WHAT IS AMERICA?: I’d like to run a series of posts on things that make Americans distinctive–features of American life that few other countries share. Not a cheerleading series, but an attempt to figure out what makes this country what it is. I’ll write up some stuff about immigration, and the pangs of exile, alienation, and guilt that an immigrant nation is heir to; American religion, religiosity, and fringe religion; and to what extent Americans are unusually philosophical and/or materialist.... Read more

CONTEST!!!!: The new contest is psychological in nature. It’s inspired by an old Yale Free Press back-page ad purporting to list signs of right-wing pathology. The YFP ad featured a word-association test. For example, when left-wing folk heard the word “tolerance,” they thought, “diversity.” Right-wingers thought, “alcohol.” More examples from the YFP: WORD…………………………………LEFT ………………………………………RIGHT Health care……………………….Canada…………………………………………..Tylenol & Smirnoff Joe Camel………………………..Public Enemy #1………………………………Philosopher-King Eve…………………………………Framed…………………………………………..Insufficiently meek Bongos……………………………Protest……………………………………………Muppet? Global warming……………….Mass death……………………………………..Palm trees Psychiatry………………………..Science………………………………………….Witchcraft Liberty……………………………..Equality…………………………………………..Liberty And, of course, WORD: Leo Strauss. LEFT: Who? RIGHT:... Read more

BRIDE OF SUBTLESTEIN: The generally excellent Bright Lights Film Journal ran an article speculating about homosexual subtexts (you know, subtexts that like other subtexts) in James Whale’s “Bride of Frankenstein.” Given that the article was dedicated to exploring nuances, you’d think its own stance would be nuanced; but you’d be wrong. The article paints Whale as a Stonewall cheerleader avant la lettre. In the process, the author ignores every other possible reading of the movies–which makes the movies less interesting,... Read more

“LIBERAL BLOGGERS”: Let me toss a theory at you. I’m still in list mode, so there’ll be a list at the end of this. But my theory is that political labels seem to refer more to social affiliation than to actual policy/philosophical beliefs. (“Libertarian” is an exception to this rule, most of the time.) People call themselves “liberal” because they feel more comfortable with reluctant Gore voters than with reluctant Bush voters. People call themselves “conservative” because when they imagine... Read more

YOU MAY BLOG TOO MUCH IF… I’m in a list-making mood. So here’s a preliminary list of blogorrhea symptoms. Send any suggestions to eve_tushnet@yahoo.com… * You use the word “Pundit” as a suffix (MuslimPundit, PejmanPundit, VodkaPundit, QuasiPundit…) * You compulsively try to fit the words “blog watch” into pop songs–“Now I wanna watch your blog!”, “Gonna watch that blog right outta my hair,” “Blog Watch the Queen! The fascist regime…”, “Sittin’ on the dock of the bay, watchin’ the blogs... Read more

REASONS TO LOVE D.C.: So Michelle Malkin wrote this rant about how my hometown reeks. (Link via Dave Tepper.) I find these columns (they recur at least once a year from a variety of pundits) both amusing and frustrating, because they refuse to distinguish between Washington-the-dateline and D.C.-the-hometown. So you had a rotten experience in the marbled halls of government, or amid the throngs of K St. lawyers. So what does that tell me about D.C.? It’s as if I... Read more

Just a small town girl Living in a lonely world She watched the midnight blogs going anywhere Just a city boy Born and raised in South Detroit He watched the midnight blogs going anywhere… Yes, I am a shank. But today I really do have a lot of stuff to post. (Really!) But first, a blogwatch, because the Web has showered blogly goodness upon us this morning. Mark Byron and Louder Fenn: Should Byron become Catholic? Should Fenn go Protestant?... Read more

“You’re a mess, honey.” –Marlene Dietrich to Orson Welles, “Touch of Evil” Read more

99 Duesenjager Jeder war ein grosser Krieger Hielten sich fuer Captain Kirk Das gab ein grosses Feuerwerk Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft Und fuehlten sich gleich angemacht Dabei schoss man am Horizont Auf 99 Blogbewatchung… I won’t be posting again until Monday. If you want to know why, click here… Easter Monday, I will be back and on the attack with an analysis of “Vertigo”; a takedown of Michelle Malkin’s rant against my cherry-blossomed hometown; “You may not be a... Read more

TWO RUSSIANS AND A GIANT TALKING MANTIS: Ayn Rand. Diana Mertz Hsieh’s Noodle Food is a thoughtful blog from an Objectivist perspective. She often writes about psychology, honesty and why it’s the best policy, and childrearing. And she digs Maggie Gallagher! Mikhail Bulgakov. I’ve added two posts to the Booklog (stuff I’ve said about stuff I’ve read): Augustine’s Confessions and Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita. Zorak. I want to be Zorak if I grow up. The world’s coolest embittered mantis, plus... Read more