All posts tagged "Political Discourse"

After showcasing the ways the "Occupy Wall Street" protesters planned to overcome the winter, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow said on her show Tuesday night that the ongoing demonstrations have altered the political discourse of the United States.

[rebelmouse-image 24750273 original_size="453x633" expand=1]I wrote that long post about personhood amendments and the issues surrounding them yesterday for a couple of reasons. One is that it’s an important issue onto itself. The other is that it points a larger problem that we have in our political discourse now around facts and ideology.

Dorian Warren, assistant professor of political science and public affairs at Columbia University, appeared Monday on Democracy Now to discuss the ongoing "Occupy Wall Street" protests in Manhattan and other cities across the United States.

[rebelmouse-image 24750256 original_size="450x294" expand=1]Yesterday for RH Reality Check, I wrote a piece about how civility is really impossible in political discourse for those who political opinions are uncivil.  I'm sick of how the focus on "incivility" has been around the least toxic aspects of our political discourse, namely joke-telling and an unwillingness to pretend to like the opposition more than you do. I don't really have a problem when people make fun of each other or call each other assholes, Wingnuts are poised to call me a "hypocrite" on this, I'm sure, but trust me, I get called every name under the sun and I don't really waste time worrying about it.  I do have a problem with bigoted language---every man out there who calls me a "cunt" isn't just calling me a name, but adding to the overall message that women aren't worth anything---and sexual harassment, but if someone ever bothered to call me an asshole or try (they almost always fail) to make fun of me, I shrug it off.  Who gives a shit? It is worth noting that the vast majority of negative response I get is gendered, either in the sense that it's sexual harassment, bigoted language against women, or mansplaining. Which says a lot about the opposition's limited imaginations, but has no bearing whatsoever on the use of snark as a tool of political discourse.  Public figures should not whine about having people making fun of them. (Though I will retain the right to ban trolls who have nothing to add our discourse on this blog, though in my experience most of the worst ones have a creepiness stemming directly from deep-set misogyny and racism.)

So, we have a woman running for President who literally believes that her god made women to be the helpmeets of men, and that marriage should be built around women submitting to their husbands.  And this belief, being weird---especially for someone who claims she wants to run the entire nation---was asked about during a debate. 

One tea party leader says that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) has herself to blame for getting shot in the head Saturday.