tasteless.
As you probably already heard, despite the internet being your number one summer source for news, information and incisive, hard-hitting commentary, Michael Jackson passed away yesterday at the tender age of 50. Jackson was a monolithic figure on the pop culture landscape for almost his entire life, first as the pop boy-wonder, then as the reigning King of Music, and finally for his plastic surgery, reclusive behavior, accused pedophilia and confirmed weirdness. Because of this, Jackson will always occupy a peculiar niche in the pop-culture lexicon, a burning modern example of the difficulty in separating an artist from their work. It’s a shame that his story had no real final chapter, no redeeming Hollywood conclusion, though I would hope, in his way, he found peace. But however Weird he lived, he was the King of Pop music, and if a few kids had to get buggered to make Thriller, I suppose thems the breaks. Good Night, Mike. You were the worst kind of strange but I wouldn’t trade you for anything.
Those early jazzmen knew what they were up to
when they set about making funeral marches swing.
So swing me away, please, with a rousing tune.
Filed under: Edits | Tags: fordham, george tiller, holocaust museum, Liberty Forum, right-wing extremists, we were right, you were wrong
Ok, you guys, I know it is summertime and I shouldn’t be blogging or something, but ya know, it’s been raining for like a week and it’s slow at work, so…yeah.
But anyway, quick little heads up to remind everyone that the paper wins. (We always win.) In April, Fordham’s conservative blog the Liberty Forum posted a piece titled “Obama Administration: conservatives are the real terrorists.” Author Rachel Ring was inscensed by a Homeland Security memo predicted that the election of the first African American president and the advent of economic hard times could worsen the threat from right-wing extremist groups. Ring stated: “He’s [Obama] truly a left leaning liberal who would support the prosecution of people who are deemed “right wing extremists” who simply just differ in opinion with him on matters of gun control, immigration and abortion”
It was pretty clear back in April that the author hadn’t even taken the time to read what she was writing about, so the paper peppered their comments section, saying: “This report (should any of you have given it a gander) addresses the possibility of political exploitation used to radicalize an otherwise peaceful and acceptable political philosophy by fear mongers and irresponsible leadership,” and suggesting they read an article about a young, heavily-armed white supremacist who had shot two black police officers just days after the memo was released as evidence that right-wing extremism is indeed alive and well in our country.
Well, after George Tiller’s murder and this week’s shooting at the Holocaust Museum, we bet you guys feel like assholes, huh? This article in the New York Times and this article in the Washington Post are about the conservative outcry over the memo (which Ring was desperately trying to echo), and why they were all so very, very wrong.
