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POPSWhy America Will Survive George W. Bush Otto von Bismarck saw how American blunders led to American power and allegedly said that God has a special providence for drunks, fools, and the United States of America. Walter Russell Mead (of the Council on Foreign Relations) puts Bush's 8-year stint in the White House into proper perspective. America's foreign policy has been short-sighted and often self-defeating from the get-go, alternately collaborative, passive, and interventionist. And, yet, miraculously, we always come out ahead. With the unstoppable rise of a global capitalist economy, Mead makes the case that America, for all its past and current faults, will continue to be the inevitable leader of this new international buoyancy. Not even our latest mistakes (unprecedented though they may be) can derail such a powerful incentive that is the modern American world trade system. Which means, more than ever, we're literally all in this together.
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POPS"We're Not Dangerous...We're Persian!" While it's hard to beat the hilarity of his opening bit, Iranian comedian Jobrani's entire politically incorrect routine is online: 1 , 2 . Sometimes you just gotta laugh at the seriousness of the world.... (Via The Daily Dish.)
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POPSBush Seeks Answers for Own Presidency For all the talk of his clueless-ness, it's revealed that Bush, the former apotheosis of privileged irresponsibility, is desperately aware of the fateful legacy he has wrought, seeking vindication in unwritten future histories. Yet, for reasons deeply personal (not political) Bush cannot allow himself to own up to his mistakes, for fear the entire facade of capability will come down. Thus, as he shuts his eyes ever tighter, our leader's personal tragedy becomes our own. "Our members just wish this thing would be over," said a senior House Republican who met with Bush recently. "People are tired of him." Bush's circle remains sealed tight, the lawmaker said. "There's nobody there who can stand up to him and tell him, 'Mr. President, you've got to do this. You're wrong on this.' There's no adult supervision. It's like he's oblivious. Maybe that's a defense mechanism."
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POPSA Tragic Legacy And the president who vowed to lead the war for freedom and democracy has made torture, rendition, abductions, lawless detentions of even our own citizens, secret "black site" prisons, Abu Ghraib dog leashes, and orange Guantánamo jumpsuits the strange, new symbols of America around the world. New essay by Glenn Greenwald on the future legacy of America's reaction to 9/11.
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POPSLiving in the Age of Abundance Puts the marvel of modern American life in perspective. Review by George F. Will of Brink Lindsey's new book, The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed America’s Politics and Culture . Ever since mass affluence, a phenomenon without precedent in the human story, exploded upon postwar America, social and political theorists have wondered, and worried, about the moral and even the spiritual consequences of material conditions. Putting scarcity behind us has been pleasant, but has it been good for us — meaning good for our souls? (Also see How Rich are You? )
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POPSQUIZ: What American Accent Do You Have? If you think you don't have an accent, think again. This short quiz is a way to find out which dialect of American English you speak. Different regional accents become more prevalent in countries at different times throughout the years for various socio-economic and geographical reasons. These accents come to be perceived as "neutral" or "accent-less" by the majority during these times. For a while, the American dialect sometimes called "Standard Midwestern" has dominated but, like accents themselves, this "standard" constantly evolves. Recently, the spoken aspects of American English have trended westward along with the population center of America. Many features distinct to Northeastern accents (think NYC, Boston) are being replaced in popularity with those from Western accents (think LA) across America. This shift tends to be more prominent the younger the speaker is.
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POPSRe-Thinking The War Here's looking forward to a time when clips on America's reputation are more fitting for the nation we aspire to be. When the next major terrorist attack comes, the question will simply be how much liberty Americans have left. That is a victory al Qaeda could not have achieved by force of arms. It is something they have achieved with our witting and conscious help.
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POPSClosest GOP Insider Yet Comes Out Against Bush, Cheney GOP insider Vic Gold doesn't let his longtime friendship with the Bushes and the Cheneys stop him from cataloging the permanent damage the White House has done to the reputation of the GOP — and America. Under Bush and Cheney, he argues, the GOP has moved away from principles of small government, prudent foreign policy and leaving people alone to live their private lives — all views Gold associates with his hero, Goldwater. I'll add that to read about the distressing political and personal position Bush Jr. has placed his aging father in because of his actions is downright painful. (Via Andrew Sullivan).
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POPSAmerican Conservative Magazine: GOP Must Go There may be little Americans can do to atone for this presidency, which will stain our country’s reputation for a long time. But the process of recovering our good name must begin somewhere, and the logical place is in the voting booth this Nov. 7. If we are fortunate, we can produce a result that is seen—in Washington, in Peoria, and in world capitals from Prague to Kuala Lumpur—as a repudiation of George W. Bush and the war of aggression he launched against Iraq.
