Blue v. Red

That Which You Cannot Believe

By Justin Katz | December 12, 2009 |

Frankly, I believe a newspaper should have the right to take this sort of action, but I think it sufficiently outrageous that advertisers and readers should react negatively: Larry Grard, 58, of Winslow covered the November election for Maine Today, the vote in which Maine citizens rejected homosexual “marriage.” Subsequently, he received a press release…

Anti-Intellectual Radicals

By Justin Katz | December 6, 2009 |

I’ve been meaning to offer kudos for this excellent letter by David Carlin, who is, somewhat surprisingly, a sociology and philosophy professor at CCRI: The question of whether or not anti-SSM people are motivated by bigotry is an empirical question, and I submit (as would Dr. Harrop, I believe) that if their motives were empirically…

And Then There’s Open Season on the Right

By Justin Katz | November 28, 2009 |

Further to Robert Wright’s specious left-wing argument that we shouldn’t battle terrorist organizations abroad because it might set off a few loons at home, take a moment to ponder this revelation: A Kentucky census worker found naked, bound with duct tape and hanging from a tree with “fed” scrawled on his chest killed himself but…

Vlog #10: An Individual Constitution

By Justin Katz | November 16, 2009 |

Wherein I respond to an op-ed by Rep. David Segal (D, Providence) suggesting that the grassroots tea party movement that so opposes the current establishment in Rhode Island would have naturally been inclined to support the old establishment back in the 1800s:

Did Somebody Mention Propaganda?

By Justin Katz | November 14, 2009 |

Curious to note that today marks the third time in four days that the Providence Journal has run the governor-as-bigot story on the front page. And unless I’ve missed it, the paper’s reporters have yet to indicate that they’ve any interest in disrupting that there is nobody in Rhode Island whose views fall within any…

Never a Compelling Argument

By Justin Katz | November 13, 2009 |

I’m left with the depressing conclusion that Brian Hull actually believes this: To finish up, Whitehouse spoke about the apparent disconnect from reality that is exhibited by the Republican Party, whether it be about health care reform, or the climate bill, or same-sex marriage. Their strategy is to foment fear and worry by relying on…

Who’s Keener on Current Events?

By Marc Comtois | October 30, 2009 |

The pro-Republican results of the Pew Research Poll, “What Does the Public Know?,” (h/t) has led to some “rah rah” chatter on the right side of the blogosphere, partly inspired because the MSM isn’t covering the results the same as they did previous polls showing opposite results. True enough, self-identified Republicans performed better than Democrats.…

Conservatives Are Dead Before They’re Born

By Justin Katz | October 21, 2009 |

Jonah Goldberg has a good buck-up-young-conservative-soldier essay in a recent National Review (subscription required) in which he makes the observation that media liberals are suspiciously likely to predict that any emerging conservative movements will never get off the ground and then that their doom soon awaits, when they do. This line is particularly valuable as…

Irresistible Entry into the Left-Right Thumb Wrestle

By Justin Katz | October 15, 2009 |

Alright, so it’s low-hanging fruit, but the letter to the editor reply of Nicholas Kondon (Hope Valley) to a prior letter by Evelyn Zifcak (North Smithfield) simply begs a response. Wrote Ms. Zifcak: Tea parties get a bad rap, especially the Washington, D.C., march where 1 million folks from all over the country exercised their…

Yes, a Little State Can Learn from a Big State

By Justin Katz | September 18, 2009 |

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if this sort of thing were written about our small Northeastern state? [Texas] Republicans did not take the bait [to raise taxes]. Governor [Rick] Perry told the legislature to not even bother sending him a bill with a tax increase, because he would not sign it. Instead, he submitted a budget…