A Paleo-Feminist on Transgender Sexism Studies

An extremely 'well intentioned' young white guy I work closely with said to me the other day that, appalled as he was by this "new" notion of white privilege he'd just heard of, thank god he'd never been its beneficiary. Others had, of course, but not him and man! would such a thing suck if it actually did exist.

While trying not to either laugh at him or slit his throat, I informed him about a study done by U of Chicago and MIT professors. In that study, identical resumes were sent in response to their local papers' want ads. Identical, that is, but for names like "Jennifer" v. "Tanisha," and "Jamal" v. "Joe". Let's just sum it up thusly:

The authors find that applicants with white-sounding names are 50 percent more likely to get called for an initial interview than applicants with African-American-sounding names. Applicants with white names need to send about 10 resumes to get one callback, whereas applicants with African-American names need to send about 15 resumes to achieve the same result.

"Testers" (fake applicants sent out to rent apartments, buy cars, etc.) find basically the same results.

He could only stare at me in silent bewilderment that his white skin had ever, ever helped him. Him, with his Martin Luther King T shirts, pants sagging off his ass, and tongue stud but white bread name, let alone skin. I love the kid but he doesn't yet know that anybody can cover up their piercings, but only some of us can lose melanin for the brief duration of an interview. C'mon white folks. Tim Wise can't do it alone. Get a clue already.

Now comes an equally delicious way of proving that sexism and male privilege are all too alive and well (hat tip: Andrew Sullivan.) From Time:

Sarah Palin, Unguarded

In August 2007, Sarah Palin sat down with controversial conservative columnist and TV/radio host Armstrong Williams in Palin's Anchorage offices. In the 35-minute long interview, which is available on YouTube and was taped for Armstrong's TV show The RightSide, Palin sits on a couch bearing a full-length bear skin, speaking naturally and easily. Unencumbered by tough questions—Armstrong asks how Alaskans deal with the long hours of darkness they face in the wintertime, for example—and the glare of the national spotlight, Palin comments intelligently on a variety of topics but also says a number of things she would think twice about saying today.
 
Armstrong notes repeatedly that at the time of the interview Palin is the most popular governor in the country. When he asks Palin for the secret to her success, she says, "The biggest mistake that a politician can make is trying to fake it, trying to pretend you know more than you know. You know, voters are smarter than that. The public in general is much smarter than that and they know when you're trying to fake it, so just be honest with people."
 
The comment is ironic considering Palin's performance in the past few weeks, which has even conservatives like David Brooks and George Will admitting that Palin is in over her head. Her attempts to bluff her way through questions on subjects like the Supreme Court and the Bush Doctrine appear to be the definition of "trying to fake it."
 
Following up on the subject of Palin's popularity, Williams asks what the success women are seeing in politics—the interview takes place with Hillary Clinton leading in the Democratic primary—says about the country. Palin responds by echoing Barack Obama's rhetoric. "It's also, I think, a message that many Americans are just really hungry for something different, for a change."

McCain Has a Decision to Make on Jeremiah Wright

In April, John McCain condemned a TV ad released by the North Carolina Republican Party that tied Barack Obama to his former pastor Jeremiah Wright.

The ad, which called Obama "too extreme for North Carolina" because of his long-time association with Wright, drew McCain's ire. "It's not the message of the Republican Party," he said. "It's not the message of my campaign. I've pledged to conduct a respectful campaign." He added that he wanted to "disassociate myself from that kind of campaigning."

Will McCain disassociate himself from his vice presidential choice? Sarah Palin brought up Obama's connection to Wright in the New York Times yesterday. And is the McCain campaign, in its efforts to get nasty, going to run with this topic despite McCain's earlier statements suggesting Wright is off-limits?

Taliban Sues For Peace, Says It Has Split With Al Qaeda

The Taliban has made news recently with its stepped-up and increasingly deadly attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan. But behind the scenes, its leaders have for the past two years been laboring to open a dialogue with the Afghan government aimed at bringing about peace. CNN reports today that the Saudis acted as the intermediary in the first round of talks that occurred over the weekend. Saudi Arabia is a logical choice to broker the talks, the report says, because it allows the U.S. to sidestep a troubled Pakistan, which has had mixed results at best in its counter-insurgency effort. The Saudis are also wary of Iranian meddling in Afghanistan, which could expand Tehran's zone of influence while bleeding U.S. and allied forces in the process.

