Thursday, October 16, 2008

Air Quotes Are Dangerous Things



Gut reacton: Dude, those are actual living people you're talking about.

Setting aside the atypically far-right stance on abortion he took last night (he usually hedges his bets a bit better) what's kind of interesting here is that odds are, Senator McCain is blind to the emotional connotation of the air quotes. He wanted to highlight the word "health" -- like I just did right there -- banged out the air quotes and those combined with his really, really angry tone last night pushed the delivery into outright scorn.

You can see it happening, too. McCain think he has Obama, (based on a lie, but we'll let that ghost on by) but then Obama's giving one of his grown-up nuanced answers, which in McCain's head is "That sonuvabitch is trying to weasel out of the question like he always does and no one's going to notice-why-doesn't-anyone-notice-GAAARRGHHHH".

McCain monomaniacally goes after what he feels is the "weasel" part of Obama's argument, completely ignoring what the "weasel" part of the means to people in the sense of the larger argument.

Unfortunately, that part of the argument is the one that keeps a woman from dying in the delivery room against her will. Whoops.

And -- as is often ignored -- from a man's point of view: that part of the argument is the one that keeps your wife from dying in the delivery room because some asshole said she had to. Big fucking whoops.

According to a Time poll, "Health of the mother" along with exceptions for rape or incest victims jumps support for abortion rights from 46% to 86%. "Health of the mother" is one of the few terms which punches an empathic hole right through the walls of the abortion factions, because, well, see above.

Again, I don't actually believe McCain is openly scornful of the "health of the mother" in this issue, but his anger towards Obama made him seem so. It's fascinating -- in fiction we often create characters undone by a single, glaring flaw, for illustrative purposes. But here in the real world, we can see that every problem John McCain had in his presidential campaign was created by his lack of impulse control. A life, a character literally unravelled by his own anger.

55 comments:

The Minstrel Boy said...

mcCain does have contempt for "the health of the mother." he not only doesn't want abortion to be legal, safe, and a personal choice between a doctor and a patient. he wants control.

how folks who decry government intrusion into people's lives can stomach that level of micromanagement has always baffled me.

Juancho said...

I can't really add anything to this. You've seen the GIF going around on the Interwebz this morning, no?

R.A. Porter said...

Had McCain been ahead in the polls prior to this moment, his sc/air quotes would have been the equivalent of Monty Burns spitting out the fish.

Even behind in the polls it's close to that level.

nolo said...

Oh, he does too have contempt for the health of the mother. He was dripping with it.

Doctor Memory said...

By way of explanation, it's been an article of faith for years among the religious right that "health of the mother" exceptions are trojan horses for justifying abortions based on the mental health of the mother -- mental health being of course a totally imaginary thing that will resolve itself if you simply pray more.

This was just the most recent of McCain's increasingly desperate attempts to rally the god-bothering base of the republican party, who have regarded him as untrustworthy ever since he dared to question the munificence of Jerry Fallwell back in the 90s. Sadly, it's a failure coming and going: the dominionists were never going to trust him again no matter what, and every time he licks their butt in public he loses another percentage point of support among the ethnic white moderates who were nominally his personal core of support to begin with.

I'd feel sorry for him, but the game is the game.

Kathleen said...

the shock on my face when he did that....I couldn't believe it. How dare he.

I know "out of touch" gets thrown around so much it is almost meaningless, but I can't think of a more accurate phrase. maybe "tone deaf".

Zed said...

While it's not entirely related to this particular post, I'm curious about your thoughts on the election in your _other_ country of occasional residence...

Cunningham said...

And let's scope in on the term "pro-abortion".

No one is "pro-abortion".

What they are is "pro-choice", which means they are adults who respect the rights of adults to make adult decisions concerning their own bodies even if they don't necessarily agree.

And if McCain is anti-abortion then he needs to fund contraception and education amongst teens and the poor.

If not - then he should shut his pie-hole.

R.A. Porter said...

@cunningham, I'm on your side, but...
1. Several forms of contraception are abortifacients
2. Contraception makes sex outside marriage - outside the procreative act - safer and more appealing
3. Education (by some) is believed to make people want sex outside marriage and procreative act.

I don't buy into the third item on that list, am happy about #2, and don't care about #1. But McCain and the moral police care. They don't just want abortion to stop; they want our "moral decay" to end.

Shan said...

Health can mean anything?

Then how about putting it in and defining it?

What a stupid argument.

Anonymous said...

This is probably more in keeping with the flow of comments than the post itself.

The legislature of morality is the biggest lack of focus by Christians today. In no way is it a directive of scripture that I can see (as a student educated at a fairly prominent Christian University for a time). Regardless of what one might personally feel about abortion, I don't see the political focus in scripture.

The whole idea of the church was to remain underground. Convince people personally, in their personal lives, and let that spread organically.

