AS writes,
It completely maddens me to see the double standards of the p.c. left on this stuff. [gays in Iran]
Fair enough, to a point. There is some purchase in the 'structuralist' point of view.
One of my beefs, without getting into a tie-in with 'Orientalism', is with its purported goal, to "free" people from 'constructed belief', when it goes just too far. Free people to do what? For what? To do anything? It becomes almost a nonsense position. Put another way, "O.k., so everything is 'constructed' to some degree (presumed available to our apprehension, in some way). So, what do we do, now? Act in deliberately contradictory ways in order to "prove" that we are "free"? Accept every choice as valid, because all choices are somehow arbitrary? Oh, please, that's a recipe for insanity, when it should be a lesson for humility. et cetera ...
Is it a testament that there is no meaningful difference between free and unfree, Bushworld and Ahmadinejadland? -Mr. Stephens, in the article AS links
Well, I cannot simply let this go by, and neither ought AS, arguably.
It depends on which Bushworld you are talking about. The one he has been forced to by virtue of our Republic, that includes an active dissent, or the one he brings with him in his heart from Waziristan, Texas:
by Dale Carpenter
Originally appeared Sept. 13, 1999, in the author's "OutRight" column.
THE MURKY MUCK OF compassionate conservatism is clearing up, and the emerging picture isn't always pretty. Texas Gov. George W. Bush's public statements so far in support of criminalizing gay sex, for example, reveal that his views aren't very compassionate. They're not really conservative, either.
The statements are all the more important as a signal about Bush's attitude toward gays because, although numerous states still have laws that forbid sodomy, only a handful aim solely at gay sex the way the Texas law does.
Originally appeared Sept. 13, 1999, in the author's "OutRight" column.
THE MURKY MUCK OF compassionate conservatism is clearing up, and the emerging picture isn't always pretty. Texas Gov. George W. Bush's public statements so far in support of criminalizing gay sex, for example, reveal that his views aren't very compassionate. They're not really conservative, either.
The statements are all the more important as a signal about Bush's attitude toward gays because, although numerous states still have laws that forbid sodomy, only a handful aim solely at gay sex the way the Texas law does.
