A Leftist Critique of Assange

While the cult of personality around Julian Assange is tiresome, to say the least, it's become important in its own right because the debate over Wikileaks has morphed into some disturbing displays of hero-worship, particularly around Assange's rape accusations.


Bill Weinberg provides one of the most interesting discussions of Assange, largely because he's an old-school doctrinaire leftist. While his post does contain some hard-left pablum, Weinberg's indictment of Assange and his left-leaning supporters can often be quite cutting. He attacks Assange and his supporters on a couple of important lines.

Demonizing "revolutionary feminism"

The most blatantly irritating thing is abject demonization of the women who have made the charges of sexual abuse against Assange. In any other context, the summary dismissal of a woman's rape accusations would be seen as utterly politically incorrect. But Assange gets away with anti-feminist rhetoric that would do Rush Limbaugh proud. In an interview now receiving widespread coverage in the British press (e.g. The Telegraph, Dec. 26), Assange says: "Sweden is the Saudi Arabia of feminism... I fell into a hornets' nest of revolutionary feminism." Assange added that one of the women who said she was assaulted took a "trophy photo" of him lying naked in her bed. (TMI, Julian.)

Especially sickening is Naomi Wolf, who sneers in Huffington Post at the international "Dating Police" that have snared Assange. Flaunting her supposed creds as a "longtime feminist activist" in the opening sentence, she writes that "Assange is accused of having consensual sex with two women, in one case using a condom that broke." A Dec. 17 account in The Guardian (based on Swedish police documents that were—ahem—leaked) paints a rather different picture. (E.g.: "She told police that she had tried a number of times to reach for a condom but Assange had stopped her by holding her arms and pinning her legs.") John Pilger, who presumably wasn't there when the putative leg-pinning took place, nonetheless told ABC Sydney on Dec. 8 the case against Assange is a "political stunt." Wolf's glib dismissal of the allegations is especially ironic in light of her own sexual harassment claims against Harold Bloom, which many had similarly dismissed as spurious (e.g. Meghan O'Rourke in Slate, Feb. 25, 2004).

While I'm not sure the term "revolutionary feminism" is all that useful here, there's no question that watching progressives turn into rape defenders has been the worst part of this whole incident. As many others have said, while it's quite possible that the enforcement of the charges against Assange could be politically motivated, that hardly means he didn't rape these women. Moreover, if that's true, it's an indictment of how lightly rape accusations are taken around the world, not that Assange is some kind of victim. Assange may well be right on his actions in terms of Wikileaks (though I'd qualify that statement), but a complete asshole when it comes to women. These are not mutually exclusive.

A far more important critique of Assange is, as Weinberg puts it, that he hung "dissidents out to dry."

But those responsible for passing on incriminating information to diplomats may face repercussions on the ground. Reuters reports Dec. 25:

Zimbabwe's attorney general plans to set up a commission to investigate possible treason charges against locals over briefings with US diplomats reported in confidential State Department cables released by WikiLeaks.

The move appears to be targeting Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, following state media reports that hawks in President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party wanted an official probe into Tsvangirai's briefings with the US ambassador in Harare.

In comments cited in one US State Department cable obtained by WikiLeaks, Tsvangirai appeared to suggest that his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was not genuine in calling for the lifting of Western sanctions against ZANU-PF.

There is admittedly a certain irony in the fact that Robert Mugabe's regime may prosecute dissidents for talking to the US while the White House may prosecute Assange for revealing those conversations. But are Assange and his supporters going to loan any solidarity to the dissidents if they do face prosecution? Or they are all dupes of US imperialism, and we don't care about their rights?

In Belarus, WikiLeaks and Israel Shamir have been directly implicated in repression—reportedly passing on to the regime leaked evidence that opposition figures were in communication with Western governments. From The Guardian Dec. 23:

Assange defended one of WikiLeaks' collaborators, Israel Shamir, following claims Shamir passed sensitive cables to Belarus's dictator, Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko has arrested 600 opposition supporters and journalists since Sunday's presidential election. The whereabouts and fate of several of the president's high-profile opponents are unknown.

Of Shamir, Assange said: "WikiLeaks works with hundreds of journalists from different regions of the world. All are required to sign non-disclosure agreements and are generally only given limited review access to material relating to their region. We have no reason to believe these rumours in relation to Belarus are true."

While I'm as much for open information as anyone else and have by and large found the Wikileaks refreshing and even enlightening, Assange's utter indifference to dissidents on the ground who might die because of these leaks is revolting. Assange's moral consciousness seems simplistic and self-serving rather trying to achieve a greater humanistic aim. And that is very dangerous. 

Deforestation--Measuring Production or Consumption

Researchers Patrick Meyfroidt, Thomas Rubel, and Eric Lambin have an important new study on deforestation published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Summarized here, Meyfroidt, et al show that developing world nations that have cut domestic deforestation to acceptable levels end up relying on neighboring nations to make up the difference in their forest products consumption. It suggests that focusing on deforestation in individual countries matters little if nations like Burma, Brazil, and Indonesia are going to engage in massive legal and illegal timber trading.

"For every 100 acres of reforestation in these five countries, they imported the equivalent of 74 acres of forest products," said Meyfroidt, a postdoctoral researcher at Louvain and lead author of the study. "Taking into account their exports of agricultural products, the net balance amounted to 22 acres of land used in other countries."

During the past five years, the net land-use displacement increased to 52 acres of imported agricultural or forestry products for every 100 acres reforested, he added. That is, for every acre of reforested land, a half-acre was used elsewhere, including countries like Brazil and Indonesia, which together accounted for 61 percent of deforestation in the humid tropics between 2000 and 2005.

I'd go a step farther here. Measuring forest product production is far less helpful in determining forestation rates than measuring consumption. But we rarely measure consumption as a negative indicator in any sort of environmental issue. It doesn't much matter if Vietnam is saving its trees if it's desire for wood products continues to rise. That wood has to come from somewhere. And unless it is coming from some sort of sustainable forestry, something that has hardly been achieved in the United States, not to mention southeast Asia, does it really matter whether it is from Vietnam or Burma or Indonesia?

Another problem with measuring production over consumption is that it shifts blame from the world's rich nations to the developing world. It's really easy to talk about Brazil cutting down the Amazon. Meanwhile, let me go buy that new piece of tropical wood furniture. Where we do measure consumption, it's entirely in the goal of pushing for using more wood products. For example, housing starts remain a central indicator of economic growth. Houses are made of wood. Where do we think it comes from?