Mullah Omar (pictured right) was not present in Saudi Arabia (he hasn't been seen since 9/11), but his representatives reportedly told the Afghan government that he is no longer allied with Osama Bin Laden. The parties ended the initial round of discussions by agreeing that violence will not solve the conflict in Afghanistan and agreed to meet again in two months.

Contractors Investigate Contractors In Iraq

It's now been over a year since Blackwater contractors opened fire in a Baghdad traffic circle, killing 17 Iraqi civilians and wounding 24 others. (To date, no one has been charged with a crime, but six Blackwater guards received target letters from the Justice Department in August, indicating that indictments could soon follow.) The shootings set off a firestorm of media criticism and a renewed effort in Congress to rein in the private security free-for-all in Iraq.

To that effect, the State Department, acknowledging problems with the collection of evidence at Baghdad's Nisoor Square, established a special force tasked with investigating suspected contractor crimes. According to State Department Undersecretary for Management, the new Force Investigation Unit (FIU) was to be "composed of State Department employees." But in a twist that should not surprise any of us at this point, it turns out that more than half of the new unit is staffed with private contractors. According to ABC News, eight members of the FIU are on loan from the U.S. Investigations Services (USIS), a private company, in an "apparent violation of federal regulations that prohibit such work by contractors."

Senator Russel Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, recently fired off a letter to Condoleezza Rice calling the use of private contractors to investigate other private contractors "highly troubling" and demanded that all FIU positions be filled by federal employees. "Anything less will further exacerbate tensions within Iraq and the region caused by our perceived failure to hold U.S. contractors accountable for misuse of force against civilians," he wrote.

The State Department has yet to respond.

Photo used under a Creative Commons license from James Gordon.

Doonesbury Reads Mother Jones

If you take a look at today's Doonsebury, you'll notice an emerging storyline of the campaign that started here at MoJo.

In four panels, Garry Trudeau puts forward a question everyone should be asking: how can John McCain blame our financial woes on Wall Street's lobbyists when 83 current and former Wall Street lobbyists work for his campaign? Shouldn't someone get fired? McCain likes to say that as president he'll ferret out the worst earmarkers in Congress and "make 'em famous!" In that spirit, we published the names of those 83 lobbyists and the financial industry clients they work for on our blog. Now, apparently, those names are working their way into popular culture.

We don't know if Trudeau is a fan of Mother Jones, but we're fans of his.

Wildlife Preservation: A Cheney Tale

Yesterday, Vice President Dick Cheney spoke at the White House Conference on North American Wildlife Policy. In a statement that may surprise you and a number of environmental groups, Cheney said, "President Bush made wildlife conservation an early and a high priority of his administration. We've carried out that commitment in these eight years."

There's reason to question whether wildlife conservation is really a high priority in the Bush Administration. It's refusal to act on global warming for years, despite the fact that the changing climate threatens wildlife habitats, throws its commitment into doubt. The same goes for the Administration's plan to gut the Endangered Species Act, its refusal to address upcoming mass extinctions, and its willingness to let jeep enthusiasts run roughshod over the West's wide open spaces. The League of Conservation Voters says, "The Bush administration has arguably been the most anti-environmental in our nation’s history."

I have another reason to doubt Cheney's commitment in particular.

A McCain Flip-Flop on Osama bin Laden?

On August 7, 1998, hundreds of people were killed when terrorists detonated car bombs at the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Almost immediately, the United States had evidence that a little-known group called al Qaeda was complicit in the attacks. Though al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden had been plotting against the United States for years, this act of mass-murder won the band of Islamic terrorists and its leaders worldwide infamy. Weeks after the attack, President Clinton fired scores of Tomahawk missiles at a suspected al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, and he also attacked a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan his administration claimed was a chemical weapons plant.

