Thursday, January 31, 2008

Lakoff: What Counts as an Issue?

George Lakoff, in a blog post called What Counts as an "Issue" In the Clinton-Obama Race? talks about the major issues dividing Democrats:
First, triangulation: moving to the right -- adopting right-wing positions -- to get more votes. Bill Clinton did it and Hillary believes in it. It is what she means by "bipartisanship." Obama means the opposite by "bipartisanship." To Obama, it is a recognition that central progressive moral principles are fundamental American principles. For him, bipartisanship means finding people who call themselves "conservatives" or "independents," but who share those central American values with progressives. Obama thus doesn't have to surrender or dilute his principles for the sake of "bipartisanship."

The second is incrementalism: Hillary believes in getting lots of small carefully crafted policies through, one at a time, step by small step, real but almost unnoticed. Obama believes in bold moves and the building of a movement in which the bold moves are demanded by the people and celebrated when they happen. This is the reason why Hillary talks about "I," I," "I" (the crafter of the policy) and Obama talks about "you" and "we" (the people who demand it and who jointly carry it out).

The third is interest group politics: Hillary looks at politics through interests and interest groups, seeking policies that satisfy the interests of such groups. Obama's thinking emphasizes empathy over interest groups. He also sees empathy as central to the very idea of America.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Professor Garfield

If you have kids between kindergarten and 8th grade, know someone with kids between kindergarten and 8th grade, or sometimes like to act like a kid, you should definitely check out ProfessorGarfield.org.

Its description:

The Professor Garfield Foundation learning portal is a fun interactive online environment where children can safely explore, learn and creatively express themselves. The Foundation (PGF) was formed in 2003 as a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization to provide children, parents, and teachers an opportunity to enhance and support classroom learning in new and innovative ways.
It's run by a non-profit partnership between Paws, Inc., the world headquarters of Garfield the Cat, and Ball State University.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Cary Tennis: "Our New Friend is a Racist"

I'm a big fan of a giver-of-advance on Salon.com named Cary Tennis. A recent column is entitled Our new friend is a racist -- should we dump him?.

If your gut reaction to that question is anywhere close to "of course!", you might want to read the column.

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