While valuable as it is, I'm not a study like Meyfroidt's does all it could. Without placing consumption over production as the point of analysis, we aren't going to get at the root causes of deforestation. Vietnam may have a growing demand for timber products that is supplied locally. But, like just about everything else short of betel nuts, its demand for wood falls eons short of that of the United States, Japan, and western Europe. These nations are the real despoilers of the planet. Until we start looking to reduce consumption rates, trees are going to be felled at unsustainable rates around the globe.

Song of the Day: Clyde McPhatter, "You're Movin' Me"

Historical Image of the Day

Sign warning U.S. soldiers of dangers of venereal disease, Camp Amirabad, Iran, 1943. More excellent images from the same World War II public health book here.

The British--Also Prown to Climate Lies

It is not only we Americans prone to climate denialism. The head in the sand groups have lobbied hard in Britain and their propaganda has proven effective. This moronic Christopher Booker piece in the Telegraph is a great example. Blaming the global warming crowd for making Britain unprepared to deal with snow, Booker writes:

The real question, however, is why has the Met Office become so astonishingly bad at doing the job for which it is paid nearly £200 million a year – in a way which has become so stupendously damaging to our country?

The answer is that in the past 20 years, as can be seen from its website, the Met Office has been hijacked from its proper role to become wholly subservient to its obsession with global warming. (At one time it even changed its name to the Met Office “for Weather and Climate Change”.) This all began when its then-director John Houghton became one of the world’s most influential promoters of the warmist gospel. He, more than anyone else, was responsible for setting up the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and remained at the top of it for 13 years. It was he who, in 1990, launched the Met Office’s Hadley Centre for Climate Change, closely linked to the Climatic Research Unit in East Anglia (CRU), at the centre of last year’s Climategate row, which showed how the little group of scientists at the heart of the IPCC had been prepared to bend their data and to suppress any dissent from warming orthodoxy.

So I guess scientific discussions of climate change are equivalent to doctrinaire Marxism for the climate change denial crowd.

To be more precise, the denialists are using every cold snap and every snow storm as propaganda tools for their anti-scientific agenda. Meanwhile, actual reality suggests that climate change will lead to more snow, at least in areas that remain below freezing. But climate science is complex and easily manipulated or ignored by denialist conservatives.

And here's actual and deeply depressing evidence about the effects of climate change on the forests of the Rocky Mountains:

Warmer climate leads to beetle infestations in these whitebark pine forests, not only killing the dominant tree species in high altitude forests but potentially endangering grizzly bears.

Historical Image of the Day

This week's images will revolve around prostitution.

Prostitutes, 1787

Song of the Day: The Decemberists, "Sixteen Military Wives"

To The Gilded-Age Mobile Batman!!!

Good times ahead for the poor...

George Will on the incoming Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Dave Camp:

Many conservatives, including Camp, believe that although most Americans should be paying lower taxes, more Americans should be paying taxes. The fact that 46.7 million earners pay no income tax creates moral hazard — incentives for perverse behavior: Free-riding people have scant incentive to restrain the growth of government they are not paying for with income taxes
"I believe," Camp says, "you've got to have some responsibility for the government you have." People have co-payments under Medicare, and everyone should similarly have some "skin in the game" under the income tax system.

In addition to the one-third of the 143 million tax returns filed by individual earners for 2007 that showed no tax liability, additional millions of households have incomes low enough to exempt them from filing tax returns. The bottom two quintiles of earners have negative income tax liabilities — they receive cash payments from the government via refundable tax credits.

This is precisely America's problem--poor people simply don't share enough of the burden..... And of course, Camp is right--there is an enormous conspiracy of poor people in America who are scheming to grow government precisely because they don't pay income taxes. And here I thought we had turned back the evil hordes of slackers with welfare reform!!!

In all seriousness, people like Camp are leading the charge to return America to the Gilded Age, a time where the rich controlled all aspects of society while the poor lived like dogs, scrapping for survival, dying at early ages, suffering from disease, starvation, and all the symptoms of poverty. And while this is going on, the rich were blaming the poor for their own plight. That the stated goal of Karl Rove is to return America to late 19th century social policies should have alamred all of us a decade ago. That his goals have only gained credence within the Republican Party, including the official approval of supposedly serious Republican voice George Will, since them should make us all fight now.

Civil War Books

I've simply been too overwhelmingly busy this year to write many book reviews for the blog (or to blog much period). For this, I apologize. Luckily, there are great writers out there willing to do a lot of this work for me. If you are looking for the best in Civil War related books that came out in 2010, definitely check out Kevin Levin's suggestions. I wish I had time to do so.

Kissinger v. Gerson

I do love me some Republican infighting....

Michael Gerson claims that the foreign policy realism of Nixon and Kissinger failed to bring about effective results.  Using the issue of emigration of Jews from the Soviet Union, Gerson states that

Realists often hold a simplistic view of great-power relations, asserting that any humanitarian pressure on Russia or China will cause the whole edifice of global order to crumble. This precludes the possibility of a mature relationship with other nations in which America both stands for its values and pursues common interests.

Gerson then goes on to claim that the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, which linked normal trade relations between the US and USSR with the freedom of Soviet Jews to emigrate, helped lead to the end of the Cold War, showing the amorality of realism.

But Jackson-Vanik turned out to be a pivot point in the Cold War. After an initial drop in emigration, the legislation exerted two decades of pressure on Soviet leaders, eventually resulting in higher emigration levels. It pressed one of the West's most powerful ideological advantages against the Soviet Union by demonstrating the weakness of a system that must build walls to keep its people from fleeing. This emphasis on human rights inspired not only Jewish refuseniks but other groups and nationalities that inhabited the Soviet prison.

Jackson-Vanik was both a rejection of Kissinger's realism and a preview of Reaganism. It asserted that oppressive regimes are more likely to threaten their neighbors, placing human rights nearer the center of American interests. It elevated standards of human dignity that were direct threats to regimes premised on their denial.

This is, of course, absurd, as Kissinger points out in his rebuttal.

Gerson ascribes the collapse of the Soviet Union in part to the Jackson-Vanik Amendment. The amendment played no significant role in what resulted from imperial overstretch, incompetent economic management and the determined resistance of a succession of presidents from both parties, culminating in the Reagan period.

But then again, this debate sums up Republican foreign policy--the grown-ups of the 70s and 80s versus the immature children of the Bush administration who saw every foreign policy as the penultimate battle between good and evil.

