Propeller Week In Review: April 18, 2008 — Apr 18th 2008

By James Marcus

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT?

Barack Obama was back in the spotlight this week at Propeller, and no story prompted a more extensive conversation than "Obama's AG Would 'Immediately Review' Bush Crimes," with 204 votes and 812 comments. Quite a few Propeller members thought such an investigation was way overdue. Said Will1313: "That's why Cheney will head to Dubai, and Bush to South America... Still not out of reach of a Predator [or] a Hellfire." Lincoln85 was a little more skeptical about this proposed housecleaning: "Obama has to be the biggest fool ever if he thinks he will get Bush on war crimes. I am still laughing about this. He is as likely to get Bush on war crimes as we are to get his pastor on racial hate crimes!" Replied quackpot: "Obama was also careful to say that he would not want such an investigation to become a witch-hunt." Stories about what has already been dubbed BitterGate also got a noisy response from the community. For example, "12 reasons 'bitter' comment is bad for Obama" rang up 163 votes and 499 comments. TemplarScribe denounced the whole fuss as a tempest in a teapot: "I am amazed at the false 'backlash' supposedly raining down on Obama for speaking what many moderates feel is simply the truth: many Americans vote for hot-button issues like marriage, gun control and religion." So did mesodude: "It's embarrassing to watch wingjobs falling all over themselves trying to make 'macaca' out of molehills." But slate fired right back at the senator from Illinois: "Some people cling to religion not because they are bitter but because they believe it, and because faith in God gives them purpose and comfort. In times of deep despair as well as times of profound prosperity." A related story bagged 129 votes and 450 comments, while "Obama turns table on Clinton" racked up 186 votes and 271 comments. SusieQ72 turned a jaundiced eye on the whole pack: "They all twist each other's words. Unfortunately, it is part of running for office. And they all throw each other under the bus when a questionable comment gets said."

HEAVEN SENT

"God: The Failed Hypothesis," with 155 votes and 434 comments, was the latest theological rumble at Propeller. Batting for the nonbelievers, RickyDawkins led off with some syllogistic sorcery, culminating in the following theses: "The universe is not perfect. Therefore, it is impossible for a perfect being to be the creator of the universe. Hence, it is impossible for God to exist." There was an answer from engineer: "I understand your argument but disagree. Two sexes with the complexities couldn't come naturally. Birds with their method of flying and the complexity of the aerodynamics couldn't come naturally. God helped in the design but allowed for flaws." He was seconded by Silverghost: "The incontrovertible empirical fact, which would hold up under honest court examination, is that Jesus Christ arose from the dead." But the atheists still had some aces up their sleeves. With his tongue firmly in cheek, djn3nunez3 said: "Another hearsay become incontrovertible empirical fact most often touted is that he was born of a Virgin." (At this point Mdiar contributed a philological curveball: "Actually virgin is a mistranslation. The term is really something closer to 'maiden,' basically a young unmarried woman.") And as the thread turned to the subject of evolution, smithichie took another poke at creationist verities: "You can pretend that a paternity test isn't proof of paternity, but it won't keep you from having to pay child support. Why? Because genetics is hard evidence that has proven to be very accurate, to the degree [that] we trust it to decide matters of life and death." Yet disraeli, evidently the recent father of a baby girl, had to concede some sort of miraculous margin to human existence. The cut-and-dried science of cellular division, he said, "leaves me somewhat cold when the facing the spark of life that shows in someone's eyes, rather than a mass of protoplasmic blobs merrily swapping enzymes like some well-ordered miniature petrochemical plant." (Just remember, even a miracle need to have its diapers changed.)

THE RESURRECTION OF HILLARY

While she hasn't been getting as much attention from the Propeller community as Obama, the former First Lady has hardly been swept under the rug. A perhaps dubious report of her 20-point lead in Pennsylvania generated 170 votes and 274 comments, including this one from RTV1957: "If I were a Penn voter, I would show my displeasure at Obama's narrow-minded stereotype by going to the voting booth and electing Clinton in a landslide." Added JohnQPublic: "The only poll that matters is the one taken on election day by the voters themselves!" Meanwhile, "Raw Video: Hillary Clinton does whiskey shot!" produced 164 votes and 162 comments. (You can see the actual video here.) For cloud15, the footage of the First Lady nursing her shot of Crown Royal was oddly reassuring: "I for one enjoy seeing candidates acting like normal everyday people. But if Hillary is going to do this, she can't take a sip of a shot, she's gotta do the whole thing." And as always, there were some welcome pockets of expertise among the membership. It was zaph22 who dispelled the idea that Clinton was in some down-and-dirty gin mill: "I've been to Bronko's many times, so I had to laugh at it being called a 'tough guy bar.' If you want to see any of them in a tough guy bar, send them to Kenwood Tap or the Silver Nickel, a couple of biker bars in my area. Now, that would impress me." Another Indiana stalwart, newbie0420, had an alternate suggestion: "Better yet, send her to Bottom's Up anytime after 2:00 AM... There's anywhere between 4-8 bouncers because there's so many fights. I used to play football with these bouncers, and I can assure you there isn't a tougher group to be found." Lurch stuck up for Hillary: "Actually, Hillary looks great. Like a 'real man' compared to Dubya or McCain, anyway." And ranchhand got in a final dig: "I want to know, did she hit on anybody?" Nope, the video looked pretty chaste.

AND DON'T OVERLOOK....

"Bomb explodes at Mosque in Iran" racked up 112 votes and 166 comments. Who did it? At least one member, Candida, pointed a finger at the CIA, and cited one of Donald Rumsfeld's Greatest Hits to prove her point: "The absence of evidence is not evidence for the absence." (Subsequent reports suggest that a display of munitions in the mosque [!] was somehow detonated.) "Banned in the USA: Censorship Part 2" generated 193 votes and 82 comments. Nobody really spoke out on behalf of censorship--way to go, Propeller!--but baddad59 did testify to the value of books as fundamental nourishment for the soul: "When I was a child, my parents were dirt poor, but they found a way to buy a new set of encyclopedias. With it came many other books like Black Beauty, Mark Twain's works, The Arabian Nights, etc. I can't imagine what my childhood would have been like if they had not provided me with those great books." The community spoke out on such issues as PMS, the oil supply, and dog training. And finally, there was "Hibernation To Blame For Bear Stearns Collapse," with 148 votes and 19 comments. The comment thread was almost unbearable, with contributions from Uncle Dave ("Man, I hope Winnie the Pooh and Tigger aren't involved in this!") and simonsez ("These may have been the infamous 'bi-polar' bears"). But let ind06, who posted the story, wrap up the whole grisly affair: "Bear Stearns has also been known to become dangerously irate when a person gets between it and one of its junior investors." Well, you know the old saying: sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you--unless there's a tastier treat on hand, like a $3.2 billion bailout.

Tags: week-in-review, wir

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