RationalWiki:What is going on in the blogosphere?/November 2008

November 2008
One of longer versions of the YouTube video "Did You Know?" ("Shift happens."  Not that Dubya and his ilk care.) "War on Christmas," meet "War on Thanksgiving." The next time some well-meaning relative sends around a chain-letter about the latest Evil Librul Plot, send them this: Talking Turkey: Ten Myths Conservatives Believe About Progressives. Why "academic freedom" doesn't require equal time for affirmatively wrong schools of thought. Barack Obama: Communist, Muslim, or just an agent of the Borg Collective? Per the Wall Street Journal, secularists are to blame for America's economic collapse. Atheists are the new Jews!! What's to blame for the GOP's horrific defeat in the recent election? According to Phyllis Schlafly, kids with self-esteem and women who don't want to return to their abusive husbands. Did talk radio kill conservatism? Nate Silver reflects on an interview with a conservative pundit and considers how, somewhere along the line, conservatism became more about shouting your opponent down than convincing him. Points to ponder on Conservapedia day. Two takes on the question of why the Democrats won (or, why the Republicans lost): in laying the blame on the economy, Bill Kristol misses the point, while Obama, in moving to the center, gets it. Ahhhh PUMAs - the Conservapedia of the center-right. Listen to PUMAs defend their narrative of how Obama stole the primary from Hillary, in one of the most [http://www.acandidworld.net/2008/11/17/epic-radio-fail/ hilarious hours of radio... ever.] No matter what you might be thinking after Obama's election, racism is not dead. Sarah Palin: she's a uniter, not a divider. Or at least she thinks so. British faith healer dies after refusing medical attention, and being prescribed honey for gangrene by a homeopathist. The Lay Scientist is offering slots for occasional guest bloggers. Someone at Weird Universe reads us! "My Witchdoctor Stole My Election Donations": Witchcraft, Religion and Nigerian Oil. <vote poll=146 closed="yes">We haz teh stupid an' we cain't intelecshooly figer stuff out no more. <vote poll=145 closed="yes">Are we allowed to joke about Obama? Maybe, maybe not. <vote poll=144 closed="yes">With domestic spying surveillance now a fact of daily life, is it any wonder that paranoia is on the rise? <vote poll=143 closed="yes">They say that a neat desk and an uncluttered house are signs of a disordered mind. Here's proof. <vote poll=142 closed="yes">U.S. News and World Report senior writer Michael Barone tells a room full of academics that the "liberal media" was against Sarah Palin because she didn't abort her daughter's Down syndrome child. He's lucky they didn't pass out baskets full of rotten produce before his speech. <vote poll=141 closed="yes">The Republican defeat narrative: it's John McCain's fault. Under the bus with you! <vote poll=140 closed="yes">Gay marriage is not the same as polygamy. <vote poll=139 closed="yes">What's conservative talk radio look like during an Obama presidency? Does all that bluster about unlimited executive power translate to the new administration? Hint: no. <vote poll=138 closed="yes">The New Yorker examined the issue of unwed teenaged fundies who get pregnant. Abstinence-only education -- which has an interesting "30 percent" side effect -- is only part of a broader, problematic mindset. <vote poll=137 closed="yes">Sarah Palin, like creationists, thinks that disagreeing with her is tantamount to censorship