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Politics Joe Lieberman is Not a Magical Bipartisan Unicorn
I don’t know where WSN’s Anne Werner got the idea that Joe Lieberman is “still philosophically and somewhat politically a Democrat” (whatever “somewhat politically” means), but he’s not. He’s a mean old Republican hack of the Richard Nixon school who caucuses with the Democrats solely for reasons of political expediency - and I can’t wait for an expanded Democratic majority to show him the door after this election (full disclosure: I spent seven months in high school trying to help show him the door as a communications intern for his 2006 Democratic challenger, Ned Lamont).
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Facebook In Defense of New Facebook
In Defense of New Facebook
The almighty facebook administrators forced users to switch to the new layout last week and I’ve seen dozens of new groups pop up on my fancy new feed. Whatever they’re called (”I Hate The New Facebook” , “5,000,000 people who want the option ‘Back to the Old Facebook’ to remain”), they all despise the new design. I really only have three problem with such groups: New Facebook is faster, more streamlined, and more customizable than the previous version. Continue…
Monday, September 15, 2008 11:27
2008 Presidential Election Hey MSM, Stop With the Sexist Palin Coverage
Hey MSM, Stop With the Sexist Palin Coverage
The Following Editorial was submitted to the NYU Local opinion section. Anyone with an nyu email address and a full name can post to this section.
Since Sarah Palin was nominated as Vice President on the Republican ticket weeks ago, she’s been subjected to a barrage of misogynistic media criticism. But does any of this anti-woman talk sound familiar? Why of course! Just when I thought we left the days of Hillary’s pearls, cleavage and cackle in the dust, the media got me again.
Obviously, we all know that John McCain chose Sarah Palin for political reasons. She’s the most popular governor in the country, with an 80 percent approval rating. And yes, she is a woman.
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2008 Presidential Election We Want Your Dissent
We Want Your Dissent
You may have noticed from flipping back through the archives and some of our most recent posts, that the NYU Local Opinion section tilts just a little bit to the left. Which makes sense, because the NYU populace overall tilts pretty firmly leftward. But there’s still ideological diversity! And meanwhile, I have yet to edit and publish a single pro-McCain-Palin post. Not even a pro-Bob Barr one!
That would be fine if this were The Nation, but it’s not - and we want to give an opportunity for people from all sides to speak. So, think McCain is a maverick, and Obama is an elitist? We want to hear from you!
Same goes for everything else we cover here. Think the NYU journalism department is awesome and blogging isn’t an endeavor for serious journalists? I don’t know what you’re doing reading this site if that’s the case, but fire off a post anyway!
The point is, even if you disagree with us, we want to hear from you. Especially if you disagree with us. So either click “Submit” in the upper right-hand corner, or shoot me an email.
Friday, September 12, 2008 17:32
Music Is the Concept of Popular Music Dead?
Is the Concept of Popular Music Dead?
Originally posted at Jess and Josh Talk About Stuff
If the Video Music Awards proved anything, it’s that, well, MTV has lost its touch. But more than that, it showed that the level of music we call “popular” has broadened its scope over the past couple of years, which actually works to contradict the idea of said music’s “popular” status in the first place. Let me explain.
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9/11 Emergency Response Teams Lacking Good Judgment?
Emergency Response Teams Lacking Good Judgment?
So it’s the day after the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. One would think that seven years after that horrific day, our law enforcement and emergency response teams would be taking their jobs with the utmost seriousness. Unfortunately, I have witnessed firsthand that this is not always the case. I wrote this piece for my personal blog a little over a month ago after I was prompted by something I read elsewhere. It’s an account of a truck filled with firemen either abusing their power or ignoring their duty. Either way, something was not right, and I was really disturbed by it. Read the article after the jump, and keep in mind that I originally wrote it for my personal blog over a month ago. Continue…
Friday, September 12, 2008 0:00
2008 Presidential Election John McCain Thinks You’re a Moron
John McCain Thinks You’re a Moron
Here’s a clue that your chronic mendacity has gotten out of hand: The Washington Post editorial board is calling you on it:
John McCain is a serious man who promised to wage a serious campaign. Win or lose, will he be able to look back on this one with pride? Right now, it’s hard to see how.
One can almost imagine the single tear rolling down Fred Hiatt’s cheek as he penned that sentence. How could McCain do this? How in god’s name could America’s favorite maverick betray his base like this?
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LGBT Floridians Progressing?
Floridians Progressing?
A proposed amendment to Florida’s State Constitution effectively banning same-sex marriages is likely to fail on the ballot this November. According to a new poll, the ban is only receiving 55% support from likely voters, short of the 60% it needs to pass into law. It’s interesting to me that in this instance progress is being made by inaction rather than action. It’s not necessarily the work of the HRC or GLAAD, but the technicality of having too few votes. I guess if this is the way that progress is being made at this point, I’ll take it. That’s not to say I’m happy about it, however. I don’t know how many times I can say this, but in the year 2008 I feel it’s time that America starts to embrace marriage equality for everyone. I mean, they did it in Canada. Are we really going to allow ourselves to be upstaged by Canada?
Thursday, September 11, 2008 0:00
Academia Not That There’s Anything Wrong with Political Science
Not That There’s Anything Wrong with Political Science
Steven White, a Poli Sci Ph.D student uptown at Columbia, takes issue with my dismissal of political science as a discipline. But I think political science is a fine and noble discipline! It’s just that I feel like viewing politics through a purely analytical lens is going to obfuscate just as much as it illuminates. An analytical approach has a lot of value, but like a non-analytical approach, it only gets you so far.
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Sports Jamaican Prometheus
Jamaican Prometheus
Nobody would’ve predicted that two weeks after the Summer Olympics came to a close, Michael Phelps would be an afterthought. Phelps did everything right (8 gold medals, 7 world records) and was even being hailed as the “apotheosis of the athlete.” Then Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt ran the 100 and 200 meters, and everything changed.
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