Archive for September 5, 2008

Tom Toles on the “Maverick Pair”

Vaccine Denialism Costs Lives

Hard-line conservatives love to rally around a rather simple aphorism – “ideas have consequences” – to suggest the ripple effect that dangerous non-conservative ideas (like *ahem* evolution) have in ushering in The End Times. The same individuals, though, would do well to turn their battle cry against themselves on this one: conservative alarmism about the alleged link between vaccines & autism has led to a sharp increase in incidence of measles.

Of course some vaccine denialists remind parents that the safest course, still, is vaccination – David Kirby occasionally takes this course – but he and others are to blame for inculcating a conspiracy theory culture that I’ve been able to witness firsthand… and now, you can too (listen as Paul Offit on “Science Friday” takes on a vaccine denialist). Kirby & co. have parents whipped into such a frenzy that, even when presented with proof and reasoned argumentation, fear wins out. Make no mistake, this yellow journalism & alarmism is damaging to children, and may cost lives.

Especially when evaluating far-right claims of the dangers of vaccines, be wary of ulterior motives. Andy Schlafly, who just may be my most favorite person of all time, attempts to couch his opposition to HPV vaccines in health terms, but make no mistake. People like Schlafly oppose HPV vaccines only because it makes sex safe when, to theo-conservatives like him, sex should be accompanied with a maximum of punishment.

Careful of the anchor’s description of Schlafly as “pro-family.” That’s what he’ll call himself, but at the point where evangelizing comes before health, and bigotry before acceptance, he’s forfeited that right.

Sarah Palin’s Pastor Problem

On Monday, the nation will see Obama defend his relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright to Bill O’Reilly. As Wright re-enters our minds, so does another extremist pastor: Sarah Palin’s, who cavorts with Jews for Jesus (a missionary organization founded by Christians to dupe Jews into becoming Christians) and encourages Sarah Palin’s references to the Iraq War as “a task from God.” Apparently, though Palin hasn’t thought much about Iraq, when she has, it was in the context of a crusade.

Culture Wars Resurgent

This year’s Republican National Convention, significantly more than previous conventions, was marked by a dramatic upswing in culture war rhetoric – elitism invoked & social conservative positions on display – and the only person who didn’t get the memo was John McCain. The Presidential nominee may appear more moderate than ever, but the Republican Party is sounding more conservative than ever (and sticking to old themes).

The Speech: A Bipartisan Interlude, and the McCain Campaign’s Quantum Duality

Standing unfortunately in front of another green/blue screen, McCain capped his Republican National Convention with a speech evoking a little of the McCain we’ve lost this election cycle: moderate, bipartisan, and firmly dedicated to an American ideal that crosses party lines. Taking a cue from Barack Obama, McCain praised his opponent’s service and accomplishments, but launched into comparatively tepid attacks that broke along tired ideological lines (“low taxes and a strong national defense!”), rather than offering real, hard comparisons. In short, this was the old McCain: boring but collegial, non-threatening but moderately inspirational.

Such gracious, simple tones are all the more remarkable for the decidedly dissonant harmony they strike up with Sarah Palin’s debut on Wednesday night, a vindictively partisan rant that stretched the facts while accomplishing little else. If McCain shares a few ideological points with his running mate, it’s clear that he shares little else.

While this may be heartening for America and for McCain’s legacy, it leaves me wondering who’s in charge in this campaign. For months now we’ve seen sarcastic attack ad after sarcastic attack ad, gimmick after gimmick, and now a culture-war “pitbull with lipstick” for a running mate. I’ll happily argue that it’s not safe to bet on which side wins out in a campaign with such diametrically opposed views of governance; after all, McCain’s bitter & cynical run to the right may be campaign hype, but it appears to have been institutionalized in Sarah Palin, the far-right’s equivalent of a Soviet political commissar. The Democratic response points out the duality:

[McCain] talked about bipartisanship, but didn’t mention that he’s been a Bush partisan 90 percent of the time, that he’s run a Karl Rove campaign, and that he wants to continue this President’s disastrous economic and foreign policies for another four years. With John McCain, it’s more of the same.

Of course, the reality is more complex. Perhaps because my hope for McCain lingers – like Frodo’s for Gollum – I imagine him torn between a desperate need to be himself, and his party’s desperate need to win this election. So far, the latter has been winning; only in these rare cracks in the partisan veneer do we see the real McCain.

Don’t mistake sympathy and respect for support. Regardless of McCain’s isolated instances of bipartisanship, he has yet to lead by example as a presidential candidate. And his odd take on the place of the judiciary – the one culture war issue that made it into his speech – renders him utterly insupportable for me.

Further to the merits of his speech, McCain also didn’t articulate a thorough vision of his plans for America. We heard a little about school vouchers, and (completely out of the blue) something about a program to train terminated workers for new jobs and pay them the salary difference between their old & new jobs (huh?). But this was a speech more about character than action; more about the past, despite all its “change” rhetoric. If McCain needed to define himself, he missed a golden opportunity to discuss policy; if he needed to match Palin’s right-wing hate to placate the base, he flat-out refused.

Other interesting side notes: though the McCain campaign spurns and mocks Obama’s higher rhetoric as messianic, the Republicans weren’t afraid to bust out the same tonight. In McCain’s introduction video, we heard how lucky we are that McCain came to us at exactly this time: “The stars are aligned. Change will come.” Really? Guys: he’s not the heir of Elendil. Not even Obama’s rhetoric has gone that far. And did the RNC stage remind anyone of the fictional fascist party in V for Vendetta?

Ah, and the buzzword bingo results: in yet more proof that the Republicans talking about McCain are crazier than McCain himself, we didn’t get very far. Results below the line. Continue reading »