Propeller Week In Review: March 21, 2008 — Mar 21st 2008

By James Marcus

THE WRIGHT STUFF

Barack Obama's relationship to his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, has been at storm center the entire week. The lengthiest conversation of the week, with 825 comments, was inspired by "Obama Condemns Pastor But Defends Continued Relationship." Candida defended the candidate from what she defined as an obvious smear: "The preacher is not running for president, and claiming that his rhetoric, which may be offensive but falls far short of hate speech, is somehow reflective of Obamas's thoughts and beliefs is the smear." Another member, ybdogsct, concurred: "Through some torturous logic, some believe Obama espouses everything Wright uttered, despite the fact that Obama is half-white himself and (unlike McCain) has never been quoted uttering racist comments." Other members were far less forgiving of the connection. Said HOUSEMD: "It is just wrong for any senator to participate in anti-American/racist activities. [Obama] should have immediately and strongly condemned this the first time he heard Wright's hate sermons." Another, purpose, was similarly skeptical: "Senator Obama has proven one thing. He still has supporters even after being caught in a lie." But rumple4skin wasn't giving an inch: "Lettin' you know that I am not going to engage in your brand of dispute. Until you have spent time in a Black barber shop, hairdresser, or church, do not attempt to discuss issues you know nothing of other than what you heard on u-tube or faux." Quite a few related stories made it into our Top Twenty for the week, including "Obama's Pastor: God Damn America, U.S. to Blame for 9/11" (140 votes, 694 comments), "Ringing the Bell: What Obama's Speech Says," (166 votes, 496 comments), and "A Church Under Attack Says 'No' to the Political Smears" (110 votes, 208 comments). It was the latter story that elicited this vote of no confidence from tkyrchncs: "It is my understanding that when a man of the cloth in full regalia standing at his pulpit on a religious occasion says 'God damn' something (in this case America), it is not just an expletive one might say on mashing his finger. It is calling down the Wrath of God."

BREAKING THE BANK

Another hot topic this week was the ongoing mortgage crisis. With 176 votes and 116 comments, "Mortgage relief plan falling short" produced a spirited conversation. DamnLiberals pinned the blame squarely on the homeowners (especially those who went in to make a quick buck): "Fools rush in.... I look at this as the new Gold Rush where people looking to strike it rich made dumb decisions and lost everything." Grrr had some other culprits in mind: "So it's the borrower's fault, and not the fault of the banks, the Fed, Congress, the POTUS, and Wall Street?" Not so, said TOD396: "No one forced these people to bite off more than they could chew. They made a conscious decision to buy a home and then things changed for them, and they now aren't able to make the payments." But it was IanFraiugun, the rare Propeller member with a degree in accounting, who took a middle course: "I do agree we should not bail out the lenders, because their greed in approving non-viable loans led to their problems. On the other hand, we need to find a way to help those borrowers that we badly misled by the lenders." As Shakespeare, no accountant, advised us in Hamlet: "Neither a borrower nor a lender be." Currently both parties are taking it in the head. Could the Bard have been anticipating the subprime meltdown?

HEAT TREATMENT

Global warming never fails to raise the collective temperature of the community, and this week was no exception. "Glaciers Melt At Fastest Rate in Past 5,000 Years" bagged 159 votes and 136 comments. One member, airglide, dismissed the whole scenario: "Try another. An Alaska pilot can no longer land near a glacier where he used to take tourists, because the glacier has grown a half mile in the last two years." Case closed? Not according to wtagg, who insisted that we cast the evidential net a little wider: "Using one glacier is wrong as evidence. Exit Glacier and Portage Glacier are demonstratively retreating. Does that mean we are experiencing global warming? No.... We need to examine all glaciers in context." Meanwhile, at least one member, rwrnae, saw some benefits to a possible spike of the global thermostat: "Wish the damn ice would hurry up and melt, maybe it would drown D.C."

AND DON'T OVERLOOK....

"Right to bear arms at heart of high court case" rang up 116 votes and 155 comments, including this sardonic assessment of the Supreme Court from memestryker: "They don't give a rat's behind about the Constitution. They all are there to push their own agendas, and find arguments to support their own bias--on all sides." There were popular stories about the Iraq war, the swooning dollar, and Dick Cheney. Over at Considerable Sounds, the music business was pronounced D.O.A., and blothbelt blamed the industry's woes on its own sloth and inertia: "It needs a serious resuscitation. Mouth to ear in this case. It's as if the music industry is doing its best not to record anyone who is good enough to demand anything." And finally, this post about Sweden's prostitution statutes (very much a post-Spitzer story) sparked a short but fiery exchange. If you're curious, cue up "Private Dancer" and enjoy the thread at your leisure.

Tags: wee, week in review, WeekInReview

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