it burns: “The Obama administration is making a big stink about Israeli settlements on the West Bank, but you know what causes a lot more radical anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world? Lady Gaga, argues Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal .” [Newser]
What a maroon: “California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina (R) sent a letter to her supporters yesterday in honor of the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover, which she described as a time where ‘we break bread and spend time with our families and friends.’” [TPM]
The state of Texas, not content with nearly destroying the world when it sent us W, now wants to make our children stupid:
The conservative bloc on the Texas State Board of Education won a string of victories Friday, obtaining approval for an amendment requiring high school U.S. history students to know about Phyllis Schlafly and the Contract with America as well as inserting a clause that aims to justify McCarthyism.
Outspoken conservative board member Don McLeroy, who reportedly spent over three hours personally proposing changes to the textbook standards, even wanted to cut “hip-hop” in favor of “country” in a section about the impact of cultural movements. That amendment failed.
And because Texas is such a large state, the textbooks used there often make their way into the rest of the nation’s schools.
I haven’t seen Avatar, but if J-Pod hates it, I’m definitely going to:
John Podhoretz, the Weekly Standard’s film critic, called the film “blitheringly stupid; indeed, it’s among the dumbest movies I’ve ever seen.” He goes on to say: “You’re going to hear a lot over the next couple of weeks about the movie’s politics — about how it’s a Green epic about despoiling the environment, and an attack on the war in Iraq. . . . The conclusion does ask the audience to root for the defeat of American soldiers at the hands of an insurgency. So it is a deep expression of anti-Americanism — kind of. The thing is, one would be giving Jim Cameron too much credit to take ‘Avatar’ — with its . . . hatred of the military and American institutions and the notion that to be human is just way uncool — at all seriously as a political document. It’s more interesting as an example of how deeply rooted these standard issue counterculture cliches in Hollywood have become by now.”
And if J-Pod brings the stupid, you can count on Ross Douchebag to bring the stupid with sprinkles:
Is it something in the water?
Is it inbreeding? Is it the proximity to Oklahoma and its stupid congressional delegation?
And on and on and on …
1. Teabagger “injured” while protesting health insurance reform needs money because he has no health insurance.
2. Palin says Obama “death panels” will kill Trig.
3. Gov. Sanford flew his family all over South Carolina on the taxpayers’ dime, and that’s illegal.
JNOV • Hanging by a Thread @nojo: yeah. I had a feeling you’d say that.
NOJO • Hanging by a Thread @JNOV: Haven’t touched a thing — checked it the other day, worked from here. But that’s my…
JNOV • Hanging by a Thread Oh! My edits worked! Praise nojo!
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NOJO • The Values We Profess @nojo: Also, I love saying stuff like “heading uptown”. Brooklyn is fun!
NOJO • The Values We Profess @JNOV: Speaking of which, I'm heading uptown this afternoon to film some stuff with him, including…