Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The Mail

I get mail from The American Spectator:
The Spectator's masthead is comprised of aggressive young writers and famously influential veterans skilled at making the independent conservative case.

These are men and women with courage, talent, and formidable literary or journalistic clout. Whether through wit, humor, or laser-precision facts, these fine writers uncover the veil of secrecy behind the left's shenanigans.

By the standards of a team of Berkeley psychologists, the Spectator's stubborn biases are unquestionably pathological. Nevertheless, a partial listing:


It's an affirmative action thing.

21 comments:

M. Bouffant said...

That was in my inbox too. Just as well I didn't follow through; didn't see the academic/professor trees for the forest of stupidity.

Did Am Spec's mail start appearing, unrequested, after subscribing to TWI's email? That seems to have been the sequence here.

Smut Clyde said...

Why Berkeley psychologists in particular? That level of specificity is curious. One is led to speculate about childhood trauma somewhere.

The only Berkeley psychologist I knew was Jack Block who died a few months ago, rich with years as they say. He instigated the Berkeley Longitudinal Study. His 2006 paper
found that subjects who at 3 years old had seemed thin-skinned, rigid, inhibited and vulnerable tended at 23 to be political conservatives. On the other hand, 3-year-olds characterized as self-reliant, energetic, somewhat dominating and resilient were inclined to become liberals.

tigris said...

Who disdains librarians? Oh, I know: ASSHOLES.

Substance McGravitas said...

Did Am Spec's mail start appearing, unrequested, after subscribing to TWI's email?

I dunno. It's been a while.

mikey said...

Grannies spanking librarians.

In Zorbs

Substance McGravitas said...

I'm also impressed that the ACLU is opposed by support for the constitution. I KNEW those bastards were just making up those civil liberties outta nowhere.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

I'm a business Owner who supports the ACLU.

I may need to contact TAS' Ombudsman.

Rusty Shackleblart said...

I may need to contact TAS' Ombudsman.

Upside his head, please

tigris said...

I may need to contact TAS' Ombudsman.

Nip him in the buds, zombie!

Smut Clyde said...

What's the story with the "Unstinting support for Vaccine Manufacturers" bit? It must be tough, trying to decide which side of the anti-vaccine imbroglio to adopt as another badge of right-wing tribal identity.

I mean, the anti-vaxxers are anti-Government and anti-science so they would fit well as TAS soul-mates. Reading some of the rhetoric from the Age-of-Autism crazy people, they go on a lot about the liberal-fascist-communist nature of vaccination programs, and clearly they want to be aligned with the teabag side. On the other hand, there's a Kennedy in their midst.

Substance McGravitas said...

It means HA HA when the capitalism vaccine is perfected.

mikey said...

Plus, the anti-vaxxers explain EVERYTHING on the evil pharmaceutical companies and their nasty, dirty money. Which is a problem for republicans, who really want great piles of that selfsame nasty dirty money for themselves.

They would find it pretty hard to argue on the one hand that the government is forcing toxic vaccinations down our throats because SOCIALISM and at the same time talk about the lifesaving research funded by the pharmaceutical industry profits.

Not saying they couldn't do it, they've had no difficulty in framing budget reconciliation as the end of democracy for all time, but one wonders if perhaps there might be some limit on how many times they can go to the well of cognition and bring up another fetid bucket of dissonance...

Hamish Mack said...

Disdain for Republican Trial Lawyers?

tigris said...

FWIW, I've heard wacko righties say vaccine manufacturers are sued frequently, thus tort reform would obviously keep health care costs down so that no other action would be necessary.

Smut Clyde said...

In fact the opposite. Least as, that was the impression I gained from Orac's blog: vaccine manufacturers can't be sued (or at least the burden of proof is much higher). The profit margins on concocting the standard vaccines are so low that it's not a profitable part of Big Pharma's operations,* and the manufacturers threatened to leave the business unless they were covered against lawsuits.

Should I believe Orac, or wacko righties? It is a difficult decision.

* Different story for non-standard vaccines like swine flu, which *are* profitable thankyouverymuch.

Substance McGravitas said...

If vaccines cause artism so what? The kid's a painter, big deal.

Smut Clyde said...

Have you no idea how little money the average painter makes?!

mikey said...

Well, certainly, I'M not well remunerated, but then I work in feces...

Substance McGravitas said...

The trick is to work in PANCAKES.

mikey said...

Heh heh.

I like to think of my work as "Post Pancake"....

Smut Clyde said...

these fine writers uncover the veil of secrecy behind the left's shenanigans.

Both sides need to get their acts together. The whole point of a veil is to conceal things, people, so those fine writers need to do more than just uncover it, they should be piercing it. But the left is not entirely clear on the concept either, if it is hiding the veil behind shenanigans. Concealing your veil is belt-and-braces behaviour.