The Hall of Mirrors

Today the Anti-Defamation League, the US’s largest Jewish civil rights organization, sided with the bigots who oppose the construction of a muslim community center in Lower Manhattan. Apparently discrimination is bad and all that, but these bigots are really mad, and we should try not to hurt their feelings. We don’t want to cause pain to these bigots who don’t even live or work in New York (only 36% of New Yorkers oppose the construction), so we’ll just give them what they want. I’m sure they’ll stop being dickheads then.

I still pay money to have a blog at my own domain? Why?

So, Ed Whelan of the National Review Online and the Ethics and Public Policy Center has outed noted political and legal blogger Publius, of Obsidian Wings. Here’s what happened:

Anonymous Liberal and Eugene Volokh called out Whelan for his (apparently to me; I am not a lawyer) ridiculous criticisms of Harold Koh and Sonia Sotomayor. Publius agreed with these posts and quoted them on OW. Volokh blogs under his real name, so there’s no way to punish him. I guess Whelan couldn’t figure out who AL, the original source of the quotation that piqued his ire, was, so he settled for outing Publius.

So, let me state for the record: Ed Whelan is a whiny-ass titty baby. He can’t take any criticism, especially repeated criticism from the same source, so he hopes to negatively affect Publius’s career. Whelan did not reveal a conflict of interest; he simply claimed that Publius was irresponsible abusing his anonymity (actually pseudonymity; I would expect a sharp legal mind such as Whelan’s to be able to grasp the distinction), then claimed the responsibility of punishing him.

Then, after being roundly criticized by pretty much everyone with a brain, he apologized. Sorry about that. I fucked up. Hope you don’t get fired!

Now, I agree that Whelan deserves some credit for figuring out that he did something wrong (with a little help from his friends). But seriously?

Anyway, this whole situation is dumb. Stay tuned for a more interesting post about anonymity and opinion on the internets.

One year ago, Barack Obama gave a speech on the occasion of his having clinched the Democratic nomination for the presidency. Just before the speech, he and his wife Michelle shared a special moment:

Today, take the time to dap the ones you love for National Fist Bump Day.

Also, this:

Via BooMan.

If I’m going to have a blog, I need to abide by the more important blogospheric conventions; chief among them is Friday cat blogging.

I don’t have a cat, but my neighbor does. This is Azazel.

He likes to come into my apartment whenever he can get in, then meow until I let him sit in my lap.

This blog will be an outlet for my thoughts on politics, music, art, society, and general bullshit. Welcome.