I detest Kissinger with great passion, but he is certainly right here. Gerson presents his case wearing classic neoconservative clothing--the fetishization an idealized version of Israel and Jewish people, the overly simplistic argument, the claiming of Reagan as all things good and right in the world, and the idea that America working from a moralistic standpoint can use its power to magically force the world's bad guys to change.

Never mind the abject failures of Iraq, Afghanistan, and every other piece of Bush's foreign policy.

Meanwhile, Kissinger provides actual evidence and demonstrates the great complexity of early 70s foreign policy issues, of which Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union had to play a relatively minor part.

To put this in the context of a class, Kissinger is the student whose politics make me retch but who knows what he's talking about, writes a sophisticated paper, and gets an A before going on to a graduate program at Harvard or Georgetown. Gerson is the equivalent of the privileged but moronic freshman who writes a poorly written and naive power about how America rocks and the commies are evil. He gets a C, but it doesn't matter because Daddy is going to take care of him no matter what happens.

That the morons control the appartus of Republican foreign policy scares me far more than the competent but evil Republicans of years past.

Ending the Federal Career Intern Program

Obama's decision to end the Federal Career Intern Program is exactly the kind of in-house decision a Democratic president needs to make. Bush ruled by federal order throughout his presidency, eviscerating environmental and labor regulations. The Federal Career Intern Program was designed to get around federal hiring practices and public sector unions by bringing federal workers, particularly border and customs agents, in under what was essentially a temp worker program. Although originally proposed under Bill Clinton, Bush expanded its use throughout the government. In 2009, over 26,000 people were hired through the program.

One of Obama's greatest powers is to reverse the executive decisions Bush made. He hasn't done so nearly to the extent that one would like. Obviously, he has a lot on his plate. However, he could make having subordinates identify and reverse bad policies a top priority. In any case, this is a positive development.

Song of the Day: Eric Taylor and Nanci Griffith, "Two Fires"

This is in fact an Eric Taylor song, made more powerful here by the fact that he and Griffith were married for awhile in the 70s. "We used to burn like Atlanta, we used to burn like the lonesome in a young girl's eyes." Indeed.

Frank Rich's Boomer Nostalgia

Dear Frank Rich,

Boomer nostalgia in the service of liberalism is no less annoying and alienating for post-boomers than boomer nostalgia used for more nefarious ends. If you want me to take your columns even remotely seriously, please stop.

Thanks,
Erik

Required Climate Change Reading

For everyone who wonders why it is so cold and snowy during a period of global warming and for all the skeptics out there, Judah Cohen's Times editorial should be required reading.

Essentially, climate is really freaking complicated.

Historical Image of the Day

"New York City. - Our Indian allies. - Sioux warriors making purchases on Broadway for themselves and squaws, October 5th... (1877)"

Historical Image of the Day

"Helping the Poor--Gratuitous Distribution of Coal by the City--Cherry Street," 1877

You have to love the generous and humane attitudes of the Gilded Age. Good thing we are heading back there. I can already see Republicans bemoaning giving free lumps of coal to the "undeserving poor."

Film Review--True Grit (2010)

The press for the Coen Brothers' adaptation of True Grit, of the 1968 novel by Charles Portis and not of the 1969 Henry Hathaway film, not surprisingly, has focused on Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn, the role that John Wayne played in the first film and the character with the titular grit. Fairly, Bridges is fantastic in the part, losing himself entirely in the surly alcoholic grime of the US Marshall, but this story isn't his and neither is the film. Those honors go to Mattie Ross, the steely young woman that hires Cogburn, and Hailee Steinfield, the brilliant young talent at the heart of True Grit.

There's good reason why John Wayne is the one remembered from Hathaway's picture, even though the essential structure of that film remains unchanged here. He's an icon for a reason, but he was always a dominating figure wherever he appeared. He needed costars of a certain strength to make up for his top heavy swagger, but Kim Darby was no Vera Miles and, the Rhinestone Cowboy himself, Glen Campbell (of all people), cast in the role of Ranger La Boeuf , is certainly no James Stewart, so it's Wayne's one-eyed marshall that we are left with forty years later. The film is good, not great, and not worth its reputation. It's certainly not necessary viewing to enjoy the Coens' effort, a much stronger and more complete film, most unlike what they've done in the past. Instead of a movie that has that “Coen Brothers feel,” a concept they so expertly parodied in Barton Fink, True Grit is just a damn fine Western.

That this is such a straightforward revenge tale, it's a little surprising that the Coens decided to tackle Portis' novel. Plenty of genre stories have more moral ambiguity and less conventional plotting, but they saw something in the characters and the simplicity of the story, or maybe they just love the book. Either way, the result is a fantastic revisionist-style genre film that represents the the themes of the book in much darker fashion than its predecessor approaches. It's hard to tell if this is more or less violent than No Country for Old Men, but it's certainly less expected here than in their adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel and much more gratuitous. Don't get me wrong; as a lifelong horror fan, I have high appreciation for smashed heads and blown chests, so I'm not exactly complaining. Seeing skulls crushed against stone here, however, does little to serve the story, but adds at least a certain measure of shock value, as evidenced by a number of disgusted noises in the dark. People can quibble with the necessity of it, but it punctuates the harshness of the world these characters inhabit without resorting to outright explanation.

True Grit is an unflinching and sometimes quite brutal film, which makes it all the more surprising that then 13-year-old Hailee Steinfield fits so naturally into the scene. Very few, if any, scenes in the film don't involve Mattie Ross and Steinfield stands up ridiculously well next to some heavyweight actors, often outshining some of their work. Mattie is a hard young woman, steeled by the ranch and smart from her effort. With her father dead and an obvious lack of regard for the effectiveness of either her family or the law, she has prepared herself to deal with issues well beyond her years. She built herself into as good a negotiator as a conman and at least as good a bounty hunter as the Texas Ranger she travels with. Steinfield inhabits the part completely; the utter joy that washes over her face when she gets the chance to shoot the man who killed her father offsets her sadness from his death which sits under the surface. She'll barely admit her sorrow, but she's out in the wilderness for mean and dark purposes and, despite any physical and experiential limitations she might have, she's out for blood. For somebody at the proper age to represent this is really an amazing thing. This wasn't the case when Kim Darby, at least seven years her senior at the time, played the part. Mattie Ross is the kind of role that an actress like Barbara Stanwyck would have excelled with, though I don't know that even her greatness would be better than what Steinfield shows here; her total conviction trumps most all child acting that I've ever seen.

