i still feel isis never really countered anything i said in that thread, other than her attempt to default to DM’s related post without adding her own thoughts on it. i still do not understand why she is a scienceblogger…..

I notice that there is little objection when people (Greg, Stephanie, you, and me — to name four) call out Republicans for tacitly endorsing the birfers, Glenn Beck at his worst, etc. This despite the fact that as far as I know none of us are Republicans and thus have no standing to comment on the “in-group” aspects of right-wing dogma.

If a person speaks in that role, for instance Dawkins speaking as an advocate for atheism, and they say something ridiculous and indefensible, like that the holocaust never happened, then not only do the other atheists who are members of that group have the right to be embarrassed, but they also get to call Dawkins out on being such an embarrassment

… but are often reluctant to do so, in fear of “breaking solidarity” or “undermining our position.” Needless to say, this dynamic can be (and historically has been) abused.

Come to think of it, it would appear that it’s being abused right now — thus we have Limbaugh as the de facto head of the Republican Party. I wonder if we should damn the Republicans with the faint praise of, “At least they aren’t whining that non-Republicans shouldn’t comment.”

I Thomas Krawford am an African American male underemployed Peripatetic Cab Driver living in Ann Arbor with two graduate degrees, a pending Teaching Certificate, a recently diagnosed semi-mild Autistic disorder and a yet to be written story about waking up middle aged after 34 years of never really fitting in anywhere but laughing a lot anyway.

The story is a little James Joyce Ulysses and a lot Giovanni Batista Vico. I think there are a lot of funny parts, but we’ll see.

Always thinking (^_’

Tom

So, yes, bringing the group into it isn’t fair, but when you’re acting in defense of feminism and what you’re doing is ultimately indefensible (equivalent to “crying wolf”), then you’re providing ammunition to the proper misogynists who will later claim that feminists eat their own or can’t even recognize when they’re unintentionally (or intentionally) diminishing other out-groups like “brown people” or atheists.

Do I like this dynamic? Not at all. Do I think you make lizards seem pretty awesome by being their queen without even having been elected by people like CyberLizard? Oooh, a chicken.