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POPSSoldiers of Christ: Inside America's most powerful megachurch with Pastor Ted Haggard No pastor in America holds more sway over the political direction of evangelicalism than does Pastor Ted, and no church more than New Life. Having lived in Colorado Springs for 6 years, some people ask me what it's like living in what some consider the Christian Capital of America. Colorado Springs has a lot going for it besides Dr. Dobson and Ted Haggard, but politically and spiritually speaking, this article explains how the city became the center for the Religious Right movement.
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POPSRepublican Ad Calls Black Women "Ho's" According to the source, the same group was responsible for similar ads in the past that were so derogatory, even the Republican National Committee called them "racist": America's Pac is the brainchild of a Kansas-based Republican consultant, Richard Nadler. He said Sunday that he is no longer affiliated with the group. "Mr. Nadler is the genius. We basically follow his game plan," the group's new chief, Thomas Donelson of Marion, Iowa, said. In 2000, Mr. Nadler came under fire for a school choice-related ad in which parents said their son's violence ridden public school "was a bit more diversity than he could handle." Mr. Bush's campaign denounced the ad as "inappropriate," and the Republican National Committee called it "racist or race-baiting in intent."
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POPSFoley: "If I were one of these sickos..." (VIDEO) Former representative Mark Foley 1) commenting on Bill Clinton's scandal in 1998 and 2) on a recent episode of America's Most Wanted , warning "sickos" about the very anti-child-predator law he co-sponsored in Congress and now may be prosecuted under . Unbelievable. ( Via .)
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POPSThis is what waterboarding looks like (VIDEO) Or its re-enactment, at least. Robin Williams, in a clip from the WWII movie Jacob The Liar (1999). During the cold war, America fought against regimes like North Korea, North Vietnam, and the Soviet Union in part because of their immoral practice of torture and abuse of civilians and soldiers alike. Now, all but a few of our own leaders have successfully fought to have America join the club of countries that likewise torture anyone deemed fit. Commenter : "I wept on September 11th. I felt as though the country had died. Now I weep because I may have been right."
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POPS The Seductive Logic of Exterminationism The second tendency stemming from dwelling so much on Hitler's exterminationist logic is to begin to absorb it and to start thinking like Hitler himself, to say to oneself: Well, while it wouldn't do to come out and quite say it publicly, it's simple logic that if we can't democratize the Muslims (which looks increasingly implausible), we'd better do unto them before they do unto us: exterminate them. That way of thought leads toward a war of nuclear genocide that would be as unnecessary as it is criminal.
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POPSThe Sleepwalkers: September 11 Stunted America's Political Growth A nicely written piece attempting to explain America's internal political currents before, during, and after 9/11. (Free registration required for full text.) Bush was more of an isolationist, and he had criticized America's recent involvement in peacekeeping missions, scorning the very idea of "nation-building." And, in this, he was perhaps closer to the emerging America than Clinton was--an America at peace with modern culture and modern capitalism, self-satisfied, and without large global ambitions.
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POPSBush's Secret: "I like to keep expectations low" (Video) From the heart of ravaged New Orleans comes the most awkward, revealing interview with Bush you have ever seen. That uncomfortable feeling you might get watching Bush squirm under Williams' unflinching questions might be the recognition that this is the man who not only has been leading the free world for 6 years but will continue to steer us into uncharted territory for the next 2 years as well. Williams seems visibly disappointed with Bush's superficiality on all matters. At least we get the answer to the Camus question. What deep-thinking Yale grad who has read "three Shakespeares" wouldn't delve into classic French existentialism too? His reading habits are truly "ekilectic". :(
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POPSGraphic: What are the odds of dying? This great infographic uses the area of overlapping circles to compare the probability of ways to go in America. You can see at a glance that nothing even comes close to heart disease and cancer in terms of likelihood. (Based on data collected in 2003 by the National Safety Council .)
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POPSFor the GOP, a Heartland Plunge - David Broder Also, a Republican governor confirms that anti-incumbent sentiment crosses party lines: "What has this Congress done that anyone should applaud?" he asked scornfully. "Nothing on immigration, nothing on health care, nothing on energy -- and nothing on the war. They deserve a good kick in the pants, and that's what they're going to get."
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POPSNew Census Map of Foreign-Born Populations in US From today's story on the 2005 American Community Survey: The number of immigrants living in American households rose 16 percent over the last five years, fueled largely by recent arrivals from Mexico, according to fresh data released by the Census Bureau. And increasingly, immigrants are bypassing the traditional gateway states like California and New York and settling directly in parts of the country that until recently saw little immigrant activity — regions like the Upper Midwest, New England and the Rocky Mountain States. EDIT: Hmm...my clipped version looks a little fuzzier than the source...what's up with that? :)
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POPSEvangelical Christians plead for Israel Last month, John Hagee led the first summit of Christians United for Israel in Washington. As the Mid-East continues to roil, more and more of his fellow end-time-focused groups are making their voice heard in American politics, influencing our foreign policy decisions for their purposes. "When they see what's going on in the Middle East, a whole range of enemies arrayed against God's people, they see God's word being played out on their television sets"
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