Jeff Bridges is as good as you expect him to be and, while his grungy appearance contrasts starkly with his hairpiece sporting, corset wearing counterpart in John Wayne. Unlike Wayne, Bridges actually looks like he spends his days on the range and, when his nights can be spent indoors, they're muddled by a bath of whiskey. The thought of Bridges playing Rooster Cogburn was delicious, and he does not disappoint in the execution. I'm not as thrilled with the rest of the major casting, though I can't have too much trouble with it; they're up against some pretty tough lead competition. Matt Damon's playing Ranger La Boeuf and, while his performance is adequate and, at time, pretty funny, he never escapes being Matt Damon the way that Bridges and Steinfield get away from themselves. Josh Brolin makes a slightly better mark as Tom Chaney, the man who killed Mattie's father, but I can't help but feel like this role, as well as Damon's, may have been better suited in the hands of lesser-known actors. Part of it feels like the gang's all here—plus one girl—and the parts may have been better served by people outside their circle. There were clear parts for John Goodman and Michael Lerner, why not them? I shouldn't really quibble over such things, since I did like their performances, but I wish that the main supporting roles were filled by people without big name Hollywood baggage.

The important technical pieces are intact. Roger Deakins shoots the film and Carter Burwell scores it. Both aspects of the film are brilliant, though much discussion of their respective parts require too much explanation, so should just be experienced. True Grit is a fine film, a departure for the Coen Brothers for sure, but a welcome one. This is genre fiction played on a very high level that is worthy of whatever awards come its way. Mostly, I hope to see more from Hailee Steinfield and, even if she never does another film, her portrayal of Mattie Ross should go down as something all young actors should aspire to.

Historical Image of the Day

"City Enormities--Every Brute Can Beat His Beast," New York, 1874

This is one of the best images I've found in a long time.

Song of the Day: Victor Jara, "Te Recuerdo Amanda"

Historical Image of the Day

Bicycle path from Prospect Park, Brooklyn, to Coney Island, 1896

Song of the Day: Brownie Ford, "The Knoxville Girl"

Historical Image of the Day

"Attack on a Swindler," New York, 1872

Historical Image of the Day

New York streetscape, 1899

The Kind of Racial Progressivism Only Haley Barbour Could Support!

The descendants of Haley Barbour's beloved White Citizens' Councils, the re-named Council of Conservative Citizens, is continuing Barbour's moderate racial agenda. How?

By boycotting the upcoming film Thor because Stringer Bell plays a role they think a white dude should have:

"It seems that Marvel Studios believes that white people should have nothing that is unique to themselves," a post on the CCC's website reads. "An upcoming movie, based on the comic book Thor, will give Norse mythology an insulting multi-cultural make-over. One of the Gods will be played by Hip Hop DJ Idris Elba."

Marvel has a history of advocating for the left-wing. In early 2010 they even used their Captain America comic to attack the TEA Party movement. Marvel front man Stan "Lee" Lieber personally funds left-wing political candidates. Now Marvel has inserted left-wing social engineering into European mythology, casting a black man to play a Norse deity.

Boy, it sure is hard being white in this country. First, a black president, then a black actor playing a traditionally white role in what looks like an incredibly bad movie. Thank God we have racial moderate Haley Barbour there to protect our rights as white men or something.

Things Just Ain't What They Used To Be...

They are much, much safer.

The fear we have instilled in our society about bad men in cities, that a man near a playground is a pedophile, and that people on the streets at night maybe had some legitimacy at one point (although that's more than a little debatable), but it's really unnecessary now. We live in a very safe country and it'd be nice if we returned to public spaces in recognition of this.

Joe Manchin, A Senator for the 21st Century Democratic Party

Leadership we can all believe in:

New Sen. Joe Manchin, the Democrat elected to replace the late Robert C. Byrd, chose to attend a family event over a pair of key votes Saturday that are signature pieces of his party's agenda.

His absence didn't change the outcome of the votes to repeal the military's ban on openly gay personnel or the failure of a major immigration bill. But it raised eyebrows among senators who have seen ailing colleagues wheeled in just to raise a thumb for aye or point it down for nay.

"The senator and his wife had a commitment with his grandchildren that he felt that he could not break," said Manchin spokeswoman Sara Payne Scarbro, adding that Manchin's opposition to both bills have been added to the congressional record. "He regrets missing the votes."

...

Indeed, even Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden showed up Saturday - two days before he was scheduled to undergo surgery for prostate cancer. And Byrd himself showed up for votes well after he couldn't walk on his own. Memorably, Sen. Pete Wilson, R-Calif., just hours after surgery, was wheeled into the Senate chamber in 1985 to cast his vote on President Ronald Reagan's budget. 

Much better to leave town than to take a stand on something! Robert Byrd rolls in his grave.

Treason in Defense of Slavery Day

150 years ago today, South Carolina declared treason to defend slavery, seceding from the Union in order to preserve its ability to own, sell, rape, and murder black people. 4 1/2 years later and 500,000 dead Americans later, this treason was crushed.

But of course, the South has contested the meanings of this event ever since they lost the war. Beginning in 1866, they reshaped the meanings of the war to be a noble cause in defense of an idealized agrarian past with contented slaves working in the fields and eating watermelon to the sound of banjos at the end of the day. The civil rights movement challenged that narrative, but hardly defeated it.

Doug Mataconis lays the hammer down on those who claim the Confederacy was about anything other than slavery. See, all you have to do in order to debunk these arguments in go to the sources and see what the architects of treason said about slavery. Here's Confederate Vice-President (and southern moderate) Alexander Stephens:

Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth. This truth has been slow in the process of its development, like all other truths in the various departments of science. It has been so even amongst us. Many who hear me, perhaps, can recollect well, that this truth was not generally admitted, even within their day. The errors of the past generation still clung to many as late as twenty years ago. Those at the North, who still cling to these errors, with a zeal above knowledge, we justly denominate fanatics. All fanaticism springs from an aberration of the mind from a defect in reasoning. It is a species of insanity. One of the most striking characteristics of insanity, in many instances, is forming correct conclusions from fancied or erroneous premises; so with the anti-slavery fanatics. Their conclusions are right if their premises were. They assume that the negro is equal, and hence conclude that he is entitled to equal privileges and rights with the white man. If their premises were correct, their conclusions would be logical and just but their premise being wrong, their whole argument fails. I recollect once of having heard a gentleman from one of the northern States, of great power and ability, announce in the House of Representatives, with imposing effect, that we of the South would be compelled, ultimately, to yield upon this subject of slavery, that it was as impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics, as it was in physics or mechanics. That the principle would ultimately prevail. That we, in maintaining slavery as it exists with us, were warring against a principle, a principle founded in nature, the principle of the equality of men. The reply I made to him was, that upon his own grounds, we should, ultimately, succeed, and that he and his associates, in this crusade against our institutions, would ultimately fail. The truth announced, that it was as impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics as it was in physics and mechanics, I admitted; but told him that it was he, and those acting with him, who were warring against a principle. They were attempting to make things equal which the Creator had made unequal.

