My Kitchen Table

The "rank stench" of repressive religion

It's Banned Book Week in the US. and Philip Pullman, the author of the "His Dark Materials" trilogy (three of the best books I've ever read) has an interesting reflection on the role that religion plays in censorship

... when it comes to banning books, religion is the worst reason of the lot. Religion, uncontaminated by power, can be the source of a great deal of private solace, artistic inspiration, and moral wisdom. But when it gets its hands on the levers of political or social authority, it goes rotten very quickly indeed.

The rank stench of oppression wafts from every authoritarian church, chapel, temple, mosque, or synagogue – from every place of worship where the priests have the power to meddle in the social and intellectual lives of their flocks, from every presidential palace or prime ministerial office where civil leaders have to pander to religious ones.

My basic objection to religion is not that it isn't true; I like plenty of things that aren't true. It's that religion grants its adherents malign, intoxicating and morally corrosive sensations. Destroying intellectual freedom is always evil, but only religion makes doing evil feel quite so good.

I love Pullman's lead paragraph in the Guardian article about book banning.

When I heard that my novel The Golden Compass (the name in the USA of Northern Lights) appeared in the top five of the American Library Association's list of 2007's most challenged books, my immediate and ignoble response was glee. Firstly, I had obviously annoyed a lot of censorious people, and secondly, any ban would provoke interested readers to move from the library, where they couldn't get hold of my novel, to the bookshops, where they could. That, after all, was exactly what happened when a group called the Catholic League decided to object to the film of The Golden Compass when it was released at the end of last year. The box office suffered, but the book sales went up – a long way up, to my gratification.

As Pullman notes, censorship never works. It just drives people to read, view or listen to, the banned material. You would think that after 2000 years, the Catholic Church would have realized this by now.

Why Battleground polls are soooo off-base

Great explanation from Nate Silver at 538.com on why the GWU/Battleground poll is wrong. (It shows McCain with a 2-point lead nationally, while every other polls shows Obama with a 6-10 point lead). It's all in how you weight the results. GWU/Battleground has WAY too many over 65s in its results.

ABC News poll: Americans lay blame for crisis at GOP doorstep

New ABC Poll shows that by a 2-1 margin (44% to 22%) Americans say the GOP - and in particular Presidnet Bush - are to blame for current financial crisis.

Reaping what we sow

I heard a woman on the Diane Rehm show today complain about how all the jobs are leaving America and that we need to keep our jobs here and not ship them over to China. This was one way to fix the economy, she said.

I wonder if she plans to show at Walmart sometime in the next couple of days?

This is what really gets me about Americans and the economy. Americans want cheap shirts and cheap toys for their kids and cheap shoes to wear and cheap TVs and cheap stereos. They'll shop at Walmart or Target or Best Buy because, well, it's cheap.

But they don't want to face the fact that in order to have all those cheap shoes, etc. then the jobs will continue to go to China or to Mexico or to Taiwan, because no American would work for the wages that many in these countries receive - which is what keeps these consumer good so cheap in the first place. So we can complain all we like about jobs leaving the country but it's not going to change. The global economy has locked us into this spiral of cheap goods in exchange for fewer jobs in America.

Who won what debate?

Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post reports that the McCain is already running Internet ads that say he won the debate. The one tonight. The one that hasn't happened yet.

Another ad spotted by our eagle-eyed observer featured a quote from McCain campaign manager Rick Davis declaring: "McCain won the debate-- hands down."

Here is the screenshot.

It's likely driving by a really bad traffic accident.

100 units O negative, stat.

A devastating quote in the Huffington Post from a former McCain campaigner:

"It just proves his campaign is governed by tactics and not ideology," said Republican consultant Craig Shirley, who advised McCain earlier in this cycle. "In the end, he blinked and Obama did not. The 'steady hand in a storm' argument looks now to more favor Obama, not McCain."

Shirley added, "My guess is that plasma units are rushing to the McCain campaign as we speak to replace the blood flowing there from the fights among the staff."

Report: Bush told Gonzales to fabricate stories

If this is true, it's a big story. At any other time, it would be the lead story in all the media. The Atlantic reports that former Attorney General is claiming that President Bush directed him to fabricate notes.

GOP in Colorado worried about mail-in vote

Denver Post reports that the GOP in Colorado are worried that they've lost their once huge edge in mail-in ballots.

Sandwiches, anyone?

This is a great line about McCain's management skills:

"Bush is no diplomat," said a Democratic staffer, "but he's Cardinal freaking Richelieu compared to McCain. McCain couldn't negotiate an agreement on dinner among a family of four without making a big drama with himself at the heroic center of it. And then they'd all just leave to make themselves a sandwich."

Lunch, anyone?

CW in DC: McCain's visit blew up the agreement

Marc Ambinder of theatlantic.com says the conventional wisdom in Washington is that McCain's suggestion for the high-stakes meeting at the White House blew up the agreement.