• “The obstacle itself becomes the door.”
• Apparently, conservatives are giddy about a 2007 video purportedly showing Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer arguing that Democrats shouldn’t support any Supreme Court nominees appointed by second-term President George W. Bush. Gotcha! Hah! Both sides do it!
Except that’s not what Schumer said or what the video they’re forwarding and liking and posting all over the place shows him saying.
We shouldn’t be too harsh in judging those forwarding and posting this video without paying any attention to the fact that it doesn’t say what they say it says. This is, after all, video of Chuck Schumer talking — and I can’t really blame people for not wanting to click “play” and watch the whole thing. But still.
• “Ted Cruz must hate the appointment of Chief Justice John Marshall. John Adams nominated him in January 1801, after he lost his re-election bid to Thomas Jefferson in the election of 1800. Adams was a lame duck in the truest sense of the term—he was serving out the remainder of his term after being repudiated by the voters. Yet he did not hesitate to fill the vacancy in the Supreme Court, and Marshall was confirmed by a lame duck Senate.”
• I would totally go to see this movie.
• Ed Yong on a depressing, if unsurprising, recent study:
Over the last three years, Sarah Eddy and Daniel Grunspan have asked over 1,700 biology undergraduates at the University of Washington to name classmates whom they thought were “strong in their understanding of classroom material.” The results were worrying but predictable. The male students underestimated their female peers, over-nominating other men over better-performing women.
Put it this way: To the men in these classes, a woman would need to get an A to get the same prestige as a man getting a B.
Or put it this way: A woman has to be twice as smart to get equal respect. And the corollary to that: A man who is half as capable as he needs to be still gets full credit.
What this also suggests, in other words, is that patriarchy makes men more susceptible to the Dunning-Kruger effect. A man who is dangerously ignorant and unprepared is more likely to be complacent and self-satisfied, with the undue respect he receives convincing him that he’s fine. This is what makes men more likely to say things like “All right. You’ve covered your ass now,” and then go back to ignoring the crisis at hand.
• A white Tennessee sheriff is blaming Beyoncé after hearing shots fired near his home. He claims his department has “lost five to seven officers, five deputy sheriffs” since the singer’s performance at the Super Bowl. It’s not clear if he meant they quit in despair or if he’s ominously suggesting they were drowned in a New Orleans police car during the baptism of our reigning queen of pop.
Sheriff Arnold is confused. If a small child outside of his house displayed such compelling dance moves that the sheriff was compelled to raise his hands in surrender, then he could blame that on “Formation,” but there’s no gunplay in the song or the video.
• Sticking with our recent accidental theme, here’s Paul Kelly:
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