Propeller Week In Review: August 1, 2008 — Aug 1st 2008

By James Marcus

ACROSS THE POND

As Barack Obama made his barnstorming tour of Europe and the Middle East, the Propeller community greeted his progress with both applause and heightened skepticism. "100,000 expected for Obama Berlin speech," for example, rang up 112 votes and 309 comments. Locky12 thumbed his nose at the crowd (which apparently numbered closer to 200,000): "It's amazing how many people show up when you give them a rock band and free beer!" Said cushi: "It appears the people in Europe are more astute than you and the rest of the 28 percenters! [McCain] goaded him into making a trip abroad. Obama saw him and raised him, and now [McCain] and his neocon supporters are whining like overgrown crybabies!" Later in the thread, after the Democratic candidate had been compared to Hitler, Stalin, and the Antichrist (not bad for a junior senator from Ilinois), scott4261 replied: "You really do think Obama is the Antichrist, don't you? Funny, I recognized him in Dick Cheney nearly eight years ago!" A related story, "As Messiah Tours, Obama Fatigue Sweeps America, " rang up 100 votes and 352 comments. Goppy, who seemed to be having a temporary dalliance with the spellchecker, argued that America was not disenchanted in the least with Obama: "[He] seems to have struck a chord with America. I can only speculate that the reason is America is mesmerized by a black man carrying himself in such a calm, composed, presidential manner." This led to a mini-debate about affirmative action. Said pc25: "The only reason Obama is where he is, is because he is black.... He is the affirmative action candidate of the Democratic Party." To which splitrch replied: "I'm a middle-aged white guy from the suburbs of Northern L.A. County. In my experience, affirmative action doesn't level the playing field enough. If institutionalized racism in America was not a fact between the end of slavery and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, affirmative action programs wouldn't have been necessary to begin with." Other related stories included "Obama scraps visit to wounded troops," with 67 votes and 208 comments, and "Obama Camp Pins Scrubbed Troop Visit on Pentagon," with 28 votes and 158 comments.

FAMILY PLANNING?

"Contraception Is the New Abortion" bagged 112 votes and 151 comments. Discussing the reluctance of anti-abortion advocates to sell or even handle contraceptives, BB64 said: "In this case, the products violate a person's beliefs, so I think there is cause to protect them. I think the ACLU should represent them. In fact, both sides. Let them spend their billions fighting with themselves." Replied Tangent001: "The problem with pharmacists not dispensing birth control because it 'violates their personal convictions' is that pharmacists are licensed by the state.... Can a pharmacist refuse to dispense AIDS medication because he or she believes homosexuals are being punished by God?" Jaydee40 took it a step further: "People need access to birth control. If you don't feel comfortable dispensing it, find a new job--same for cabbie or check-out clerk. People should look up the job description before applying." And jordan11 added: "It's true that some idiots think women should be 'punished' with being forced to have a child. It's archaic, it's paternalistic, it's theocratic, and it's sick. Get out of women's uteruses and mind your own business." Meanwhile, RickyDawkins returned to a stage of innocence: "The baby grows in the mother's stomach, then it comes out of her belly button." (Replied Coatl: "You apparently saw Alien too many times!") And at least one member, Army_Wife_n_Mommy_Of_2, argued for the abolishment of almost every form of contraception: "Hopefully one day there will be no birth control. And if you feel the need to have sex out of wedlock or with a stranger, use some damned saran wrap if you are so desperate." (So that's why they call it Glad Wrap.)

MAC ATTACK

"A not-so-public man: the private character of John McCain" rang up 87 votes and 240 comments. Nixie raised her hand for the Republican candidate: "I know a lot of people slam McCain for his failed relationship with his first wife, but that can happen to anyone. It's the rest of what he's done, how he's lived, who he is, that shows what kind of a man he is. It's obvious that he's qualified to be president." Replied wtagg: "In 2000, I would have voted for him in a heartbeat. It is the changes in his convictions that concern me greatly.... The only assumption I can make for the changes in his position on so many topics is exactly partisan politics. He needed to cave to the Republican Party to get the nomination." As Obama fans swarmed McCain, pc25 rose to his defense: "I'll take him over the stumblin', bumblin', big-eared Howdy Doody-looking dorkus any day." To which bluetexasvalley replied: "Bush isn't running this time." A related story, "A Gallup Surprise: McCain 49% Obama 45%," showed the Arizona senator with a lead among "likely voters," and generated 86 votes and 156 comments. "Oooooh, this is a surprise!" said AlphaGnosis. "The surprise is these were not registered voters," said cowboygrandpa. "Probably convicts who have lost their voting rights." But SonOfTheMask saw the polls themselves as little more than a media sideshow: "National polls are fluff. State-by-state polling after the conventions will show you much more clearly than any national poll. Sometimes I think these polls are produced merely to get people interested in reading the particular news outlet." And on a satirical note, there was "McCain to Stay Awake Past 11 PM in Media Stunt," which clocked 106 votes and 38 comments, including this confession from Charlson: "I've got to admire his resolve and commitment. I don't last past 10:30 most nights."

AND DON'T OVERLOOK....

"Earthquake rocks Los Angeles," with 118 votes and 15 comments, was seen (luckily) as an anticlimax. "That wasn't nearly as scary as CNN is making it out to be," said Wil. "It was loud, and it lasted a long time, but it was a swaying earthquake, not a violent shaking earthquake." Replied mackiemesser: "Didn't feel a thing here in Virginia. Ah well, maybe next time." The conversation about Propeller's redesign quieted down a bit, but certainly didn't vanish, given that "Propeller 2.0: A Critique" racked up 184 votes and 372 comments. The Propeller Professor, alas, came in for a serious drubbing. Said obiefrommuskogee: "He's about as relevant as Broadway Joe at the Cinemark movies." Meanwhile, vor lamented "the cartoon guy who makes me feel like a 4-year-old every time I log on," Spadecaller dubbed him "Mr Spinhead," and gamahuche compared him to "a greeter at a Soho strip club in the 1950s." Elsewhere, Propeller members sounded off about gas prices, Ted Stevens, and habeas corpus. And finally, there was a welcome moment of levity: "Chinese TV Show Canceled After Drawing Only 180 Million Viewers." Said ind06, who posted the Onion story: "The next big Chinese sitcom will be about the hysterically zany antics of a one-party police state!"

Tags: week-in-review, wir

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