(via Dangerous Minds)
Quote of the Night
May 20, ’10
9:46 PM
I don’t believe Rand is a racist; I think he is a fool who is suffering from the foolish consistency syndrome that affects all libertarians. They believe that freedom consists of one thing and one thing only–freedom from governmental constraint. Therefore, it is illogical to them that any increase in government power could ever expand freedom. Yet it is clear that African Americans were far from free in 1964 and that the Civil Rights Act greatly expanded their freedom while diminishing that of racists. To defend the rights of racists to discriminate is reprehensible and especially so when it is done by a major party nominee for the U.S. Senate.
Rand Paul and Civil Rights: The End of the Tea Party?
May 20, ’10
9:39 PM
From The Atlantic:
Here’s one thing that can, plainly, be said about the controversy over Rand Paul and the Civil Rights Act: this is exactly what Democrats hoped would happen.
The Democratic campaign and message apparatus has been banking, for months, on the rightward tilt of the Tea Party to damage the Republican Party in November’s midterm elections. They put out a strategy memo to this effect in January.
The idea is, basically: Tea Partiers are crazy, right-wing extremists. If the Republican Party elects them to run in November, the Republican Party will lose. Democrats have been saying this for months.
Paul’s statements about the Civil Rights Act, brought up last night by Rachel Maddow and discussed at length, in an interview, have dominated the news cycle today. It has not looked good for Paul, or for the Tea Party.
Ebert’s Review of The Human Centipede
May 20, ’10
2:36 PM
I don’t think he liked it:
I am required to award stars to movies I review. This time, I refuse to do it. The star rating system is unsuited to this film. Is the movie good? Is it bad? Does it matter? It is what it is and occupies a world where the stars don’t shine.
‘Draw Mohammed’ call prompts Pakistan Facebook ban
May 20, ’10
10:03 AM
From The Register:
Pakistani authorities have ordered ISPs to block access to Facebook ahead of an “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” planned by users for tomorrow.
Prompted by a court order, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority today told providers to suspend access. The order runs until 31 May.
The Facebook group for “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” has more than 43,000 supporters.
The group has become a target for protest in Pakistan, and today a group of Islamic lawyers obtained a court order for a full suspension of Facebook. The government had previously blocked access to only the “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” pages.
The group’s organisers say it is not designed to offend ordinary Muslims, but as a demonstration of their right to free speech and “to show the extremists… that we’re not afraid of them”.
