The demographic trends do look really really bad for right-wingers. At the church I attended in the heartland, probably 99% of our parents voted Republican every time they had an opportunity. Most of us kids (I'm 28) are voting Democrat (Obama picked up 10% more evangelicals than Bush, I expect that trend is not an affirmation of his religious bona fides so much as rejection of the Republican party's). Add to that the growth of wise latino populations, the fact that the Mormons are going to completely abandon the Republicans within 10 years (remember that prediction!), and the advantage that Democrats have among college-educated voters combined with the fact that more people are getting degrees, and I don't think it's unrealistic to predict that the Republican party is looking at some tough days ahead. Of course, circumstances can change real quick. But this is a significantly more thoughtful response than you warrant and my heart's just not in it.

for the strong anti-drug-importing stance he took in his album "Fishscale." Why, the song "Kilo" was practically a PSA.

Actually, if you want to know anything about Ghostface, just read any interview he's ever done. He's pretty much a straight talker. Here's an excerpt:

Q: What was your life like before Wu-Tang Clan?

GK: I don't know. I was just like any other street nigga. I was robbing niggas, knocking niggas out, shooting niggas. That's how it was before Wu-Tang Clan. I'll do it again if I got to.

I like his music. I don't have any illusions that the dude would want to be my friend if I met him.

sometimes I come so close to agreeing with you it scares the shit out of me.

...Sat with his thumb up his ass while Bush's lawyers told him the Fourth and First amendment didn't apply during wartime. But when a black guy tries to reform health care, all hell must break loose.

Cheney's statement re: Lynndie England:

At Abu Ghraib, a few sadistic prison guards abused inmates in violation of American law, military regulations, and simple decency. For the harm they did, to Iraqi prisoners and to America's cause, they deserved and received Army justice. And it takes a deeply unfair cast of mind to equate the disgraces of Abu Ghraib with the lawful, skillful, and entirely honorable work of CIA personnel trained to deal with a few malevolent men.

Cheney's statement today:

The activities of the CIA in carrying out the policies of the Bush Administration were directly responsible for defeating all efforts by al Qaeda to launch further mass casualty attacks against the United States. The people involved deserve our gratitude. They do not deserve to be the targets of political investigations or prosecutions.

So it's ok if you're a CIA agent but not if you're in the army?

(shamelessly lifted from the Daily Dish, link at sig)

A solution for that grows from the ground and is available for cheap. It also has practically no side-effects and, if you get it from the right place, enriches no evildoers.

Auditory hallucinations are a classic sign of schizophrenia. If this guy actually hears the "voice of God," it could be a common symptom of a pretty pervasive and debilitating mental illness. If he gets diagnosed as such, that would be a good first step towards a claim for insanity. And he would probably still be commited for most of the rest of his life even if found not guilty by reason of insanity. That's not to say he can't also be evil. Schizophrenia does not take away your choice-making ability, and even if God is telling you to do something, you can decide it's still wrong, especially if He doesn't show at the last second with a ram or something.

(5 internet points to whoever recognizes the Biblical reference, a bonus 5 to anyone who can tie it to Kirkegaard)

I have a B.A. from Yale and my M.B.A. from Harvard. I have a couple PhDs from Oxford and USC, and then I went back and got my J.D. and LLM from Cornell. And that's all a bunch of B.S. But my username is much more entertaining and artsy than "NP NP" OR "Electro Robot," so I encourage everyone to believe my ridiculous list of made-up educational achievements. Now, I must return my attention to the lecture at the fourth-tier law school I actually attend.

Pinochet took over in 1973 (9/11/73, oddly enough). I hope that if America comes to terms with what it did for the last eight years, it takes fewer than 35 years to do so. A number of things have been written about the similarities between Pinochet and Bush, it is interesting stuff.

I'm sure she doesn't need me to pimp her work here, but Naomi Klein covers Chile AND our wonderful country's previous efforts with human experimentation in her book The Shock Doctrine. There's nothing new under the sun.

No. Well, maybe. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Damnit man you must be scared to death. Thanks to your brilliant research we already know that black people kill millions of white people every year, while a white person has never so much as thought of demeaning a black person. Now we find out that the future black leaders of America cheer on black-on-white violence in massive numbers! It's only a matter of time before they get you, right? I hope you've made appropriate prepartions for the rapidly approaching race war!

In other words, go back to Stormfront.

Despite some truly inspiring lyrics about gender relations, Tupac spent time in prison for sexual assault. It's a sad part of his legacy that has been conveniently forgotten by a lot of people. If the music is good enough, the career continues. This principle applies across genres, of course. That one dude from the Shins beat up his girlfriend, Ike beat up Tina, I'm sure there are a lot more. Hell, Franz Liszt was a real douchebag towards women.