For good news on donations and quiz answers you can skip to the end of the post.
I just can't let go of the Harper's Letter on Justice and Open Debate. See July 9 and July 10. As you will recall over 150, writers, artists, and academics affirmed that "the free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted. While we have come to expect this on the radical right, censoriousness is also spreading more widely in our culture: an intolerance of opposing views, a vogue for public shaming and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex policy issues in a blinding moral certainty."
Having heard this, the intellectual community breathed a sigh of relief, thanked the author Thomas Chatterton Williams for his thoughtful analysis of this complex issue.
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| Thomas Chatterton Williams |
Here is what has been happening in the last week.
- Jennifer Finney Boylan, one of the signers retracted her signature because J.K. Rowling was one of her co-signers.
- Daily Beast offered cogent analysis: "Forget the pandemic, movement for Black lives, soon-to-come spike in homelessness, and the looming recession. These entitled famous people want you to stop being so mean to them!"
- A writer on Medium: "How Did the Organizers of the Harper’s Letter Mislead Some of the Signers? (It’s About Ethics in Open Letters)"
- From the Atlantic"Therein lies the central paradox of calls to return to an (always unspecified) era of civil discourse: What is the value of a debate that considers some human lives mainly as theoretical quandaries? Statements like the Harper’s letter rely on a key assumption—that the romanticized concept of “open debate” is inherently democratic or even “open” at all. (Such arguments dovetail neatly with the media’s industry-wide obsession with mythic objectivity.)"
Most notably on July 10, a different set of 150 writers and academics ( published a lengthy counter letter) that originated in a Slack channel called Journalists of Color, posted by the Objective.
This excerpt highlights the critique of the Harper's Letter. "The letter reads as a caustic reaction to a diversifying industry — one that’s starting to challenge institutional norms that have protected bigotry. The writers of the letter use seductive but nebulous concepts and coded language to obscure the actual meaning behind their words, in what seems like an attempt to control and derail the ongoing debate about who gets to have a platform. They are afforded the type of cultural capital from social media that institutions like Harper’s have traditionally conferred to mostly white, cisgender people. Their words reflect a stubbornness to let go of the elitism that still pervades the media industry, an unwillingness to dismantle systems that keep people like them in and the rest of us out. "
According to the critique, the Harper's letter is bigoted, racist, elitist, and exclusionary. Essentially, the "haves' want to maintain the status quo under the guise of Justice and Free Speech.
And here is what has happened in the last three days.
Bari Weiss, a signatory of the Harper's Letter and former editor of the New York Times Op/Ed page, resigned. In her letter she writes, "Op-eds that would have easily been published just two years ago would now get an editor or a writer in serious trouble, if not fired. If a piece is perceived as likely to inspire backlash internally or on social media, the editor or writer avoids pitching it. "
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| Bari Weiss |
Nick Cannon, Actor- comedian -rapper -director -writer -producer -television host has been fired by ViaCom for whom he hosted Wild ‘N Out and Lip Sync Battle Shorties. For those with massive time of their hands, here is a transcript of the Podcast with Richard “Professor Griff” Griffin, formerly of the Public Enemy. Here is sample...
Nick Cannon:
When we talk about the lies, the deceit, how the fake dollar controls all of this, then maybe we can get to the reason why they wanted to silence you, why they want to silence Minister Farrakhan, and they want to throw that we are having hate speech when it’s never hate speech, when it’s not. You can’t be anti-Semitic when we are the Semitic people, when we are the same people that who they want to be, that’s our birthright.
Richard “Professor Griff” Griffin:
It’s our birthright.
Nick Cannon:
So if that’s truly our birthright, there’s no hate involved.
Richard “Professor Griff” Griffin:
It’s not.
Blake Neff: Writer for Tucker Carlson resigned after it was revealed that he had been posting as XOXOhth, on an unmoderated message board. As recently as June 24, Neff or XOXOhth wrote '"Honestly given how tired black people always claim to be, maybe the real crisis is their lack of sleep."
Dianna Ploss brokered time for the last 2 1/2" years on a radio station WSMN in Nashua, New Hampshire. Ms. Ploss filmed herself speaking to landscapers in Nashua saying, "It is America, you should be speaking English. They work for the state, you should be speaking English.” WSMN station stated that Ploss“is no longer associated or affiliated in any way "with the station.
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| Dianna Ploss and friend |
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| Knox Williams, founder and president of American Suppressor Association. brother of Michael |
Ok. Enough. Time for some good news.
Carol Cann, MA, LCPC, CADC, entered the "know your Elites contest" and knew a lot of them. She entered the contest after the winner had been chosen but if you read Don's Basement you are always a winner.
This morning The Lincoln Project and The Ark received donations.
The Lincoln Project 'is holding accountable those who would violate their oaths to the Constitution and would put others before Americans." Founded by George Conway, among others, this group of primarily Republicans through advertising, podcasts and other advocacy programs seek to stop Donald Trump from being reelected.
I had a bizarre Twitter experience (oxymoron?) yesterday. I saw this.
Claudia Conway, 15 year old daughter of George and Kellyanne, had 127,000 Twitter followers.my parents are forcing me to delete social media so this is my last tweet. apparently, i don’t have a platform! it’s fake! love you all so much. keep fighting. ❤️— CLAUDIA CONWAY (@claudiamconwayy) July 14, 2020
And finally, WE HAVE A WINNER...
On Sunday, I asked who said..."we're going to bomb them back into the Stone Age," and to whom were they referring?
The answer...
General Curtis Lemay, (1906-1990).
The winner is Benjamin Shearn, editor, producer, director. Mr. Shearn will be sharing his designated cause with us shortly.
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