Category Archives: Politics

Bad Books and Bad Commentariats

Posted on March 12, 2010 by Timothy Burke

I’m far more deferential to general criticisms of professors than most academics are. At a certain point, however, it’s okay to just squawk about kneejerk anti-intellectualism. So, for example, take this response by Carolyn Kellogg at her LA Times book … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Politics, Popular Culture | 3 Comments

That’s So Funny I Forgot to Laugh

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Timothy Burke

In the middle of a New York Times story on corruption in the World Food Program’s aid to Somalia, there’s this gem: “We have to tell these folks that you cannot go on like this — we know what you … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Good Quote, Bad Quote, Politics | Comments Off on That’s So Funny I Forgot to Laugh

Sacrificing Your Isaacs

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Timothy Burke

Sorry for the long silence. Busy couple of weeks and a stretch where I just felt impossibly fatigued. ———– I’ve been thinking a lot about the politics of budgets, a Gordian knot if there ever was one. Whether we’re talking … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Politics | 1 Comment

Rock and Hard Place

Posted on February 18, 2010 by Timothy Burke

When I was in graduate school, I had a strong reaction to Susan Harding’s ethnography of American evangelicals. Partly but not entirely for the sake of argument, I wrote a critique where I claimed that this was a case where … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Politics | 9 Comments

Is Our Students Learning?

Posted on February 1, 2010 by Timothy Burke

Over at Crooked Timber, Harry Brighouse calls attention to the curious statement by James O’Keefe, he of Mary Landrieu’s phones and ACORN-pimping infamy, about why he chose to become a conservative while a philosophy major at Rutgers University: his fellow … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 3 Comments

Hearts and Minds

Posted on January 25, 2010 by Timothy Burke

I can always work my way through an issue intellectually in a fashion that dissipates or checks my quick, easily manipulable gut feelings about the political news. Take the Citizens United decision. My quick emotional reaction was, “Well, that’s it, … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 10 Comments

Hester Prynne, Schmester Prynne, or Sarah Palin’s Ressentiment Clubhouse

Posted on January 19, 2010 by Timothy Burke

A friend of mine recently remarked that her 16-year old was frustrated by having to read The Scarlet Letter and other works of classic literature being pushed at him in his high school English class. She’s helping him stick to … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Politics, Production of History | 9 Comments

The Conspiracy to Destroy Conspiracy

Posted on January 17, 2010 by Timothy Burke

A friend of mine once asked me why I so disliked the use of George Lakoff’s concepts of “frames” by political operatives, after reading me complain here about those ideas several times. After all, my friend argued, there’s some truth … Continue reading →

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Everybody Out of the Pool

Posted on January 14, 2010 by Timothy Burke

Modest proposal: not just Google, but every single multinational company offering online products and services should get out of China. Not as an embargo designed to force improvements in human rights, but out of self-interest. Why operate in a country … Continue reading →

Posted in Information Technology and Information Literacy, Intellectual Property, Politics | 3 Comments

Mikey Doesn’t Like It. Neither Do I.

Posted on January 14, 2010 by Timothy Burke

A basic point: if the Transportation Security Administration is permitted by the executive branch to “mythbust” on its web pages, it should be instructed to fully and accurately respond to public confirmations that the putatively busted myths are in fact … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Comments Off on Mikey Doesn’t Like It. Neither Do I.