paralepsis

It's been a long time since I've posted here, and especially in the Rhetoric of Now series, but I think this election season seems like a good time to return. The specific occasion for this post is the recent online activity of one Bruce W. Griffin , who tutored nutjob Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell a decade ago in a three-week course that O'Donnell falsely claimed was an Oxford University course. Griffin has defended the course, and O'Donnell's intelligence, both on his own blog and to the good folks at Talking Points Memo . He describes the coursework as follows: I required the papers to be written in disputatio format. This format demands that you furnish the three best reasons against your case before you are allowed to set forth your reasons for your case. So, for example, if you wanted to argue for communism, you needed to give the three best reasons in defense of capitalism before you could make your case for the merits of Ma...

I'm just a heartbeat away from the presumptive nominee.

for the folks at MyDD Barack Obama did not raise your gas prices. Barack Obama did not ship your job to Mexico. Barack Obama did not write your sermons. Barack Obama did not deny your habeas corpus. Barack Obama did not cast your primary vote and Barack Obama did not dismiss your primary vote. Barack Obama did not raise your interest rates. Barack Obama did not send that letter you wouldn't open for days because you knew what was in it but thought it might go away if you waited long enough only it didn't. Barack Obama did not foreclose on your house. Barack Obama did not protect your perverted priest. Barack Obama did not deny your claim. Barack Obama did not key your car. Barack Obama did not call you sweetie, probably, and if he did, he meant it to be nice. Barack Obama did not beat up your kid. Barack Obama did not deny your choice. Barack Obama did not steal your lunch money. Barack Obama did not cause the Sichuan earthquake or Cyclone Na...

As a short counter to the recent exercise in triviality, how about I encourage us all to do something of consequence? Namely, help free Sami Al-Arian , an actual political prisoner in America, currently held in Howard County, Maryland. I first heard of Al-Arian because I briefly encountered his son Abdullah, who was a student at Duke when I taught there. Back in 2002, Abdullah Al-Arian was smeared in the Duke Chronicle as "the son of a widely suspected terrorist," and I was among those who wrote outraged letters in response. Sami Al-Arian's story is complicated, but the recent history is this: he was arrested in 2003 along with three other men but the government's case against him was poor; according to Wikipedia , "Of fifty-one charges against the four men, not one resulted in a conviction." He pled guilty to a single charge but is still in prison in violation of the government's agreement. He's been on hunger strike since March 3, 2008, and h...

I love this guy.

Mitt Romney has the tie, the white shirt, and the smile. All he needs is a name tag and a bicycle .

I saw this at Talking Points Memo .

I won out over Bono To run the World Bank Then Saha she said "Oh No My job is in the tank" I placed a few quick calls To some old friends at State Diplomacy's all right Only when it gets you laid Now it's come back to bite me My bank life ends too soon Retirement's come early I'll leave the end of June I managed to hang on Just long enough to lance The boil I call multi- Lateral finance I'm Mr. No Corruption Top fox in the henyard Excuse me while I play my Golden parachute last card. for Paul Wolfowitz, with apologies to Warren Zevon