Reading this interview in Christianity Today with Frank Page, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention whose daughter committed suicide, was a rather harrowing experience. It was harrowing firstly because he’s trying to analyze his daughter’s untimely death, and that is necessarily going to make for uncomfortable reading. But it was harrowing also because… Continue reading Mental Illness And The Southern Baptist Convention: We Have A Serious Problem Here
Jonathan Chait, one of America’s foremost trolls, and hence one of America’s most influential political analysts, has written a widely-recommended apologia about football. Chait played as a young man, you see, and can speak from personal experience about football’s virtues. According to Chait, football provides boys with a means by which to channel their masculine… Continue reading Another Brief Note On The Idioicy Of Pro-Football Arguments
Because I keep hearing the same objections to my “Football is Irredeemably Depraved” thesis, I figured I would write a FAQ. This seems doubly timely given the recent revelations of a sexual torture regime at the “storied” Sayreville, NJ high school football program, which many are predictably explaining away by invoking the failed “a few… Continue reading Why Football At All Levels Must Be Immediately Abolished: A FAQ
Joan Rivers made the world a stupider, shallower, more annoying place—so of course she has been celebrated widely since her death last week. But let’s get real for a minute. Joan Rivers wasn’t funny, she wasn’t a good person, and she wasn’t someone who ought to be revered or held up as an example. If… Continue reading Joan Rivers Was A Horrible Person And You Should Feel Bad For Liking Her
Since news broke last week that Ray Kelly, the New York City police commissioner (or “Top Cop” as media sometimes affectionately put it) was prevented by protesters from delivering an address on “proactive policing” at Brown University, a debate has raged on what I’ll tentatively call the “Left Twittersphere” about the propriety of the protesters’… Continue reading Ray Kelly, State Power, and the Principle of Unfettered Free Speech
Since Hugo Chavez of Venezuela was announced the victor Sunday night in his closely-watched bid for reelection, conservatives and libertarians across America have, predictably, sneered. They disdain Chavez for a range of reasons — his inclination toward state control of the economy, his blusterous style, and so forth. Certainly, Chavez should not be immune to criticism. He has suppressed dissent within his borders, interfered with press freedoms,… Continue reading The American Right-Wing’s Hypocritical Attacks on Hugo Chavez
If you had asked me to conjure up the most damning possible catastrophe for Penn State, and potentially for American sports culture writ large, I would have given you something much more tame than the monstrous child rape scandal that has already destroyed Coach Joe Paterno’s legacy. And this is only based on the Grand… Continue reading Joe Paterno and the Depravity of American Football Culture
If you’ve followed any “mainstream” media coverage of the Occupy movement, especially related to incidents involving police, it should be overwhelmingly obvious to you that just about every story follows the same basic formula: First, some event involving police takes place. Second, and seemingly within moments, reporters rush to the nearest police employee handling “Communications”… Continue reading Why is Media Coverage of Police Actions So Bad?
Look at that menacing, vulgar smirk on the face of Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna as he indiscriminately pepper-sprays peaceful protesters who are complying with his order to turn around and walk away — and who comply even though they’re merely demonstrating on a public sidewalk, which is entirely lawful. Look at the sick way he… Continue reading Anthony Bologna: A National Disgrace
When young black men start wearing “NYPD” caps, as they did in the aftermath of the attacks, you know something dramatic and slightly reason-defying has happened. This was noted by Melissa Harris-Perry at The Nation magazine’s 9/11 anniversary event last week. But those caps were nevertheless out in full force, she observed, even though black… Continue reading 9/11, the NYPD, and Public Reverence for Police