Saturday post-co-worker-wedding-reception links

Ta-Nehisi Coates has been putting out some excellent pieces this week on the NAACP/Tea Party mash-up, because Ta-Nehisi Coates is pure awesome. I'm not going to quote, just link, because you should really read them all in their entirety. Coates has stressed the opinion that the NAACP is not in the wrong to issue a condemnation of the Tea Party's racist factions, and as usual, I agree with him. The racism in movement conservatism has been pointed out since these crowds started gathering at the McCain/Palin rallies of the last election. And every time, it's been greeted with complaints that it's just not fair to smear those that don't hold racist sentiments with the same brush and that it's unproductive to point out because it will only cause a backlash. But at what point does it become acceptable to call these groups out? Because if anything, I think the Tea Party has long passed that point.

Okay, maybe one quote, because this is just to great to pass up:

It's been asked in comments, a few times, what good has come of the NAACP's resolution. I would not endeavor to speak for anyone but myself when I say that I owe the NAACP a debt of gratitude. I have, in my writing, a tendency to become theoretically cute, and overly enamored with my own fair-mindedness. Such vanity has lately been manifested in the form of phrases like "it's worth saying" and "it strikes me that..." or "respectfully..."

When engaging your adversaries, that approach has its place. But it's worth saying that there are other approaches and other places. Among them--respectfully administering the occasional reminder as to the precise nature of the motherfuckers you are dealing with. It strikes me that this is a most appropriate role for the nation's oldest civil rights organization.

Exactly. You always try to get your point across without riling anyone up, because everyone tells you that is how it should be done. It becomes second nature in your writing. But at a certain point, you can't do that anymore. You have to call it out for what it is, because as long as we allow these hateful behaviors to pass as normal and civil discourse, the more these practices are seen as acceptable in the mainstream. Despite my "civil" tone, despite my attempts at making you understand my point of view in a polite manner, despite my allowance of you to air your concerns, you should never, ever forget that I know exactly what you are about, and that what you are about is wrong.

Alan Greenspan wants the Bush tax cuts to expire. And then I wonder if because of this, we should keep them. And then I wonder if this is some sort of evil reverse psychology attempt.

Honestly? I'm fine with this. I'm getting a little tired of the whole "As long as Jesus is in your heart, it's okay, because he loved the sinners the best!" line that you hear so often these days when people are trying to justify their shitty behavior. If you really need the threat of eternal hellfire to be a good person, then you are more then welcome to go with that. (Via Sadly, No!)

Even though I should expect it by now, I'm always a bit jarred when I come across such blatant misogyny in my blogs. Dammit, Ordinary Gents, I love your blog. So who the fuck is this guy and why are you allowing him near a keyboard? I wasn't aware that feminism is a failure because women all want to "marry up" (amazingly, my current husband's "status" as a male didn't come into the equation at all). And I wasn't aware that my annoyance with the "pick-up" artist at my local bar was because he confuses the social hierarchy for me, instead of the fact that he's a complete douchebag that sees women as walking pussies that can be won if you press the right combination of the A and B and Up buttons rather then, you know, people. You know what I love best though? When you scroll through the comments of the blog the guy links to (which I won't because holy shit, that dude really hates women), in which the theory that "pick up artists freak women out because they can't tell the alpha males from the beta males and they all want alpha males because they are greedy little bitches" comes from, you see that everyone is picking on the female the rant is aimed towards - who, according to the commenters, married a "beta" male and must be ridiculed for it. Because yeah, guys. It's women who have a problem with such things, amirite? Morons.