Ten years later, this past August 7, John McCain released a statement on the anniversary of the embassy bombings. It was a harsh indictment of the Clinton administration and others who in McCain's estimation had not regarded the threat of al Qaeda with sufficient seriousness back then:

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the al Qaeda terrorist attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 225 people, including 12 Americans, and injured thousands others. The attacks made it painfully clear that al Qaeda's terrorist call to arms to attack Americans anywhere in the world was not an empty threat. The attacks proved the vulnerability of U.S. installations overseas, and demonstrated -- to any that needed further evidence -- that al Qaeda was a well-funded, organized and treacherous terrorist organization determined to kill Americans. Tragically, the U.S. response to the 1998 embassy bombings was wholly inadequate in addressing the threat posed by Al Qaeda despite the horrific toll of the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. Too many Clinton Administration officials refused to act effectively to counter the dangers posed by al Qaeda. Three years later, al Qaeda's commitment to kill was devastatingly brought to our soil.

But at the time--even after the embassy bombings--McCain, too, was slow to recognize the nature of the threat posed by al Qaeda and bin Laden. Weeks after these attacks, he even came across as dismissive of bin Laden as a danger and showed no enthusiasm for hunting down this terrorist and his al Qaeda allies. And he did so in a Mother Jones interview.

In mid-September 1998, journalist Jason Vest, on assignment for the magazine, conducted an hour-long interview with McCain. At the time, McCain's efforts to pass campaign finance reform and anti-tobacco legislation had made him, as Vest put it, "the darling of political reporters." Much of the interview covered issues of money and politics. But with the embassy bombings still in the news, Vest asked McCain about bin Laden and how to deal with terrorism. The following exchange ensued:

Springsteen Does an Obama for Obama

Throughout convention week in Denver in August, the word swirled that Bruce Springsteen would appear the final night. It did not happen. And for Democrats, that was a good thing. Barack Obama--accused by foes of being too glamorous--did not need a rock star on the set on his big night (though Sheryl Crow and Stevie Wonder did appear early in the evening). But Springsteen is indeed doing what he can.

On Saturday, Springsteen appeared at an Obama voter registration rally in Philadelphia. Tens of thousands of people were there. He performed a thirty-minute acoustic set. But he also speechified. And he practically outdid Obama in political eloquence:

I am glad to be here today for this voter registration drive and for Barack Obama, the next President of the United States. I've spent 35 years writing about America, its people, and the meaning of the American Promise. The Promise that was handed down to us, right here in this city from our founding fathers, with one instruction: Do your best to make these things real. Opportunity, equality, social and economic justice, a fair shake for all of our citizens, the American idea, as a positive influence, around the world for a more just and peaceful existence. These are the things that give our lives hope, shape, and meaning. They are the ties that bind us together and give us faith in our contract with one another.

I've spent most of my creative life measuring the distance between that American promise and American reality. For many Americans, who are today losing their jobs, their homes, seeing their retirement funds disappear, who have no healthcare, or who have been abandoned in our inner cities. The distance between that promise and that reality has never been greater or more painful.

MoJo Audio: Linguist Robin Lakoff Analyzes Sarah Palin's Accent

Last night after the veep debate, my friends and I couldn't stop doing the Sarah Palin accent. But is she the only candidate on the campaign trail who sounds like where she comes from? And does she do it on purpose? I called on Robin Lakoff, a professor of sociolinguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, for some straight talk about the speech patterns of Sarah Palin, Joe Biden, John McCain, and Barack Obama.

In this podcast, Lakoff explains how Obama and McCain's speech have evolved since we talked last year during primary season—and why there's more to Palin's speech than her Wasilla ways.

Visiting "Foreclosure Alley"

If you've got 10 free minutes and a strong stomach, watch this report on a community destroyed by foreclosures. There's video of deserted houses, still filled with TVs, computers, photographs, and other belongings, and an interview with a man who lives on a cul-de-sac of empty homes. He's literally the only one left. Pretty heartbreaking stuff.

Sarah Palin: Not a Charitable Conservative?

On Friday afternoon, the McCain-Palin camp released the last two years of Sarah Palin's taxes. (Only the last two?) The campaign's summary notes that Sarah and Todd Palin had a gross income of $166,080 in 2007, her first year as governor. The couple donated $2500 to charity that year and also made "non-cash" donations of $825. This represented 1.5 percent of their adjusted gross income.

The average American donates about 3.1 percent of his or her income to charity. Many churches recommend tithing 10 percent.

