Category: Politics
Birthers, and the Undead
This past weekend a loyal MM reader reminded me that I have as yet been mum on the topic of the “birthers,” and shame on me. They are, after all, one of the biggest purveyors of political misinformation since the Swift Boaters and more than deserved to be busted, debunked, and hopefully, defused. And I… More →
Posted on August 21, 2009 by Brook – 
1 Comment
Politics | Tagged death panels
Independence Day debunking
As if to answer my prayers for mythography inspiration, the always-genius NPR program On The Media stepped into my vacation-induced void with their July 3rd program all about debunking national myths. Some of their debunking targets: Rosa Parks as meek older lady whose feet were just too tired to move to the back of the… More →
Posted on July 14, 2009 by Brook – 1 Comment
Politics | Tagged debunking, mythography, NPR
Debunking debunking
To debunk, from the Oxford English Dictionary, transitive verb: To remove the ‘nonsense’ or false sentiment from; to expose false claims or pretensions; hence, to remove a person from his ‘pedestal’ or ‘pinnacle’. Also absolute. Hence debunker, one who debunks; or debunking. As one W. E. Woodward apparently said in 1923, “De-bunking means simply taking… More →
Posted on June 14, 2009 by Brook – Leave a comment
Buchenwald vs. Balfour
Two days after his historic Cairo speech, President Obama made an appearance at the ruins of the German concentration camp Buchenwald, calling the chilling site the “ultimate rebuke” to Holocaust denial, of which Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been the most insidious recent example. It seemed a brilliant rhetorical move: take the cultural capital and… More →
Posted on June 07, 2009 by Brook – Leave a comment
Politics | Tagged Holocaust, Israel, Obama, pragmatism
Sticks, Stones, Words
Allow me to be naive for a moment here. I know President Obama’s Cairo speech didn’t really say anything new; it didn’t set out specific policy initiatives; he gave it in a country run by a totalitarian regime. But part of me wants to stand up and applaud in my pajamas watching the speech on… More →
Posted on June 05, 2009 by Brook – 5 Comments
Angels and Scientists
The release of a Da Vinci Code franchise always unleashes a flurry of debunking. Is there really an Illuminati? Can you really do that with a particle collider? According to an excellent essay by Dennis Overbye, director Ron Howard is well aware that the quasi-believability of author Dan Brown’s fictions are part of what gives… More →
Posted on June 03, 2009 by Brook – Leave a comment
Politics | Tagged culture wars, debunking, movies
Puerco de Mayo Strikes Again!
Though the swine flu itself is not spreading as fast as anyone feared, the epidem-mythology hasn’t slowed. The misinformation has spread from pork manufacturers to subway riders to the entire nation of Mexico. It’s not just the Israeli government who would prefer to associate the H1N1 flu strain with the Mexicans than with swine. China… More →
Posted on May 05, 2009 by Brook – 3 Comments
History, Politics | Tagged Mexico, New Jersey, swine flu
Culture Wars: Winning the Peace
According to cultural critic Frank Rich, the culture wars are over. Between the economic crisis and the election of a President who has bridged the red-state/blue-state divide, and the accompanying splintering of the religious right, Rich argues, we have no time for the “divisive moral scolds” that haunted us in the Bush era. Stem-cell research… More →
Posted on April 13, 2009 by Brook – 1 Comment
