The latest wrinkle in the Prop. 8 whodunit blame game comes from FiveThirtyEight's adorkable Nate Silver, who breaks down the demographics on the California vote. "Certainly, the No on 8 folks might have done a better job of outreach to California's black and Latino communities. But the notion that Prop 8 passed because of the Obama turnout surge is silly", he claims. Instead, he says the numbers place the blame at the feet of older voters across all demographics:
The good news for supporters of marriage equity is that — and there's no polite way to put this — the older voters aren't going to be around for all that much longer, and they'll gradually be cycled out and replaced by younger voters who grew up in a more tolerant era. Everyone knew going in that Prop 8 was going to be a photo finish — California might be just progressive enough and 2008 might be just soon enough for the voters to affirm marriage equity. Or, it might fall just short, which is what happened. But two or four or six or eight years from now, it will get across the finish line.
THE WORLD REACTS "'Because Obama has won, we will have a change in the whole world. And for that I will slaughter a cockerel to celebrate with my family,' said Joseph Otieno, a jubilant Kogelo resident."
Well I'll be! Turns out that not all McCain-Palin rallies are heady hives of sticky-faced clown people calling Barack Obama a terrorist ACORN nigra.
Click through to see video of some Republicans at a Virginia rally – a few of them Muslim – swarming and haranguing two jackasses who are defaming Obama by saying he's an Islamic Communist.
Surprisingly, the guy with the sticker on his head is one of the rational folk.
CONTINUED »
Conservatives are scared to be themselves in Hollywood, America. Shockingly, the city by the sea, a liberal den of drugs, booze, loose women, Jews, gays and Will Smith, SHUNS YOU if you're Republican.
Why are you doing this to Kelsey Grammer, haters!? Is it because his Republican party famously slashes with glee funding for both the NEA and PBS? Is it because conservative groups like the Parents Television Council do their best to censor the hard work of writers, producers and actors? NO!!!! It's because Republicans are different, and liberals hate anyone different from them.
After the jump, let's listen to some famous conservatives moan about not being invited to join in any of the reindeer games.
ARE POLITICS KILLING MOVIE STARS? "Leonardo DiCaprio is a big supporter of saving the planet. George Clooney is always at the U.N., trying to prevent more mass murder and starvation in Darfur. Matt Damon recently criticized Sarah Palin, saying if she were elected vice president it would be 'like a really bad Disney movie–'The Hockey Mom.' ' Agree or disagree with their stands–would that really stop you from seeing their movies? If you ask conservatives, the answer is yes. … According to [one conservative blog]: 'Many Americans no longer trust Hollywood not to insult their beliefs and values…. the fall of the movie star … might have something to do with their strident and boorish politicking. Even Americans in sympathy with what DiCaprio and Clooney believe don't want to be scolded about the environment by the private jet, mansion-dwelling crowd.'"
Well, this explains quite a lot.
Political scientists Brendan Nyhan and Jason Reifler provided two groups of volunteers with the Bush administration's prewar claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. One group was given a refutation — the comprehensive 2004 Duelfer report that concluded that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction before the United States invaded in 2003. Thirty-four percent of conservatives told only about the Bush administration's claims thought Iraq had hidden or destroyed its weapons before the U.S. invasion, but 64 percent of conservatives who heard both claim and refutation thought that Iraq really did have the weapons. The refutation, in other words, made the misinformation worse.
A similar "backfire effect" also influenced conservatives told about Bush administration assertions that tax cuts increase federal revenue. One group was offered a refutation by prominent economists that included current and former Bush administration officials. About 35 percent of conservatives told about the Bush claim believed it; 67 percent of those provided with both assertion and refutation believed that tax cuts increase revenue.
That's right, show a conservative evidence explaining that what he formerly believed to be truth is actually a lie, he'll then hold on to the lie even tighter. This effect existed only among conservatives in the study.
Draw your own conclusions here, because when we draw ours, people have a tendency to lose their shit. We will tell you our friend's reaction to the information: "There's a disdain for education, like the fucking dark ages."
Fox News' efforts to cover the "far left" groups gathering in Denver were met with a bit of creative criticism, like a crowd chanting "Fuck Fox News." Hold onto your hairdo, Griff Jenkins!
This photo of yesterday's Japanese premiere of Sex and the City: The Movie shows us that our friends in the East got what many Americans didn't: that that show/movie was more "ridiculous sideshow" than "elegant soiree."
[Source]
Editor
