justice

A Note On Gaza

EDITORIAL

The amount of propaganda being spread in this war is appalling. That people choose to believe it without confirmation just because it happens to agree with their own biases… arguably that’s worse.

There exists an anti-American propaganda account on TwiX today that generates millions of hits by celebrating military atrocities committed by Russia, acts of terrorism by Hamas and Hezbollah, and civilian casualties of war. On it, corpse porn is reposted every fifteen minutes in order to generate profitable ad-share, subscriptions, and donations. It is too big to be toppled by the Community Notes mechanism.

Mind you, it’s unreasonable to blame the platform. Virtually every other social media organization permits the same thing in the name of free speech.

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SCOTUS: Asking The Right Question

With the unfortunate and highly regrettable, yet hardly unexpected nor even alas untimely, passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the nation is once again in an uproar. And yet the tempest is at present a mild one — more than “in a teapot”, perhaps, but certainly less than Class Five. And this is as it should be.

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Who Do You Stand With?

I’ve been seeing posts and memes:  “I stand with Kavanaugh!”  “I stand with Ford!”

Let me tell you where I stand.

There was a hearing; I watched.  I wish for the sake of those involved that this hadn’t been broadcast live, but it was, and to stay informed I watched, and I listened, and afterward I read summaries and reviews and transcripts. (more…)

Kavanaugh Is Not The Great Satan

It’s been 24 hours since Brett Kavanaugh was nominated to replace Justice Kennedy on the Supreme Court.  Since then I’ve seen him described as a religious ideologue, an ultra-conservative, and (my favorite) a sign that “The American Experiment Is Over”.

This isn’t a slight misstatement, a matter of nuance or a bending of the truth.  It’s laughably, ludicrously wrong.

Look, I get it:  Donald Trump nominated this guy, so he must be evil.  Given some of this president’s other nominees (though hardly all), that’s understandable, the more so if we also consider Mr. Trump’s high scores on the Supervillain Index.  (No cape, and his monologues (more…)

I’m Pretty Sure He’s Human

For me, the trouble with writing about politics these days is that it’s too easy to say bad things.

I don’t mean that it’s easy to insult the President and his people.  That’s always easy.  It’s always been easy, truth be told, which is exactly why the media always does it:  They meet their deadlines and win Pulitzers and can still make Happy Hour, and (more…)