Pentagon, War College claim authority in Walsh case

By Dan Brooks in Uncategorized 0 Comment
The National Republican Senatorial Committee maintains its standards of discourse, puns.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee maintains its standards of discourse, puns.

The Departments of Defense and the Army will exercise final review over accusations of plagiarism against Sen. John Walsh (D–MT,) according to Army War College spokeswoman Carol Kerr. Walsh is a sitting lawmaker and veteran, so the DOD has claimed jurisdiction over any investigation. This news caps a confusing couple of days for the AP, which also reported that the War College claimed final authority. If the War College revokes Walsh’s master’s degree, it’s hard to envision a situation in which Defense can plausibly restore it. Any other punishments, though, appear to be up to the Pentagon, which I’m sure will not do anything weird or biased in the end. While we wait to see how much our military procurers care about academic honesty, you could read my column for the Missoula Independent, in which I excoriate Walsh and his relentless ineptitude. Yes, he fought in a war, but we’re not electing someone to send to Iraq. We’re electing someone to send to Washington, and I cannot believe that Walsh is the best option among a million Montanans. At this point, though, we’re choosing the best option between him and Steve Daines. I’m not encouraging voters to stay home on election day, but I am urging voters to build time machines and get nominated in 2013. Anybody.

What does it mean to support nullification?

By Dan Brooks in conservatism 0 Comment
We can talk about the shifting cultural significance of motorcycles next week.

We can talk about the shifting cultural significance of motorcycles next week.

Those impartial inquirers over at The Daily Beast have “caught” Joni Ernst, Republican candidate for Iowa’s Senate seat, saying that states can nullify federal laws. Really, she didn’t say that. She said that as a federal legislator, she would not pass the kind of laws that states would consider nullifying. She also said it last September, at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, while standing in front of a drum set. So grain of salt, but here she is:

You know we have talked about this at the state legislature before, nullification. But, bottom line is, as U.S. Senator why should we be passing laws that the states are considering nullifying? Bottom line: our legislators at the federal level should not be passing those laws. We’re right…we’ve gone 200-plus years of federal legislators going against the Tenth Amendment’s states’ rights. We are way overstepping bounds as federal legislators. So, bottom line, no we should not be passing laws as federal legislators—as senators or congressman—that the states would even consider nullifying. Bottom line.

If Ernst wants to pay my exorbitant consulting fee, I can think of a phrase that she uses too much. Also, let’s take a second to talk about nullification, which is a hot topic in American politics for the first time since 1832.

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Flower beards a “thing,” says unfalsifiable trend piece

By Dan Brooks in Contemporary Media 0 Comment
Putting flowers in your beard impresses a certain kind of person while I look for my gun.

Put flowers in your beard. Impress a kind of person while I look for my gun.

Hustlin’ Justin Denman sent me this article from CBC News about how flower beards are a thing. As is often the case with trend reporting, it’s not clear what kind of “thing” we’re talking about. Writer Lauren O’Neil wisely and/or cynically begins from a position of skepticism, toward not just flower arrangement but beards themselves:

Often associated with hipster culture (though you’d be hard-pressed to find a young beardo who’d admit that,) large beards have become so much of a trend in some cities that they’ve actually inspired counter-trends. Earlier this year, GQ declared the facial hairstyle “officially uncool” after the New York Times wrote about how “The Brooklyn Beard” was going mainstream in one of its oft-mocked trend pieces. “Now that the New York Times has officially declared beards to be a trend, that trend is, by necessity, over,” wrote Scott Christian.

Having dismissed the validity of big-media style pieces, O’Neil says that GQ was wrong, too, because “Instagram, Twitter, and many a city sidewalk” prove that beards with and without flowers are totally a thing. Welcome to the postmodern era of trend reporting.

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Villagers blame doctors for ebola in Africa

By Dan Brooks in Ethical Dilemmas 2 Comments
Where ebola is and might be later, according to the World Health Organization

Where ebola is and might be later, according to the World Health Organization

Don’t worry: the turquoise area on the map above only shows where the ebola virus has been found in monkeys imported from the Philippines. I don’t want to succumb to hysteria, but maybe the United States should refrain from importing Filipino monkeys for a while, just until this blood-exploding-through-people’s-skin thing blows over. Then again, that’s the same sort of correlation/causation thinking that has led villagers in Guinea and Liberia to bar aid workers from entering their communities. Where there’s ebola, there are doctors. Ergo, doctors must be causing ebola. Education is a public health issue, you guys.

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Friday links! Humans against humanism edition

By Dan Brooks in Friday Links 1 Comment
A recondite calculus

An abstruse calculus

The woman pictured above opposes the Hungarian Femen movement, which is either a civil rights thing or a “satanists-run prostitutes’ abuse of women’s dignity and grace,” depending on whether you are an editor at Hungarian Ambience. To Hungarian Ambience I say kudos for mastering the English possessive. Also, you guys are fascists. Maybe it’s just my internet, but it seems like fascism is blowing up in geopolitics right now. Humanism ruled and totalitarian systems drooled for so long that I didn’t notice when everybody stopped reading and started wearing shirts about church. Now we’ve overrun with patriots proudly waiving their rights. Today is Friday, and the humans have turned against humanism. Won’t you flee to a high tower with me?

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