Today, the racists are well-represented by Haley Barbour of Mississippi, a likely Republican presidential candidate and a man would have fit in very well as a segregationist Southern senator in the pre-civil rights days. Yglesias has been hounding Barbour all day. Linking to Andrew Ferguson's profile of Barbour, we see that Barbour has actually defended White Citizens' Councils as keeping the peace during the civil rights movement, a laughable statement if it weren't so politically dangerous today. But as Yglesias notes, White Citizens' Councils were active in Barbour's own home town of Yazoo City, Mississippi, which very much makes me wonder what young Haley was up to on those very day. 

Lands Bill

Harry Reid is determined to push through a lands bill before this session of Congress ends next month. We can only hope it succeeds.

The America's Great Outdoors Act of 2010 would add units to the park system, expand others, and order studies of prospective units. It also would create wilderness areas, both within existing units of the system and elsewhere on the public lands empire.

One measure, for instance, would transfer Valles Caldera National Preserve from the U.S. Forest Service to the National Park Service, another would create Waco Mammoth National Monument, yet another would expand Oregon Caves National Monument. Plus there's a bill that would add Castle Nugent on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands to the park system. And another would designated 32,577 acres of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore as official wilderness.

“I want to get this package done before Congress adjourns,” the Senate Majority Leader said Friday night. “These are bipartisan bills. There is nothing divisive about protecting historic battlefields, improving our most critical water sources, or making sure that our best wildlife habitat remains wild and healthy.”

These are all very sensible proposals. However, conservatives are already lining up in opposition. Can a bill like this get 60 votes? Possible. Given the popularity of lands bills in the east, it's possible that the New England Republicans will vote for it.  The money isn't really that great; conservatives are attacking the Valles Caldera project for instance, but that's already government land that it is losing money on under its current designation.

The Senate has been pathetic the last two years, but it's trying to redeem itself a tiny bit before the crazies take over the House. This would be a nice addition to its accomplishments.

Climate Change as a Zero-Sum Game

I think the saddest thing about the debate over climate change is how conservatives see it as a zero-sum game. They think that liberals want the climate to change so we can enact some sort of radical environmental agenda. If any of the massive amount of science demonstrating the potential hazards of climate change goes unchallenged, conservatives believe they have lost something.

This is absurd. The last thing I want is to be right about climate change. That is just awful. I wish conservatives were right about global warming being a hoax.

But they are not. And when jokers like Hinderaker write posts like this every time it snows somewhere, we all lose:

It's fun to ridicule the warmists because they are so often wrong, but their errors are in fact significant: a scientific theory that implies predictions that turn out to be wrong, is false. A principal feature of climate hysteria is its proponents' unwillingness to be judged by the standards that govern real science.

The idea of John Hinderaker having some authority is proper uses of science is laughable, particularly that climate scientists have shown a strong likelihood of increased snowfall (and precipitation more generally) with a warming climate. But the more stories like this remain unchallenged by the media at large, the more we all lose when global warming becomes something we cannot stop.

Historical Image of the Day

I'm reading Sean Wilentz's classic Chants Democratic: New York City and the Rise of the American Working Class, 1788-1850 as I revamp my U.S. Urban History course for the spring semester. So this week's images will consist of New York City and its residents in the 19th century. Plus I'm spending the holidays in New York and surrounding environs, so it works that way too.

Broadway & Canal Streets, New York City, 1834

Song of the Day: Rev. Gary Davis, "Death Don't Have No Mercy"

Least Essential Albums of the Year

Another edition of my very favorite end of the year list, the AV Club's Least Essential Albums. I was sure it would be Phil Collins' Motown cover album, but although it does get mentioned, it is not the winner. I think it's impact was diluted by Huey Lewis' equally pointless Stax cover album. So our winner:

Santana, Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics Of All TimeAll that time people spent worrying about Y2K in 1999 should have been spent worrying about the precedent set by “Smooth.” That misguided, extremely popular Santana/Rob Thomas collaboration stormed the charts and made Santana commercially viable again, setting the stage for this year’s Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics Of All Time. From the opening strains of the first cut, “Whole Lotta Love” as screeched by Chris Cornell, it’s an hour of dispassionate wailing that only gets worse and more grating as it goes along. The hits keep coming with an abysmal Rob Thomas take on “Sunshine Of Your Love,” a version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” inexplicably featuring cellist Yo-Yo Ma, a woozily underwhelming Gavin Rossdale on “Bang A Gong,” and worst of all, a Scott Stapp assault on “Fortunate Son.” (Fans have to pony up extra for that last one, as it’s only on the “deluxe” release.) The whole record is set off with farty guitar, tons of absurd conga drumming, and an absolutely abhorrent absence of taste.

It's hard to argue with this. 

Historical Image of the Day

Aerial view of Levittown, NY, 1950s

Song of the Day: Booker T and the MGs, "Time is Tight"

The Government Assault on Journalism

Greenwald has an interesting piece on how the Justice Department is looking to prosecute Julian Assange for publishing classified information and how this threatens the fundamental tenets of modern journalism. He makes some real good points:

Indeed, Bob Woodward's whole purpose in life at this point is to cajole, pressure and even manipulate government officials to disclose classified information to him for him to publish in his books, which he routinely does.  Does that make him a criminal "conspirator"?  Under the DOJ's theory, it would.  All of this underscores one unavoidable fact:  there is no way to prosecute Assange and WikiLeaks without criminalizing journalism because WikiLeaks is engaged in pure journalistic acts:  uncovering and publicizing the secret conduct of the world's most powerful factions.  It is that conduct -- and not any supposed crime -- which explains why the DOJ is so desperate to prosecute.

In fact, one wonders if Bob Woodward is the last of his kind--the last journalist able to use leaks without serving prison time. 

