Mary Grabar

I had never heard of Mary Grabar until today. I was happier not having heard of her. But today, in an apparent attempt to accelerate its plunge from respectability, The Atlanta Journal Constitution gave a guest column to Ms. Grabar. And here is the title of her foray into op/ed nuttery:

We Need Insights, Wit From Limbaugh

So, naturally I thought she must be calling on Rush to provide insight and wit instead of the blather, lies and smears that he normally supplies. But no! What Ms. Grabar 's column claims is that "I've enjoyed the insights and wit from Limbaugh."



She goes on: "I am always impressed by his ability to apply historical figures, ideas, events, and constitutional principles."

I'm sorry, who are we talking about here? Is there some other Limbaugh I don't know about, because this can't be Rush. Can you give me an example of this ability?

"Rush Limbaugh provided historical explanation for the public’s adoration of Obama: the same kind of emotional investment that caused gulag prisoners to cry at Stalin’s death."

That's not "historical explanation" that's idiocy. Rush sees some sort of parallel between the American electorate's affection for the charismatic Obama and the Stockholm syndrome of brainwashed Soviet prisoners. What the fuck? There is no parallel, no comparison. It's not apples and oranges, it's apples and circular saws. This is what you consider insight? Look, I can draw a completely absurd historical parallel, too. Um, let's see. The AJC"s decision to publish the fatuous claptrap of Mary Grabar is akin to William Nygaards's decision to publish "The Satanic Verses" in Norway.

See, it means nothing, but it does sound pretty ominous.

So what does Ms Grabar do for a living when she's not writing sheer nonsense? Apparently, she teaches at some college here in Georgia. Also, she writes several blogs, including one named. I kid you not, "The Other White People."

This is a blogsite run by Mary Grabar, who does not apologize for being white, who believes that "hope" and "change" come not from some academic, politician, or celebrity, but from within with the help of God, and that Western civilization is the best civilization.

Youch! Crazy alert!

So, as to her career as a professor, Ms Grabar writes:

This is what I miss about my profession as a college instructor. Rarely am I able to discuss ideas with my colleagues; indeed, I dare not speak my opinion nor say anything positive about any figures on the left’s “hit list.”

OK, do you know what a "hit list" is? It is not a list of people you admire or respect, it is a list of targets for a professional assassin. But that's really beside the point. I imagine that you rarely get to discuss ideas with your colleagues because they avoid you the way I avoid the Homeless guy practcing his karate moves on parking meters and newspaper machines. I know that there's no point, he's not going to have anything to add to a discussion of ideas. I would guess that around your campus, the phrase, "Oh God, here comes that crazy Mary Grabar" is a pretty common utterance.

One of those figures is Alexis de Tocqueville, the French aristocrat who toured the United States in the 1830s and provided an invaluable analysis of the American character and government in his multivolume work, “Democracy in America.”

But to mention his name without the preface of “fascist” or “elitist” is to invite suspicions of one’s academic credentials — and employability.

Um, Mary, I've only known you since this morning, but I'm already questioning your academic credentials.

What the talk show hosts do is present foundational ideas to concerned and intellectually curious citizens. Their wild success exposes a hunger for ideas rarely met in other forums — like our schools. That is why they want to shut down talk radio as it is today.

Listen, you paranoid idiot. No one, not even the sinister "They" , is trying to shut down talk radio, just like no one is asking you to apologize for being white, or to call de Tocqueville a fascist.

I just don't have the strength to go into all the banal idiocies of Mary Grabar. If you're interested, you can read the whole column here. Let me just jump to the conclusion:

Tocqueville is talking about the middle class that keeps this country going. And today they are millions of voters and they’re educating themselves by listening to talk radio and buying books.

Gawd, I shudder to think that the American middle class is educating itself by listening to Talk Radio. Although that's probably better than attending a class taught by Ms Grabar.

I steal a meme from Dr. Monkey

Yesterday, Dr. Monkey posted:

The current list of things that are going to make me hurl

if I have to hear any more about them

So I thought, why not steal from the best?

Here's my current list:

1. Anyone who has participated in American Idol. (As a contestant, judge,or whatever)

2. Anyone whose last name rhymes with Lard-Assian.

3. The New York Yankees

4. The Boston Red Sox

5. Movies based on Superhero comics.

6. TV shows where idiots compete for the affections of another idiot.

7. The Hills, Real Housewives of anywhere, or any other show dedicated to the daily lives of the rich and vapid.

8. Jack Brayer / Kenneth the Page.

9. Miss California

10. The term "baby bump."

That's my ten, what's yours?

Dealergate

Due to its ongoing financial problems, Chrysler is having to close about 25% of its dealerships.
What do you think of that, Conspiracy Cat?




















Oh, Conspiracy Cat, that's what you say about everything! Surely no one else could see anything sinister in this!

Oh, really? Malkin? Well, that doesn't count. Everyone knows she's a nutjob. It's not like anyone else. . . .Really?! Like who?

Doug Ross @ Journal took a look at all of the owners whose names appeared more than once in the Chrysler dealer closing list, and:

of those who contributed to political campaigns, every single one had donated almost exclusively to GOP candidates. While this isn’t an exhaustive review, it does have some ominous implications if it can be verified.

