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Adam Serwer

Competition

Adam SerwerAug 22, 2011

Right Wing Watch has the latest Islamophobic statements from Evangelical leader Pat Robertson, from his broadcast this morning:

Robertson: I think the Antichrist is Islam. I really do, and I think it’s a system.

Meeuwsen: It’s a system more than person?

Robertson: It’s both, it’s centered on Mohammed, who defied Jesus, he said Jesus wasn’t the son of God, I mean that’s Antichrist. And I think the system is the Antichrist system, because they’re trying to destroy the Jews and there’s a hatred, a virulent hatred, of Christians and Jews. So could that be it? I think.

Supposedly Anti-White DoJ Monitoring Primary Elections In Noxubee

Adam SerwerAug 22, 2011

Just a reminder: As I noted earlier this month, the voting section of the Justice Department is sending election observers to the primaries in Noxubee County Mississippi today, where the Bush administration filed a case on behalf of white voters under Section 11(b), the same part of the Voting Rights Act used to secure an injunction against the New Black Panthers. At the time, Noxubee was the first voting rights case ever filed on behalf of white voters.

The FBI's Spies

Adam SerwerAug 22, 2011

Trevor Aaronson has a very important piece in Mother Jones questioning the nature of the FBI's many sting operations that involve the arrest of suspects who commit to carrying out FBI-facilitated terror plots, but I think this part of the piece is a bit unfair:

If I Were President...

Adam SerwerAug 22, 2011

The New York Times has a feature asking "If I were president" which basically involves the enlisted getting wistful about all the things they'd do if you know, Congress didn't existed and if the office of the presidency conferred the ability to work magic.

What Happened To Rick Perry, "No Apologies Candidate?"

Adam SerwerAug 22, 2011

Texas Governor Rick Perry, whom Washington Post reporter Chris Cilizza dubbed the "no apologies" candidate, disavows entirely a book he wrote last year endorsing the view that New Deal reforms like Social Security are unconstitutional. Ian Millhiser writes, "After just a few days of embarrassing press, however, Perry now expects the country to believe that his entire book was not intended to be a factual statement."

Where There Won't Be Vindication

Adam SerwerAug 22, 2011

Over at Greg's I mock the right's reaction to good news in Libya:

Causality

Adam SerwerAug 22, 2011

The Obama administration is reportedly pressuring New York's new Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to go easy on the banks and engage in the "settlements in lieu of prosecutions" approach to financial crime that started with the Bush administration.

Bloggingheads: Perry And Louie Edition

Adam SerwerAug 22, 2011

I talk Rick Perry, civil liberties, and the genius of Louie CK with Conor Friedersdorf:

A coda on our discussion on Perry's decision to mandate the HPV vaccine, from Amanda Hess:

Fallout

Adam SerwerAug 19, 2011

HPV is the STD of a new generation.

Primary hype.

Immigration restrictionist Russell Pearce wants you to pay for his recall campaign.

Rick Perry's political savvy.

Dept of "Goofy And Wrong"

Adam SerwerAug 19, 2011

Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, fresh off yesterday's remarks that Barack Obama wants "to create dependency because it worked so well for him,” because he's black, offers some thoughts on Afghanistan:

The best way to get us out of Afghanistan is to grow our economy, change the regulations, have a vibrant, growing America where people are afraid to come against us,” Coburn said.

The Politics Of Obama's Deportation Shift

Adam SerwerAug 19, 2011

The political impact of the Obama administration's decision to commit to discretion in deportation procedures may not be immediately obvious. No, most Latinos in the U.S. are not undocumented. However, most Latinos do have some kind of social connection to someone who is undocumented. According to a June 2011 poll by Latino Decisions, more than half of Latino voters know an undocumented person, and a quarter know someone who has been deported.

Voting And Recidivism

Adam SerwerAug 19, 2011

Mansfield Frazier (via Sara Mayeux)  reports that recidivism rates in Florida are lower for offenders who get back their right to vote post-incarceration.

According to a recent report by The Florida Parole Commission, “the overall three-year recidivism rate based on all released inmates” was 33..1, while the recidivism rate for released prisoners who were given their civil rights back and were allowed to vote stood at 11 percent.

Smoke Weed, Lose Your Kids

Adam SerwerAug 19, 2011

Today's drug war outrage comes from New York City, where possession of, or even admitted use of marijuana by parents results in child protective services taking your children away from you:

Lauren Shapiro, director of the Brooklyn Family Defense Project, which defends most parents facing neglect charges in Family Court in Brooklyn, said more than 90 percent of the cases alleging drug use that her lawyers handle involve marijuana, as opposed to other drugs.

“There is not the same use of crack cocaine as there used to be, so they are filing these cases instead,” Ms. Shapiro said.

A BFD On Immigration Enforcement

Adam SerwerAug 19, 2011

The Obama administration's decision to defer deportation of undocumented immigrants who don't post a threat to public safety is really a huge deal:

What changed?

Obama’s poll numbers among Latino voters began to slip. Both on the local and national level, immigration reform advocates upped the pressure, even protesting at the Obama administration’s headquarters in Chicago. While the debate over the administration’s aggressive enforcement policy largely occurred under the radar in the mainstream media, Obama was getting pilloried in the Spanish-language press for breaking his promises.

Fallout

Adam SerwerAug 18, 2011

For the Clinton contrarians.

Smoke weed and lose your kids.

The buck still stops with the Syrians.

The GOP's shifting school reform agenda.

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