DADT and The Dream Act

Am I the only one who can't work up a ton of joy over repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell? Obviously, it's a great thing.  But I am so deeply frustrated that it took two years of a large Democratic majority to overturn such an incredibly stupid law. It's an important step in the history of American civil rights. Given how rarely these benchmarks happen, I should celebrate.

But my joy is severely tempered by the failure of the Dream Act to get 60 votes in the Senate. Although under any sane system, it passed by a decent majority, it couldn't achieve the supermajority numbers to pass under the laws that only exist when Democrats control the Senate. This was a basic piece of civil rights legislation that would assist millions of young Latinos. It may be that this kind of legislation motivates Latinos to the polls in 2012 to support politicians who will help them, but given the disappointments after they did so in 2008, I don't know. Moreover, the fact that Democrats would vote against the Dream Act is disgusting. Kos lays into Jon Tester for doing so; frankly, Tester has been incredibly disappointing given the role the Netroots played in getting him elected. I guess he feels he can't get reelected in Montana in 2012 if he supports brown people, but as so many have pointed out, Democrats pretending to be Republicans don't get reelected anyway.

Anyway, under any decent system, with a Majority Leader who knew how to rally his votes and a president who understood how partisanship worked, DADT would have been gone around February 2009 and immigration legislation far surpassing the Dream Act would have passed as well. Some claim that given the supermajority requirements, Republican intransigence, and the fear of Blue Dogs to support their own party, there's really nothing Reid and Obama could do. Me, I tend to believe in the power of strong leadership with some serious sticks and carrots to get senators to do what they need to do. After all, it's not as if that hadn't worked throughout the nation's history until the very recent past or anything.

So while I'm glad DADT is dead, my thoughts are that it's about damn time and a massive disappointment that it took this long to make it happen. Meanwhile, white America continues to support the white supremacist policies of the current Republican party, dooming equal rights for the children of migrant workers.

Song of the Day: Captain Beefheart, "Sure 'Nuff 'N Yes I Do," 1968

In honor of the late great Captain Beefheart:

Historical Image of the Day

Map of Sacramento's streetcar suburbs, circa 1900

R.I.P. Captain Beefheart

Don Van Vliet succumbs to multiple sclerosis at 69. A strange life, but a great musical legacy, to say the least.

Historical Image of the Day

Suburb of Akron, Ohio, late 1930s.

Song of the Day: Joe Ely, "Boxcars"

Roger Angell

Everyone is sad about Bob Feller's death. He was obviously one of the top 10 pitchers of all time. But I remember him as much as being a right-wing crank as a great pitcher, so I don't have a lot I want to say here.

However, Roger Angell's remembrance is a reminder of just what a wonderful writer Angell is on baseball and everything else.

I Love the Fresh Ideas Coming Out of Hollywood!!!!

Oh boy...

Miramax and the Weinstein Company already had an agreement to release new chapters in the “Scream” and “Spy Kids” movie series (watch for “Scream 4″ in April and “Spy Kids 4″ in August). The expanded partnership will include sequels to seemingly self-contained films like “Shakespeare in Love,” “Bad Santa” and “Rounders” – not to mention the possibility of follow-ups to “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “Copland,” “From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Swingers,” “Clerks,” “Shall We Dance,” and “The Amityville Horror.”

I am so freaking stoked for a sequel to Shakespeare in Love, I just cannot tell you......

Weinstein once deserved respect. No longer.

Republican Hypocrisy Reigns Supreme

What a shock:

Dozens of senators who voted to ban the practice of earmarking nevertheless requested nearly $1 billion for pet projects in the spending bill released Tuesday.

The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, requested nearly $86.1 million for Kentucky, including $18 million for a railroad upgrade at Fort Knox, $1 million to build a Kentucky Blood Bank Center and $1 million for waterfront development in Paducah.

Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, one of seven Democrats who voted with Republicans to ban earmarks, had $30 million in requests, including $8 million to move the main gate of Patrick Air Force Base and $400,000 to create a research park in Sebring.

The spending bill also contained dozens of earmarks for projects in the home states of Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, and Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, who appeared at a news conference Wednesday to criticize Democrats for what they called a pork-laden spending bill.

I have nothing against earmarks. It's not the most effective way to legislate. But the universal love of earmarks demonstrates how effective government spending can be in stimulating local economies. So Republican senators have to bray about big government waste and fellate the private market while at the same time their states are dependent upon federal dollars for jobs. 

Also, my contempt for Democrats like Bill Nelson who ape the Republican line on everything has no boundaries.

Blake Edwards, RIP

Truthfully, I'm not a huge Blake Edwards fan. Even The Pink Panther doesn't age all that well. Still, his importance and ability to make amusing films should make us remember him.

Historical Image of the Day

Advertisement for new suburban development, Woodland Heights; Houston, Texas, 1907

Song of the Day: Roy Harvey, "The Great Reaping Day"

Declining Segregation

A rare piece of good news in today's world:

New Census figures from 2005 to 2009 (artfully mapped by The New York Times) show that black residential segregation has decreased since to a 100-year low. The average black person lives in a neighborhood that is 46 percent black (down from 49 percent in 2000). Residential segregation is by no means a thing of the past—it actually increased in 25 of the 100 largest metropolitan areas—but the numbers are encouraging.

Of course, these numbers are tempered by some increase in school segregation....

Environmental News Roundup

A few brief notes between grading essays:

1. The Southwest is so, so screwed when it comes to climate change. I am extremely skeptical of projections for massive population growth in the region over the next 50 years, more because of the already existing lack of water than problems with climate change. But the kinds of superdroughts (up to 60 years) that will likely afflict the region over the next 1000 years makes long-term intensive population seem unlikely. And I don't want to be around when Americans start becoming environmental refugees in their own land.

2. Although I generally oppose farming in the Mountain West due to its lack of water, often inefficient growth measures, and environmental sensitivity, I have no real problem with the government stepping into to assist farmers and ranchers in Wyoming devastated by a grasshopper infestation. What I do have a problem with is the knowledge that damn near every one of those ranchers cashing their government checks are bitching about big government while doing so.

3. It's sad, but hardly surprising, that efforts to restore the San Francisco Bay delta have faltered so badly. No one wants to give up water, no one wants to pay for restoration, no one wants to limit development. Everyone wants someone else to do it. This is what a powerful federal government is for, but of course, the Great Society-style liberalism that could do this job is dead and buried and having dirt kicked on it as we speak to make sure.

