non sequitor

clipped from matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com Sure, Mitt Romney is crazy wrong about Iraq, but that's normal for a Republican. I'm more interested in his weird use of the term "null set."

I was equally struck by Mitt's bizarre/absurd response to the most predictable question of the evening. It had all the elements of the Kerry caricature - foreign words, a condescending but thoroughly unhelpful "translation", and - when Wolf reasked the question - a wooden repetition of the canned response like someone pulling the string on the Lurch doll.

The definition of non sequitur is "a response that does not follow logically or is not clearly related to anything previously said." Does anyone else see the irony of Romney using non sequitur as his own non sequitur to avoid answering the question?

What the Deuce!?!

So the Hill has a thoroughly catty gossip piece on the relationships between the Hill folks and the people that serve them. Unsurprisingly, young, unpaid, and hyper ambitious interns ask a lot of questions and don't tip very well. But the best part is when, in the midst of whining about "rude" members of Congress they throw in this little nugget.

clipped from thehill.com One Capitol employee, who did not want to be identified by name or profession, believes that Caucasian lawmakers tend to be more affable than their black counterparts. “It’s the Caucasian [members] that are more nice than my own,” said the employee, who is black. While she said the majority of members are nice, she called some “uppity,” “bourgeois” and hurtful to their staff. She has heard certain lawmakers call their staffers “idiots.”

Now the anonymous server may have just been asked "Who's nice to you?" by McCormack - a very grown up question if I ever saw one. But given the clear comparative construction of the answer, I have a sneaky suspicion the question was more like "Who's nicer - Caucasian or African American members?"

WHAT THE HELL KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?!?

The author then goes on to pretty strongly imply (and here I'd be very interested to see the direct quotes these snippets were drawn from) that the "non-Causasian" members are "uppity" - a word that has spent much of its life being directly followed by the N- word to denote those who don't "know their place".

I've never met Kelly McCormack, and I certainly don't think she's a card carrying clan member. But that this made it into print seems far more symptomatic of the unconscious racism which still deeply permeates this country.

The worth of promises

My first foray into clipmarking. A wonderful - albeit hollywood scripted - speech in the run up to the G8 summit. We've certainly made huge strides against poverty and AIDS since 2000. But, as our young idealist notes later in the film "it's just, you know... tough, for those on the wrong side of the line."

clipped from youtube.com Girl in the Cafe: Dinner Scene