If I Were an Obama Strategist, Here's How I'd Spend the Next Month

Aside from even one word about poverty, minorities, or the underclass in last night's VP debate, I was most waiting to hear Sarah Palin questioned about her "maverick" boss's role in making sure that America neither knew, nor cared, about the fate of its Viet Nam era POWs. If there's ever a better time to delve into exactly how the "party of patriotism" feels about inconvenient soldiers (they were slowing up the peace process), I hope I don't live to see it.

Like most Americans, I existed in a pre-war, pre-Gitmo state of annoyed disbelief whenever some bug-eyed Pinko insisted we'd left soldiers behind when we left Viet Nam. This is America: we don't, we'd never, do such a thing. But since we started extraordinarily rendering folks to places like Egypt and Syria so they could be tortured, since we continue a war aimed largely at enriching companies like KBR and Halliburton, when it's clear that Wall Street will be allowed to do absolutely anything it likes to Main Street (let alone MLK Blvd, as SNL so aptly put it) I no longer roll my eyes when presented with such evidence. Instead, I have to fight bitter tears when my kindergartener comes home proudly reciting the Pledge of Allegiance she's just learned. "With truth and justice for all?" Gets me every time. It makes me so angry and ashamed, I have to look away as I hypocritically applaud her recitation of those increasingly hollow words.

Bailout Bill Passes; Leading Dem Skeptic Issues Statement

Republicans got most of the attention (or blame) for stopping the bailout bill when it was first brought up in the House on Monday. But many Democrats, including members of a bipartisan group that called itself the "skeptics caucus," also voted no. Unfortunately for the skeptics, the bill just passed, 263-171. Over 170 Democrats and 90 Republicans voted for the bill, with 108 Republicans and just 63 Democrats voting no (down from 95 on Monday). Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), a no vote who led the skeptics caucus, has issued a statement:

Mission Creep Dispatch: Mark Selden

As part of our special investigation "Mission Creep: US Military Presence Worldwide," we asked a host of military thinkers to contribute their two cents on topics relating to global Pentagon strategy. (You can access the archive here.)

The following dispatch comes from Mark Selden, coordinator of The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus and a research associate with the East Asia program at Cornell University. His books include War & State Terrorism: The United States, Japan, and the Asia Pacific in the Long Twentieth Century.

Guns Before Butter: Why America Is Losing Clout to Asia

America's domination of the Pacific after World War II hinged on the combination of direct control of Japan, Okinawa, Korea, and the Philippines—and Micronesia in the form of a US trust territory—and the associated network of US military bases. While the bombs had ceased pummeling European cities, Asia remained a critical zone of hot war. After Japan's defeat, the US intervened in the Chinese Civil War in 1947, followed by the Korean and Vietnam wars—both of which directly or indirectly pitted the US against China and the Soviet Union. It was in Asia that the US learned the limits of power, if not the limits of arrogance. Defeated in China and Indochina, it was fought to a standstill in Korea despite overwhelming technological and resource dominance.

GOP Kills Tougher Iran Sanctions Bill

This week, legislation that had passed overwhelmingly in the House, that would have broadened US Iran sanctions to ban US dealings with Iran through foreign subsidiaries, and trade with foreign entities that deal with Iran's energy industry, was set to come for a vote in the Senate. The legislation, supported by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, was opposed by business groups and the Bush administration, which feared it would lead to further fissures in the international coalition the U.S. has tried to assemble to pressure Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program.

But as JTA reports, the legislation was blocked by Senate Republicans. Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Co) "exercised his prerogative Thursday to object to consideration of legislation that had passed overwhelmingly last week in the U.S. House of Representatives," the news service writes.

"Both the White House and business groups were concerned with the extraterritorial aspects of the bill," Washington trade attorney Douglas Jacobson explained. "Business groups were also opposed to the divestment aspects. The White House has threatened to veto similar bills many times on grounds that it interferes with the executive branch's ability to conduct foreign policy."

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) criticized Republican efforts to derail the measure, which is now considered unlikely to come up for a vote again before Congress completes its session this weekend. “I am disappointed that the Republicans yesterday blocked the Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2008 from moving forward in the Senate," Reid said in a statement.