4. A real threat to our economy is the demand for so-called rare-earth metals. These are the rare but increasingly in demand minerals we need for a high-tech economy. China controls most of the supply right now, giving them even more power over the world's economy. What's concerning to me isn't the Chinese monopoly, though their recent, if brief, refusal to sell any of them to Japan is a sign of Chinese power, but the fact that we are so reliant on these materials for computers and for green technology. I have a hard time believing in the long-term feasibility of technologies that require rare materials. This includes computers. Do I believe computers will be as a publicly available in 50 years as today? No, because we are simply running out of the materials that go into computer chips. Similarly, this doesn't bode well for climate change if we can't create enough lithium batteries and other green technologies to end fossil fuel production permanently.

5. The government may be suing BP and other companies over the Gulf oil spill, but I'm rather unimpressed. While the suit will force the oil industry to pay for much of the clean-up, it hardly does anything to prevent future disasters. I'd much rather see the government institute stringent regulations that put the oil industry on the defensive. I'd also like a billion dollars deposited in my bank account tomorrow. Both scenarios are equally likely. 

Historical Image of the Day

Entrance to Lakewood Center, Lakewood, California, 1950s.

Song of the Day: Tom Waits, "Tom Traubert's Blues," 1977

In honor of The Great One's belated induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Historical Image of the Day

Last night on the plane, I read D. J. Waldie's fascinating ode to his suburban neighborhood in Lakewood, California, Holy Land. Lakewood still sounds awful, but he does give his long-abused town and its residents a real dignity.

In honor of the book, this week images will focus on the history of the suburbs.

Political ad opposing the rezoning of El Camino Real, the major street through the San Francisco suburb of Burlingame, California, for business development, 1930s.

Song of the Day: Townes Van Zandt, "Tecumseh Valley"

One of the greatest songs by one of the greatest songwriters:

Menilmontant

Any film that Pauline Kael called her favorite has to be worth watching, especially when it's a 37 minute French silent.

Song of the Day: Chris Knight, "It Ain't Easy Being Me"

Historical Image of the Day

"Beggars in Jerusalem," an illustration from the first edition of Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad, 1869

Song of the Day: John Cale, "Paris, 1919"

Historical Image of the Day

A classic. 

Donald Rumsfeld and Saddan Hussein shaking hands, 1983

Why Primarying Obama is a Terrible Idea

This about sums it up:

Black anger over a primary would quickly end their loyalty to the Democratic Party and doom the party in national elections for as long as they stay at arm's length. After all, without high African American turnout (roughly proportional to their share of the total population) and astronomical African American support (85 percent-plus), Democrats can't win the presidency. They can't win Florida, they can't win Ohio, they can't win Pennsylvania, and they certainly can't win newly competitive states like Virginia and North Carolina. What's more, they'd have a hard time winning the Senate, because without black voters in their camp, Democrats couldn't win seats in any of the mentioned states.

African-Americans wouldn't start voting Republican. But they may well just not vote. And that would kill the Democratic Party. 

Song of the Day: Marah, "Sooner or Later in Spain"

Historical Image of the Day

Victims of the 1953 CIA-led Iranian coup which placed the Shah on the throne and gave American petroleum companies enormous oil concessions.

Historical Image of the Day

Rep. Charlie Wilson (D-TX) in Afghanistan, 1987

Song of the Day: Argentina Santos, Lágrima

The wonderful Fado singer, Argentina Santos:

Song of the Day: Pathanay Khan

The great Pakistani singer Panthanay Khan:

Historical Image of the Day

Harry Truman and David Ben Gurion, late 1940s

Would the US Actually Protect the Baltic States from Russia?

The Wikileaks cables have leaked a U.S.-NATO plan to defend the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania in case of a Russian attack.

But I have to ask, if Russia did in fact decide to invade the Baltics and reestablish their empire, is there a damn thing the U.S. would really do about it?

I have to think not. I don't think Americans care enough about tiny nations in eastern Europe to do anything more than boycott Russian goods or something. I'm not saying Americans still have a sort of Vietnam Syndrome after 9/11, but I really have trouble seeing any scenario where this happens unless the Russians decide they want Poland as well.

The Finnish would be mad because their cross-Baltic trips to buy massive amounts of cheap vodka would end. And, um, I can't think of any other nation would who care enough to really try to stop from retaking those nations.

Am I wrong about this?

NCAA Top 25

Not too many changes this week. A joyous week however, with Oregon going to the title game. I'll have a longer post about being a Duck fan and what an event means to someone who has lived with a lot of suffering for a long time.

1. Oregon (1)
2. Auburn (2)
3. TCU (3)
4. Stanford (4)
5. Wisconsin (5)
6. Ohio St. (6)
7. Michigan St.  (7)
8. Arkansas (8)
9. Oklahoma (9)
10. Boise St. (10)
11. Virginia Tech (12)
12. LSU (13)
13. Missouri (14)
14. Nebraska (10)
15. Nevada (15)
16. Oklahoma St.  (16)
17. Alabama (17)
18. Texas A&M (19)
19. Utah (20)
20. West Virginia (21)
21. Mississippi St.(22)
22. South Carolina (18)
23. Hawaii (NR)
24. Connecticut (NR)
25. Florida St.(21)

Out: Arizona, Northern Illinois

Best Bowl Games:

1. Oregon v. Auburn, National Championship. Wow, is this going to be fun.

2. TCU v. Wisconsin, Rose Bowl. While I'd rather see Stanford and Wisconsin, TCU has absolutely deserved the right to be there. And I think they can easily win this game.

3. Ohio St. v. Arkansas, Sugar Bowl. A fine and very enjoyable BCS matchup.

4. Stanford v. Virginia Tech, Orange Bowl. People aren't too excited about this game, but I think it's going to be very interesting. 

5.  Alabama v. Michigan St, Capital One Bowl. The best non-BCS matchup, though the Boise St.-Utah Las Vegas Bowl will also be quite good, as will the LSU-Texas A&M Cotton Bowl.

Food Trends

The Atlantic publishes its top 10 food trends of 2010. They basically revolve around three themes--people growing or butchering food themselves and pushing food culture both forward and looking back to the past, our terrible food safety system, and obesity.

