some recent posts

My good friend Arvin gives me a nice write up, here, and so do DunneIV ,Jonathan Schwarz, and Harry. Thanks, guys.

and,

my friend Don of the Fiat Blog! has a really nice piece, "Connecting the dots...leads back to Clinton?" (I guess Don and I would both be thrown out if we tried to crash one of those shindigs in the Hamptons or Martha's Vineyard. C'est la vie.)

"The unsuccessful privatization of Social Security was preceded by the highly successful privatization of the Iraq invasion."
from "Jesus doesn't save, he invests," by Skimble.

somewhat along the same lines, but with more detail, Naomi Klein's
"the rise of disaster capitalism" from the Nation.


George Monbiot: "Spin, Lies and Corruption"
via
"Is That Loud Enough For You" from Zeynep Toufe.

which reminds me of yet another similarly-themed piece that was also posted at Ms. Toufe's Under the Same Sun, when Jonathan Schwarz was subbing for her last December: "Nice Liberals: AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHH!"
(I may be a bit off on the vowel count.)

an excerpt:

I once was a certain type of nice American liberal. Perhaps you yourself have encountered this type. It is the type that reads the New York Times, often listens to NPR, and enthusiastically voted for Bill Clinton. The type has good intentions. The type wants the best for all. But the type has the unmatched ability to miss the WHOLE FUCKING POINT OF EVERYTHING.

If this type had a giraffe living in its kitchen, it would not see it. Instead, the type would sit there, carefully reading the day's New York Times story about awful people in third world countries with giraffes living in their kitchens. What's wrong with these people? the type would think. How can they allow giraffes to live in their kitchens? From time to time the type would wonder why their house smells so musky lately, and why all the food on high shelves mysteriously disappears.

Maybe I shouldn't write this, but I think Jonathan is the funniest lefty I've encountered in the blogosphere. By contrast, I've always been a little irritated by the popularity of "Jesus' General"; I see his schtick as tiresome. As you may know, pretty much all his humor revolves around suggesting that social conservatives are repressed homophobes who are secretly gay. I happen to believe there's a degree of truth in this supposition, not universally, but surprisingly often. But so what? The sky's blue too. And I hear that most Norwegians are fair-complected. Frankly, if you are so preoccupied with making fun of someone else's sexual hangups, you probably have your own sexual identity issues, but want to congratulate yourself for being slightly less messed up than that other person. Shooting fish in a barrel, and whistling past the graveyard. Great.

J. G. is like a pianist who only knows one key. He can't even play chopsticks, and apparently neither can most of his commenters. If you read him and like him and can actually point to a post where he demonstrates some growth as a humorist beyond his usual juvenalia, feel free to link to it in the comments.