Author: Michael A. Ventrella

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The decline of the male WASP

I wonder how much of the anger over the Obama administration is because of the decline of the male WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant)?

Much of the debate against immigration seems to center around the “problem” of America not being the province of WASPs any more. And much of the “war on women” seems to decry the decline of the male in power. Conservative commentators like Pat Buchanan have written books about how terrible this is for our country, claiming that the U.S. “won’t look like the U.S.” in the future.

For those people who think that having a ruling class of the male WASP is what America is all about, the Obama administration must have seemed like Hell when it first came into office. We had:

  • A (half) black President
  • A Catholic Vice President
  • A Mormon Senate Majority Leader
  • A Catholic woman Speaker of the House
  • A woman Secretary of State
  • A black Attorney General

    • … not a male WASP among the most powerful people in the United States. And then he goes and appoints two women to the Supreme Court — a Catholic one and a Jewish one.

    Then, by his second term, he’s letting women and gays into our military front lines!

    So is this why there is such a radical movement by the right to fight immigration and to push back against women and gays? Is it because they fear losing their male WASP hierarchy?

    I think in the long run, the Obama administration’s greatest legacy may be the breaking down of so many of these barriers. The acceptance of women and gays in the military is as important as when Truman desegregated the army in the 50s.

    And those male WASPs will just have to learn to share.

    Editorial cartoon of the day

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    Love it or leave it!

    It’s our Independence Day, and mindless patriots are popping up all over the internet bragging about how much they love America while hating a majority of the people in America.cropped-cropped-us_flag_header.jpg

    Usually, these “patriots” rant about how we need to protect America from immigrants and liberals and those who would change America from its original greatness. They proclaim their love for America and see any criticism of it as treasonous. “Love it or leave it!” they scream. (Let’s set aside for a moment the fact that many of these people never see their own criticism of liberal Presidents as treason.)

    That’s the exact opposite of true patriotism. Our country was not founded on the idea that we should never challenge our government.

    So let’s be true patriots. Let’s work to make America better. Replace “Love it or leave it” with “Love it and improve it.”

    As (now-Senator) Al Franken once said, “Conservatives love America like a child loves his mommy, and mommy can do no wrong. Whereas we [liberals] love America like an adult loves someone, recognizing our mate has faults and taking the good with the bad, and always working to appreciate what’s there, being critical of what’s wrong and trying to help and make it better.”

    That’s patriotism.

    Editorial cartoon of the day

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    Hillary too old to be President?

    Republicans are claiming that Hillary Clinton, who will be 69 in 2016, is “too old” to be President.

    They then retreated to their evil lair, where John McCain (72 when he ran for President) and Bob Dole (73 when he ran for President), led the prayers to their God Ronald Reagan (69 when he ran for President, 73 when he ran for re-election).

    Editorial cartoon of the day

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    The cost of the immigration bill

    And now, another in my series of impressions of Republicans.

    Ahem.

    “We cannot afford Obama’s Stimulus! I don’t care if it will fix our roads and bridges and bring jobs, we just don’t have the money. And a national health care program? We can’t afford to give health care to our citizens!

    What’s that? You want to spend $38 billion on a wall that will have very little impact on illegal immigration? A cost that even conservative Forbes magazine calls a “Bonanza for Defense Contractors”? You say that the money we’d be spending per illegal immigrant would provide health care for millions? Your point is?

    Oh, while we’re at it, let’s buy a few more tanks and planes the military doesn’t want or need, too.”

    uncle sam money

    Editorial cartoon of the day

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    Sex with animals

    What is it with these religious conservatives and sex with animals? Whenever people want to have a reasonable debate about gay marriage, it always degenerates into that. “If you allow gays to get married, then you have to also allow people to marry their dogs!”

    Why don’t they ever use animals for other laws they’ve opposed over the years? “If you allow women to vote, then you’ll also have to allow turtles!” “If we allow schools to use affirmative action to admit minorities, then they’ll have to also admit squirrels!” “If you have to read rights to someone who committed a crime, then clearly you’ll also have to read rights to a cow before you slaughter it!”

    Well, no. Those of us who are not crazy understand this.

    I guess it’s because these people hate sex so much. I mean, these are also the same people who think that birth control, sex education, and oral sex are evil and should be illegal. To them, sex between two consenting men or women is just as evil as sex with a non-consenting animal. And so, like many of the more conservative right, they want to force their religious views on the rest of us.

    The problem is that the faulty logic that works in their minds looks completely crazy to everyone else.

    Editorial cartoon of the day