The Right Wing Supreme Court

So, Elena Kagan will probably get on the Supreme Court soon. She would follow recent Obama nominee Sonia "Wise Latina" Sotomayor, who got on last year, in the midst of a ridiculous nomination process. Lots of people, especially on the left, are applauding these picks. Both are women, both are moderate, and both will make it through the nomination process - it'd be shocking if Kagan didn't get through. However, there's a big problem here. I know, you have to pick your battles, but...do people realize that moderates will not save the Supreme Court? Because justices are appointed for life, every nomination is a big deal...so if the court is drifting far to the right, it should be worth the battle to make sure it moves back to the center (something I suspect most Americans would actually want). Appointing moderates will not do that.

The American Mystique

Betty Friedan, in her 1960's classic _The Feminine Mystique_, describes a problem by which women would not speak of "the problem that has no name." Women, Friedan found, had all the modern comforts of home- the washing machine, the floor waxer, the white picket fence, and yet they were unhappy. "Is this all?" they asked. In 2010 America, we might speak of an American Mystique, which in no way demeans the still prevalent Feminine Mystique but expands her core concept.

The Country's Birthday and Indulgent Parenting

Conservatives and conservative-leaning people frequently pass around forwards bemoaning the lack of discipline and responsibility among today's youth, with forwarded emails purporting to be from such people as Bill Cosby, Bill Gates, George Carlin, Robin Williams etc. (Just Check Snopes.com) These emails are transparent attempts to undercut liberal ideas and reduce nuanced discussions to seemingly logical but actually illogical sound bites.

However, when one considers the nation to be a creation of the people, it stands to reason that the nation is our child, and if the nation is our child- our trust and responsibility-, whom we want to be the best it can be, and achieve great things, conservatives as parents seem to be sorely lacking. By retreating into hyperbole when discussing the nation, conservatives fall afoul of their very premise that holding a child (or nation) accountable for its failing is the best path to improvement. Some examples of "indulgent parenting":

The World Cup or the World of Woes

Soccer/Football fans are avidly watching the World Cup as it takes place in South Africa right now. The glamor and hoopla associated with it is supposed to excite everyone across the globe, including of course South Africans. What’s missing from the story is the tragedy, not the glory, that FIFA’s sports tournament really represents.

Blackwater? Again? Really?

Blackwater (or Xe, as it is currently called - they changed their name to try and avoid attention after all the negative press they got from Jeremy Scahill's outstanding work on them, amongst others) recently recieved a $100 million contract for work in Afghanistan. CIA Director Panetta took to the airwaves on Sunday to defend the contract. Part of the reason why Blackwater got the contract is they presented a bid that was $26 million less than the nearest competitor. The contract is for a year, and could run up to 18 months. So...America's professional mercenary army, viewed very negatively in many parts of the world (Iraq is obviously the key sore spot, as they were banned from the country as a result of numerous incidents where they killed unarmed civilians), now gets a nice contract in Afghanistan. Raise your hand if you think this will go well? Anybody? Anybody?