What does this say about the state of food in America. Not to get all shallow and Tom Friedmanesque with it, but it does seem to replicate the cultural divide that has infected our politics. I definitely admire the desire to eat more of the animal, to find cool new foods, to grow gardens, and to support local producers. But that's not really influencing the larger population and to what extent it is (such as reforming school lunch programs) it's the result of old-school liberal government that is under attack from conservatives. Meanwhile, poor people are growing morbidly obese thanks to the power of the American food industry that provides empty calories for low prices. That same food industry which continues to resist greater government regulation (despite the food safety bill that's passed the House, does anyone really think the bill signed by Obama is going to be in a form anything like it presently looks?), also provides us with tainted food, killing us both through short-term salmonella outbreaks and long-term obesity.

So nothing really new has happened with American food in the last 12 months. Rich people eat healthy foods, poor people eat Cheetos. I'd argue that liberal governmental programs could both provide healthier food to poor people at reasonable prices while more intensely regulating the food industry and undermining the subsidies that allow the corn industry to infect our entire diet. But that's clearly not going to happen.

Border Threats, circa 1919

This isn't the first time Americans have freaked out from essentially non-existent threats to national security crossing the Mexican border.

This New York Times article from November 24, 1919 might as well come from 2010 with a few words changed. In 1919, American leaders were freaking out about radicals and Chinese crossing the Mexican border into the United States and threatening our national institutions. Of course, this proved to be vastly overblown--people were crossing the border illegally, but to work, not to assassinate the president. Today, people are also crossing the border and again, they are crossing to work. We laugh at our ancestors worries from 90 years ago; in 90 years, Americans may well shake their head at our actions today.

Historical Image of the Day

In my recent America class, I'm having the students read selections from Douglas Little's American Orientalism: The United States and the Middle East since 1945. So this week's images will be of Americans in the Middle East. These are actually pretty hard images to find, at least for historical images. So we'll see how long I can keep this up.

Aftermath of bombing of U.S. Marine Barracks, Beirut, Lebanon, 1983

Pat Gillick, Hall of Famer? Marvin Miller, Not a Hall of Famer?

So the Veterans' Committee elected former Blue Jays GM Pat Gillick to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

I have no problem with Gillick. He put together some amazing Blue Jays teams in the 80s and early 90s, including 2 World Series winning teams. In an age before you could just buy a championship, he managed to put together a lineup that had a very good Devon White leading off, Roberto Alomar at his prime hitting second, late-stage but still awesome Paul Molitor hitting third, and Joe Carter batting clean-up, with quality pitchers like Jimmy Key holding down a good-enough rotation.

But to elect Pat Gillick over Marvin Miller? This is a total joke. Outrageous. Marvin Miller is one of the five most important individuals in the history of the game--up there with Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, and Branch Rickey. Miller brought free agency to the game. For that, the owners still hate him. What's worse, many players don't care about him because they don't like to think of themselves as anything but self-made (Jim Palmer, who is on the Veterans Committee, has specifically had this allegation thrown at him). I would say Bud Selig should simply just name him to the HOF, but Selig, as a former owner, probably hates Miller too.

I am outraged that Bert Blyleven, Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, Tim Raines, and Bobby Grich aren't in the Hall of Fame. That's ridiculous. And if there's any real resistance to Roberto Alomar, I'm going to throw a clot. But Marvin Miller--that's just sheer injustice.

The other question coming out of today's vote was where George Steinbrenner would get in--I certainly think he deserves to be, but I don't mind his candidacy waiting a bit. The fact that Dave Concepcion nearly got in is a good sign--I'd probably vote for him, particularly since I believe in the value of great defense.

Song of the Day: King Crimson, "Three of a Perfect Pair," 1984

Despite some of the idiotic video stuff in this clip, it's a good live performance from a solid era of the band.

Jews Love a Good Deal on Ham!

I'm not sure middle management at Wal-Mart Balducci's is populated with a lot of Jews....

Cowboys and Race

Interesting NPR story on black cowboys and how African-American music forms influenced cowboy music.

I will quibble with the article a bit though. Americans tend to think of race as black and white when it is far more complicated than that. Of course, there's lots of good reasons to think of our past in this way. But when we are thinking about the West, race becomes multifaceted. For instance, while the article references Mexican cowboys, it suggests nothing on how Mexican music could have influenced cowboy music. Similarly, while there were in fact white, black, and Mexican cowboys, there were also a lot of Native American cowboys, particularly after 1900. While the open range and the classic days of the cowboys had passed by this time, and while the standards of cowboy music and cowboy culture had already started becoming canonized in popular culture, did Native American music affect cowboy music much? And did cowboy music affect Native American music? Certainly there's a long history between country music and Native Americans.

The diversity of cowboys should hardly be surprising--the reality was that cowboying was (and is) a terrible job. The hours were long, the isolation tremendous, the physical danger very real. This was not a job for people who had a lot of other economic options. And in 19th century America, that meant for non-whites. The romanticization of the West and cowboys that began as early as the 1880s whitened our memories of it, something that is hardly surprising since the popularity of Western literature, music, and art has always been far more about the urbanized eastern mind than any sort of reality.

Anyway, I wish the article more directly dealt with the complex diversity of race among cowboys rather than tell the story primarily as black and white.

Song of the Day: Vic Chestnutt, "Coward"

Historical Image of the Day

Japanese Student Club, University of Washington, 1941

Song of the Day: Roy Orbison, "Only the Lonely"

Historical Image of the Day

Japanese-American Buddhist celebration, Malheur County, Oregon, 1956

Song of the Day: Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, "A Taste of Honey"

There has to be room for absurdity in everyone's life:

Historical Image of the Day

Japanese-American onion farmer, California, 1942

Brazilian Drug Lords ♥ Justin Bieber

Huh.

Police who fought their way into a Rio slum to raid the luxury triplex of a Brazilian drug lord found themselves staring at a huge homemade mural of Justin Bieber on one wall.

And on another wall, amidst the Jacuzzis and flat-screen TVs, was a three-foot psychedelic scrawl of Bieber’s name.

The mural had two holes knocked into it during the raid, which found six tonnes of drugs and a huge cache of weapons. Drug lord Pezao, known as Bigfoot, hid his loot in the walls. Who would think to look behind Bieber?

A kind of Modigliani rendition of the Stratford-born superstar, it reads: Justin Bieber. One Time.

Song of the Day: Arcade Fire, "Rebellion"

Historical Image of the Day

Japanese Chamber of Commerce float, Seattle International Potlatch Day Parade, 1939

Song of the Day, Buck Owens, "Love's Gonna Live Here," Live, 1966

Historical Image of the Day

Japanese farm workers on sugar beet farm, Malheur County, Oregon, 1940s. Malheur County farmers openly recruited people from the internment camps to work their farms during the war.