Yes, Doug, the rampaging army of yetis amassing along the Canadian border also has ominous implications if it can be verified. (hint: it can't)

Who else?

This is a must-read from Gateway Pundit. It appears that of all the Chrysler dealers that are being closed down by the UAW/Obama-owned Chrysler corporation, all but one were donors to either the GOP or to Obama’s rivals (Hilary Clinton/John McCain, etc…) in the presidential primaries and election.

The implications here are staggering.

Yes, if by "staggering" you mean the type of staggering you see outside of bars at 2:00 am.

Speculation is growing that the government is safeguarding political donors and other Democrat favorites when selecting dealerships that will be closed. . . Disturbing is the fact that we all could easily conceive political motives behind the closings… yes, the federal government is that evil!

Also, we could easily conceive political motivations behind leap year, male pattern baldness, and the disappearance of the McRib sandwich, if we were crazy, paranoid and stupid.

What must it be like to be these people? How do you go about your day-to-day life convinced that absolutely everything is a conspiracy against you, your religion, and your political leanings? I don't see how you get out of bed in the morning. I would be hiding in a hole I dug in the woods if I thought that evil people and institutions were all out to get me!

There are, of course, a couple important facts that get left out in these folks' "analyses" of the dealer closings. One is that almost all of the people that own car dealerships are, for one reason or another, conservatives/Republicans. So complaining about the large percentage of Republican-owned dealerships being closed down is akin to complaining that most of the player selected to the NBA All-Star team are unusually tall.

The other important point is that Barack Obama is NOT the one deciding which dealerships to close. That should go without saying, but apparently, being obviously fictitious is no reason for these people to disbelieve something. After all, these are the same people who believe that there is a concerted effort underway to rid the world of Christmas.

Fishhawk

last Saturday, while waiting in line at the Plaza Theater, I was handed a free CD from a band called Fishhawk. Turns out, they're pretty darn good.

Check 'em out at http://fishhawkmusic.com/Home.html

If you live in the Atlanta area, you can catch them at the Star Bar on Sat. June 6th, and at Lenny's on June 26th, July 31, and Aug 28th.

here's a sample:

The Attacks on JusticeSotomayor

It's all so predictable. You knew that whoever President Obama nominated for the Supreme Court, you were going to get (insert name) is a liberal activist judge. (insert name) believes in legislating from the bench. (insert name) is outside of the mainstream, blah, blah, blah. . . . . . .

But some of the attacks are so nutty, they caught me by surprise. It's like Lily Tomlin said: "No matter how cynical you get, you can never keep up."

Here's Limbaugh: "So here you have a racist. You might -- you might want to soften that, and you might want to say a reverse racist. ... Obama is the greatest living example of a reverse racist, and now he's appointed one."
On what does he base this accusation? Who the fuck knows? It's Rushworld. You don't need to back up your charges in Rushworld! In Rushworld, the very fact that Rush has said it makes it true.

Here's Pat Buchannan: The question is, does she believe in reverse discrimination against white males. It appears she does. And: "She is not that intelligent"

Yeah, she only finished Second in her class at Princeton.

Karl Rove: "I know lots of stupid people who went to ivy league schools."

Yeah, but Sotomayor's grandfather wasn't on the board of trustees at Princeton.

And Tom Tancredo: She’s a member! She’s a member of La Raza! If you belong to an organization called La Raza, which is, from my point of view anyway, nothing more than a Latino KKK without the hoods or the nooses.

Oh, but it gets crazier!


Here's someone named Mark Krikorian: Deferring to people’s own pronunciation of their names should obviously be our first inclination, but there ought to be limits. Putting the emphasis on the final syllable of Sotomayor is unnatural in English. insisting on an unnatural pronunciation is something we shouldn’t be giving in to.
Ok, let me see if I got this. Judge Sotomayor's name is hard to pronounce (it isn't) so she should change the pronunciation to something more "natural"? You know what else is hard to pronounce? Krikorian! Maybe we should pronounce it more naturally, like nin·com·poop (nĭn'kəm-pōōp') (click for sound)

Here's Wendy long of the "Judicial Confirmation Network": On September 11, America saw firsthand the vital role of America's firefighters in protecting our citizens. They put their lives on the line for her and the other citizens of New York and the nation. But Judge Sotomayor would sacrifice their claims to fair treatment in employment promotions to racial preferences and quotas.

Wow! going to the 9/11 well already, eh? That totally doesn't look at all desperate!

here's Jeffery Rosen of the New Republic: Over the past few weeks, I've been talking to a range of people who have worked with her, nearly all of them former law clerks for other judges. . . Most are Democrats but nearly none of them raved about her.

What does that even mean? Nearly none? Is that even a real thing? And doesn't that mean that some did rave about her? And does it matter either way, since these possibly fictitious people were clerks for different judges?

Why can't we just let this one go? She's obviously qualified. Can't we all for once just say, good choice, Mr. President, and confirm her? Why is it so important to be seen as obstructionists that you would gin up these phony objections to a perfectly fine candidate? Who is going to benefit from this? Do you really think that if you somehow succeed in blocking her appointment that Barack Obama will then turn around and nominate a Scalia clone? Sonia Sotomayor is about as moderate an apointee as you're going to see. Just shut the fuck up and let's have the confirmation hearings.