Skulls in the Stars

[Politics]

Some thoughts on the recent tenure-related shooting

[Politics] / Science news

In the wake of the tragedy in Alabama, there has as expected been a lot of discussion on the internet about the nature of the shooting and its implications.  In some sense, my impression is that the case has become a Rorschach test for lots of people, and they’ve seen reflected in it their own concerns or political crusades.  In that spirit, I thought I’d share a few thoughts on the incident and my impressions of some of the other commentary out there.

To summarize, last Friday afternoon at the University of Alabama in Huntsville three professors were killed and three others seriously wounded when a shooter opened fire at a biology faculty meeting.  Biology professor Amy Bishop was taken into custody and charged with murder.

The “twist” to the story is that Bishop had been denied tenure in April, and had appealed the decision.  The appeal was turned down on Friday, and this decision is what evidently precipitated the shooting.

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Captain America has a tradition of social commentary

... the Hell? / [Politics] / Entertainment

If you haven’t seen it yet, the most recent issue of the Marvel Comics series  Captain America has drawn the ire of teabaggers because of its negative portrayal of them.  Via Yahoo news,

Since 1941, Captain America has been one of the most popular comic book characters around. The fictional super-patriot fought Nazis during World War II, took on those who burned the American flag during the Vietnam era, and raked in hundreds of millions of dollars for Marvel Comics along the way.  Now, the appearance that he is taking on the Tea Party Movement in a storyline about investigating white supremacists has forced Marvel to apologize for the comic hero.

The Yahoo article also includes the relevant pages from issue 602 of Captain America:

I am of somewhat mixed feelings about the whole “controversy”, if indeed it is one.  On one hand, I probably wouldn’t be thrilled if a right-winger wrote a comic caricaturing liberals as fanatical communists (though I wouldn’t be whining about it), on the other hand in my opinion the strip doesn’t depict anything that isn’t spot on.  I’m sorry to see that Marvel felt like they had to apologize for an artistic decision by a writer, though I can somewhat understand that they are an entertainment business that doesn’t want to alienate any customers.

One thing I’d like to point out, though, is that the Captain America comic has a long history of addressing  social issues.  This isn’t the first time that its writers have used the book and the character as a mirror to show its readers some of the unpleasant traits of America.

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Benjamin Franklin’s words on the Constitution

[Politics]

On Tuesday night, almost on the eve of a historic Senate vote on expanding health care coverage for Americans, hundreds of people congregated outside of Joe Lieberman’s Connecticut house in a candlelight vigil to advocate for healthcare reform. The vigil, organized by the Interfaith Fellowship for Universal Healthcare, included rabbis who appealed to Lieberman’s conscience to make him to the right thing and support reform.  From the Danbury News Times,

STAMFORD — Quietly holding candles, hundreds of clergymen, congregants and reform advocates lined the sidewalks outside Independent U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman’s Stamford home Sunday night in a show of support for universal health care.

“When we heard not only would he vote against it, but he’d use his power, his position as a swing vote … to block it from coming to a vote, we had to send a message so he knows people who vote overwhelmingly favor the public option,” said Rabbi Stephen Fuchs, of Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford.
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The vigil began at Stamford High School, Lieberman’s alma mater, and ended at the senator’s home, the Hayes House, across the street.

“In some sense, it’s poetic,” said Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy, who attended the vigil. “The place where Sen. Joseph Lieberman received his high school education, the place he visited upon his announcement to seek the vice presidency, a place where his run for the presidency began — and it just so happens, a place across the street from where he lives.”

Lieberman is going so far as to say that he’ll filibuster health care because he doesn’t believe that a public option will work.  He is, in essence, saying that his knowledge and “understanding” is much deeper than health care experts, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the evidence of every other industrialized nation’s government health care systems and, quite frankly, a majority of the American people.

Putting aside the question whether Lieberman is sincerely critical of the idea of a public option or just continuing the disingenuous douchebaggery he’s been known for ever since losing his Democratic primary, I thought this was a good time to remind folks of another man who had doubts about a big piece of legislation.  He was a big enough man, however, to realize that he was not the wisest person on earth.  (This realization, however, ironically meant that he probably was.)

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