"Let's Cover This Nation in Prayer For Sarah Palin"

The Internet brings the world to your fingertips. You can buy books, read news, get directions, reserve a table at your favorite restaurant, listen to music, or any number of other things. But did you know that you can also engage in "a spiritual war in the heavenlies... where battles are won or lost?" So says Vicki Garza, a Dallas advertising executive, who launched a new website where you can direct your prayers—online, virtually—to Sarah Palin and her family.

Here's the idea, according to Garza:

Many people are excited about the thought of having a strong believer like Sarah Palin in office but how many of us can say that we pray for her daily? This website is dedicated to doing just that. Whoever would like to make a commitment to pray for Sarah Palin can go to www.prayforsarahpalin.com and enter their zip code. A marker will automatically be placed on the prayer coverage map, which can be viewed live in Google maps. There are approximately 43,000 zip codes in the United States. Our goal is to have people praying for Sarah Palin in every zip code. I believe prayer changes things.

Not a fan a Sarah Palin? No problem. Turns out the Internet is brimming with ways to channel your psychic energy to the politician of your choice. Would you prefer to include McCain in your prayers (I mean, the way things are going for him lately, he could use the help)? Well, visit prayformccainpalin.com. Is Obama more to your liking? Worry not. You can pray for him and his friend Joe here. Oh, and at the risk of "pointing backwards again," as Palin put it at last night's debate, you can also offer up your prayers for President Bush.

I can't speak for the one in the heavenlies, but the spiritual battle online is raging.

Heavens, Another Must-Watch Palin/Couric Clip

CBS continues its quest to destroy the McCain campaign by releasing another interview clip that makes Sarah Palin look utterly unprepared for the vice presidency. (I was wrong yesterday when I said the can't-name-a-Supreme-Court-decision clip was the final one.) Try to watch this one and not snicker.

Watch CBS Videos Online

Am I crazy or is this the sort of answer Jay Leno might get while questioning a random person in a Jaywalking bit? "Hey buddy, come over here. What's the worse thing Dick Cheney has done in the last eight years?" "Uh, I dunno Jay. I don't really follow the news. He shot that old guy, right? That was pretty bad!"

Post Debate Snap Polls from CNN Show Little Changes for Palin

Here are some poll numbers CNN aired directly after the debate. Check out the last two.

Who did the best job In the debate?
Biden - 51%
Palin - 36%

Biden did better or worse than expected?
64% - better
14% - worse
20% - same

Palin did better or worse than expected?
84% - better
7% - worse
8% - same

Palin qualified to serve as President?

Before debate:
42% - yes
54% - no

After debate
46% - yes
53% - no

Despite the fact that a vast majority of watchers thought Palin did better than expected in the debate, just 4 percent came away with their minds changed about her qualifications for the presidency. That suggests that the environment is just so poisoned for Palin, or her lack of experience is so thorough and so well-known, that there is simply nothing she can do to convince people she belongs in the game.

Veep Debate: An End to the Sarah Palin Reality TV Show

For the past few weeks, it's seemed as if Sarah Palin has been a contestant in the ultimate version of the reality show America's Toughest Jobs. She passed the first challenge: give a Big Speech. She did fine on the next one: hit the campaign trail. She royally screwed up the third challenge: give a Big Interview. Then came the most difficult one: hold your own in a Big Debate. And she did.

For 90 minutes Governor Palin, who had become a bleeding ulcer for the McCain campaign, stuck to well-crafted talking points, recited them with passion and conviction, and played the part of the spunky, down-home, up-North middle-class-mom-turned-governor well. She did not demonstrate much depth in policy knowledge, but she managed to display treading-water familiarity with the obvious issues of the day. (Media and advocacy group factcheckers will soon be producing the list of her factual misrepresentations.) It helped that moderator Gwen Ifill did not pose questions that might push her off her script. Palin repeated buzz phrases--"greed and corruption of Wall Street," for instance--over and over. (She was obviously coached to use the word maverick repeatedly, former Republican Senator Rick Santorum observed after the debate.) For some viewers, her autopilot replies might be a turnoff. But for conservatives and independents who want to like her, she probably performed well enough--and she probably performed well enough to stop the hemorrhaging she had caused the campaign.

Which means that perhaps John McCain will return to center stage, as Palin--and her uninformed responses to Katie Couric's questions--becomes less of an issue.