To make the Republicans who actually were being responsible look bad.
"The accurate thing to say is that I and a number of others enthusiastically and emphatically supported hurricane relief for Sandy," the senator said on MSNBC. "The problem with that particular bill is it became a $50 billion bill that was filled with unrelated pork...it’s not right for politicians to exploit a disaster when people are hurting to pay for their own political wish list."
Good for Cruz.
Exactly so, DBQ! These pork-packers need to be identified and called to task for doing that. Why are MSM reporters so uncurious about such issues [rhetorical, since I know the answer].
If they didn't want to suffer, they'd stop voting for the pro-hurricane politicians.
Unfortunately for Jefferson, it was not Christ's doctrines that save us but his sacrifice on the cross.
Unfortunately for you, Jefferson was not a theocrat, but a progressive liberal Democrat.
Save yourselves, Christians. Save yourselves. And know that not all truths are personal, either.
I'm so glad that the fascist Trump administration has cancelled NOAA's, NASA's and anyone else's climate funding. Hopefully they can make sure that we know less and less about these things as they happen more and more. People truly deserve what they get, don't they?
It was awesome how Der Trumpendorfer blurted out that the only thing he cares most about is being seen as somehow having set the standard for disaster response five years later. Image over action. That's Trump. That's your (p)resident.
I actually appreciate highlighting the second-highest rated comment.
Because it shows me - in no uncertain terms - just who the left is in America today.
This is you, leftists. This is how you think. This is how you feel. This is what you believe to the very bottom of your heart.
Every one of you.
Own it.
Jim has trouble articulating what it is that he disagrees with about it.
Hahaha! I just referred to a right-wing looney and put the word "articulating" in the same sentence! LOL.
Sometimes I outdo myself.
To uncritically repeat Cruz's shtick is to willingly make yourself a dupe of a con artist.
Way to represent, dumbshit.
8/31/17, 1:28 PM
Hi Auntie! I really don't know what this means; happily I don't care. It's enough to know that you know that YOU LOSE!!!
Would you feel better if I compared you to the evil computer that Spock destroyed by ordering it go calculate the value of pi to the last decimal?
Either way, babe.
"Sometimes I outdo myself.
8/31/17, 5:42 PM"
Constantly.
"If they didn't want to suffer, they'd stop voting for the pro-hurricane politicians."
Or you could do what a Filipino politician is said to have proposed in the 1950's, a bill to "outlaw typhoons". This became a local political legend.
http://www.catanduanestribune.com/article/2FC8
It wasn't that, and was much more reasonable, but became a talking point about public policy ambitions ever since. The Filipino version of the legend of King Canute and the tide.
Trying to win people over to your side by insulting victims of a natural disaster with cookie cutter cliches isn't exactly the best strategy. It's stupid. It's pathetic. And it's how you get more Trump.
Yes and the left is having a few glimmerings about how bad an idea this is.
ARM is lecturing the 1830 Houston residents for being so dumb as the settle on a swamp.
Houston exists and is large because it is the Texas port. The Ship Channel is one of the largest deep water ports in the country.
In the wake of the 1900 Galveston hurricane, the inland Port of Houston was seen as a safer long-term option, and planning for a larger ship channel began.[6] By the mid 1900s the Port of Houston had established itself as the leading port in Texas, eclipsing the natural harbors at Galveston and Texas City.[7] The Turning Basin terminal in Harrisburg (now part of Houston) became the port's largest shipping point.
The left knows nothing about the economics os these things. ARM shows that frequently.
Texas is flat ,especially near the Gulf Coast, and has little option but to use the Houston Ship Channel. The city should move a lot of the reconstruction inland and avoid the low lands near the Gulf. It has been done before. It is a better option than New Orleans has.
For those who think Big Government is always the answer: One of the first things FEMA did when it hit the ground (not unlike a bag of wet cement) was to try to order the volunteer airboat crews to stop performing rescues because FEMA doesn't have a manual for airboats. The airboat crews, um, politely declined and it would have been funny as hell to watch FEMA find a Texas cop who would tell them to stand down.
People in New York and New Jersey are still struggling with the bureaucratic nonsense that followed Sandy. Just because they are the only game in town doesn't make them a game worth boosting.
There are two sorts of people. One sort waits for instructions.
The other votes for Trump
Even worse than typhoons;
www.catanduanestribune.com/article/408H
Not only do they suffer more liberationists and Islamic state, but npa
"If they didn't want to suffer, they'd stop voting for the pro-hurricane politicians."
Your finest troll comment in a few years, Ritmo!
What do Houston and Bangladesh have in common? They are both underwater.
There are two sorts of people. One sort waits for instructions.
The other votes for Trump
As if on cue. By instruction.
Because they're gullible robots who believes the things he says.
Others don't believe blustery liars.
Is there something about night time that causes Ritmo to emerge from his mother's basement ?
Said the gullible robot who thinks that the Comedy Central is straight news.
My view is that, in a free society, agencies such as FEMA would not exist, and the Coast Guard would be limited to defensive/military purposes. Instead, Individuals would form voluntary associations (either prearranged, or spontaneous) to protect themselves from natural disasters. Oh, and economic growth would be so much higher, thanks to the unshackling of enormous human creativity, that we would be far more robust to events like this. The details on that last point are left to another post.
However, we do not live in such a society, and our government taxes huge portions of our produced wealth in order to fund these (in my view) illegitimate agencies and functions. Therefore, it is not unreasonable for people of my political perspective to expect that our government will deploy those agencies and functions in order to protect my life and property should the relevant circumstances arise. I, personally, would not be "thankful" for this slight return on my "investment". I would expect it. It is the "deal" that is made when the collectivists collectivize me, against my will. I didn't voluntarily sign this "social contract", but it is a contract nonetheless.
"Blogger Michael K said...
Is there something about night time that causes Ritmo to emerge from his mother's basement ?"
Drug dealers don't hit the streets before 5pm.
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