The only thing worse than the willfully ignorant is the legion of apologists enabling them. Since the election – before, really – we’ve heard a lot of talk about how all those urban liberal elites need to stop being so arrogant and start listening to very real concerns of real Americans in rural flyover values America. We have more recently begun
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2016 isn’t a person or a monster, but the collective assholery of all we experienced transcends the normal rules. Here’s to you, 2016 – and good riddance. And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
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No, famous people won’t stop dying on January 1. But we lost too many bright lights this year and we hope that 2017 will be better. Here’s a list of noteworthy people who died in 2016. For the past several months a lot of us have been saying we can’t wait for this damned year to be over. 2016 gave us
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I resolve to be more honest and direct in confronting ignorance and hatred. Part 1 of a series When I was a little boy, my grandparents read me the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25: 14-30). They had a particularly Southern Baptist working class interpretation of what it meant. If you had a gift, the Lord intended you to use it
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Analyzing Clinton’s loss: can we PLEASE let go of our compulsive binary either/or thinking? Ever since the stunning outcome of the election several weeks ago we have been subjected to one analysis after another as to why Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump. Dozens and Dozens. Hell, make that hundreds and hundreds, probably. I’m seeing more of these stories in my
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The people who passed HB2 now want to unpass it because they hate teh queers, love the money and fear the people. [Note: Please forgive the snark in this post. I’m in one of those moods, but despite the tone this is a wholly factual analysis.] The yahoos who run my native state of North Carolina have been a marvel to
Read moreThree videos for Election Day. Who do we want to be? Some years ago Sean Kelly of The Samples penned what has to be the election day anthem. It acknowledges what we all know, it notes the reasons we have to abandon hope, and still it insists that we carry on. It’s Election Day 2016. What choice will you make about
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I asked Michael Hancock a straight question and got a dishonest answer. Then there’s his kneepads and chapstick service for the frackers… I recently sent an inquiry to the office of Denver mayor Mike Hancock asking about his position about the city’s recent crackdown on dogs being allowed in tasting rooms. We mile-highers love taking the pups to our favorite microbreweries, but
Read morePartisan discourse can’t sink much lower. Now is the time to resurrect a format that was made for political debates. The third and final “debate” between presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is now mercifully in the rearview mirror, but like a direct hit from an aggrieved skunk, it might take weeks for the stink to fully die down. This trifecta
Read moreI’m not asking who you’re voting for. I’m asking what kind of human being you are. I’m sure you’ve read what Donald Trump said by now, but let’s watch the video and read the transcript just to make sure we’re all on the same page. I was considering titling this essay “Donald Trump is a referendum on our character.” But it isn’t
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The once and future first daughter’s bout of reefer madness notwithstanding, please remember: “anecdotal evidence” is another way of saying “no evidence”… Chelsea Clinton, who has been out on the stump a bit lately “helping” her mother’s campaign, recently dove face first into the muck by saying that pot can be fatal. “…we also have anecdotal evidence now from Colorado
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It’s now clear that democracy, as practiced in an anti-intellectual society like ours, doesn’t work. Let’s give elitism (properly understood) a try. Many of you probably read Andrew Sullivan’s New York Magazine piece back in April. If not, you should do so as soon as possible – it’s among the most important and insightful political essays we have seen in a generation and
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Instead of making yourself a tool for those whose agendas run counter to the best interests of the nation that flag represents, how about stepping back and asking who’s playing you, and why? This meme came across my Facebook feed earlier today. Obviously somebody has an issue with Colin Kaepernick (and other black athletes) protesting injustice in America by refusing
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At some point the North Carolina legislature is going to capitulate on its “bathroom” law. Will the NCAA’s latest move be the tipping point? Much has been written and said about NC’s discriminatory “bathroom” law. And now even more is going to be written and said, thanks to the NCAA’s decision to yank seven college sports championship events from the
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The GOP and the Dems don’t have the market on staggering stupidity cornered. Check out the Libertarians. Jesus Pole-dancing Christ. How are you not prepared for a question you know is coming? You might remember earlier this week when Libertarian candidate for Leader of the Free World® Gary Johnson didn’t know what “Aleppo” was. “What is Aleppo?” Mr. Johnson said when asked on
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