Propeller Week In Review: November 9, 2007 — Nov 9th 2007

By James Marcus

YOU'RE RIGHT, I'M LEFT, SHE'S GONE

Not atypically, our top story for the week was about the polarization of the American political scene. Linking to Art Winslow's review of a new book by Ron Brownstein, "The Second Civil War" bagged 234 votes and 235 comments. The conversation generally divided along party lines (surprise!), although one of the first participants, scriblerus1, wasn't buying the basic thesis: "The polarization is not between the Left and the Right, but between the Center and the Right. The Left no longer exists as a viable political force because of the concerted effort by the Right to destroy the Left with its expensive propaganda machine." Replied ONEMEMPHISDUDE: "Could it possibly be that the Left is not a 'viable political force,' due the failed ideas and policies it promoted? The Left offers a bankrupt vision of America that has floundered and died everywhere it has been tried." At times, the conversation reflected exactly the polarization that the book and article were bemoaning. But another member, pickled, argued that the problem went far beyond partisan squabbling: "Unfortunately, the politicians are a reflection of society in general (self serving)." (Another top story, with 122 votes and 271 comments, pinned the blamed squarely on "The New Right-Wing Smear Machine.")

ADOPTION VERSUS ABORTION

A post on the adoption-versus-abortion conundrum--which also slapped Rudy Giuliani on the wrist for finessing statistics during a recent speech--generated 190 votes and 396 comments. One member, quicksilver0602, made a pitch on behalf of sex education and contraception: "We are sexual beings; the sooner our political and religious leaders accept this, the better off we'll be and fewer of them will live tortured lives, pretending they're not." Another, ryates, vehemently disagreed: "Does anyone with half a brain think that the problem here is education or access to birth control? Condoms are available everywhere at $0.75 each. And even middle school kids understand the relationship between unprotected intercourse and pregnancy." Still a third, anadaji67, seemed to confirm both earlier comments: "Having lost my virginity less than about 24 hours ago, I can attest that is borderline impossible for someone such as myself to not get down to it when the time comes." Feelings ran high during much of the exchange--but not too high to exclude a long digression about the "Bloomin' Onion" at the Outback steak franchise.

YOUR GOD OR MINE?

The presidential race is seldom far from center stage here at Propeller. Often, though, one candidate in particular lurches into the spotlight, and this week it was Mitt Romney. With 126 votes and 357 comments, "Romney Shouldn't Equate Mormons, Christians," concerned the candidate's quest for evangelical votes in the South. ZiegfeldGirl saw no need for panic: "He isn't going to be able to pass legislation requiring everyone to convert, or allowing bigamy, or anything else that makes people wary of Mormons. Calm down people, being a Mormon is not what you have to worry about with Romney. The fact that he puts one in mind of a used car salesman is a better reason." Bkumm agreed ("His politics should be enough to make anyone run for cover, his religion is utterly irrelevant"), but Romney found a defender in DavidHalko, who supported the candidate's freshly acquired distaste for abortion: "I think Romney's politics is far superior to anything I have seen coming out of the Democratic Party." (Three other election-related stories also made the Top Ten: one about Dennis Kucinich, one about Hillary Clinton, and one about the increasingly lukewarm campaign being waged by Fred Thompson.)

AND DON'T FORGET....

The Propeller community responded in droves to "Waterboarding Used to Be a Crime," with a conversation thread running to 470 comments. One member, deathray, pointed participants to this demonstration video of a waterboarding. When scott4261 suggested that "Jesus would be appalled" by such interrogation techniques, Natureboy begged to differ: "Maybe not, as his dad invented hell and damnation and thus is the father of torture." Another post, "Saudi Prince Blames 9/11 on USA," provoked a number of irate responses. Said PsychoHosebeast: "This idiot sounds like some little kid trying to claim he's innocent because his parents didn't ask him something that he knew about ahead of time." There were popular stories about Goldie Hawn, Ralph Nader, while "Report: Abstinence not curbing teen sex" racked up 195 votes and 204 comments. Yes, hackers are beginning to focus on the Macintosh OS--a compliment of sorts to Steve Jobs' revitalized company. And finally, this post from the Onion, "Giant 6-Year-Old Devastates Ant Community," racked up 160 votes and 23 comments. Never let it be said we don't enjoy a good laugh here.

Tags: week in review, wir

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