I despise seeing an issue like abortion politicized as it so often is. Especially when it is done with a callous tone that indicates that some who share parts of the conservative opinion on this particular issue are too stupid to recognize gray area and complexity on life or death issues.

I'm more libertarian than anything else, even as a person of faith, and I'm getting sick and tired of this kind of stuff being used by the Republicans as they do. The face of faith is changing as my generation comes into its own. And with it the "base" of the Republican party is becoming more and more quicksand.

Anonymous said...

It's official. "Maverick" has now become a synonym for asshole.
Somewhere, James Garner is weeping.

Earl Newton said...

I thought McCain had been laying out some good points prior to last night's debate, but by the end of it, I thought the wheels had come completely off.

His statement of "If you want to run against Bush you're four years late" was a stinger, I thought, but then he followed up with, "If [a candidate] supports Roe V. Wade, I think that makes him unqualified to be a Supreme Court judge. But I don't have a litmus test."

Almost his exact words. I rewound it twice.

Anonymous said...

"If [a candidate] supports Roe V. Wade, I think that makes him unqualified to be a Supreme Court judge. But I don't have a litmus test."

Almost his exact words. I rewound it twice.


That's not necessarily a contradiction. After all, McCain could have meant "litmus test" in the very specific and technical meaning of promising not to base his Supreme Court nominations on the relative proportion of OH- to H+ ions within any person's particular body chemistry. It's not a lie, it's actually being super-duper truthful - "My opponent claims to use a litmus test, but in reality he's never once expressed any interest in the alkalinity of any judicial nominee!"

R.A. Porter said...

@alex, you are correct. And John McCain only supports judges who are basic in their interpretation of the Constitution.

I made a little animated gif of our boy John Sidney sc/air quoting. Have it if y'all want it. It's right above the clip from "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish" here.

Anonymous said...

"His statement of "If you want to run against Bush you're four years late" was a stinger,..."

Unless it's from a guy who's 'with Bush' voting percentage has climbed to 90% or more, and who's on tape as bragging about voting with Bush more than most Republican Senators.

-Barry

Hawise Gadarn said...

r.a. porter-
1. Several forms of contraception are abortifacients

This cannot be true- a contraceptive prevents the sperm from fertilizing the egg which makes a pregnancy impossible. An abortifacient causes an implanted fertilized egg/zygote/embryo/foetus to separate from the placenta thus ending a pregnancy. This is basic biology and the failure to understand it is the primary reason that the abortion debate has become a muddy hell of legal decisions based on an irrational fear of things that don't necessarily exist. An abortion is the ending of a pregnancy and it includes when the foetus has already died but has not been expelled by the body. It is a (literally) messy area of women's health and the greatest problem is that in trying to stop some abortions access to all abortions is limited and inaccessible at need.

McCain reminds me of the people (and yes mostly men) who argue against abortions for any reason and yet when you ask "what about the mother?" they are flummoxed. They honestly don't connect abortion to an actual living, breathing, at risk human being who could die due to numerous pregnancy related causes. For them pregnancy is a perfect state that has no downside and why could anyone want to end such a dream-like condition. They are honestly delusional enough to ignore the realities of pregnancy to advocate against the health and moral integrity of half th world's population.

R.A. Porter said...

@hawise gadarn: While I understand the hair-splitting you're engaging in over definitions, most people still consider IUDs and RU-486 to be contraceptives, despite their mode of operation. Please do not presume to know my level of biological knowledge to support your position.

Hawise Gadarn said...

I appreciate the response but I disagree that what I am doing is hairsplitting. The insistence by so many to resist proper usage is what causes people to class the various methods and medications available in the wrong areas. This results in people banning contraceptives that would reduce the use of abortifacients. I would appreciate it if people who know what is what would just use the proper terms and stop giving in to the easy out. The more people insist on proper usage the sooner it becomes regular usage.

R.A. Porter said...

@hawise gadarn: Thank you for your thoughtful response. My fundamental problem is that I'm a descriptivist. People use terms the way they use them, and trying to bend the will of the many for some linguistic ideal is a painful and pointless pursuit.

I would further point out that a large number of people consider even true contraceptives to be morally wrong, what with spilling the seed, and all. So even if everyone agreed that contraceptives and abortifacients were separate classes, there would be a large number who would not care.

Hawise Gadarn said...

r.a. porter- I am well aware that for some contraception is immoral and I am related to a few. The interesting thing is that they usually use the correct terms for the various methods because they take such a strong stand and for them there is no need to obfuscate. It is the majority in the middle and the young just figuring these things out who are often confused by the willingness of people to take the easy linguistic out. We have so underestimated the power of words that we are literally damaging our ability to communicate.
It is not pointless to try to bring a good basic vocabulary back into usage, it is just hard. The fact we are graduating college students with a vocabulary that, 50 years ago, would have been considered grade school level is disheartening.

Unknown said...

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Anonymous said...

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obat wasir said...



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Unknown said...

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Unknown said...

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Unknown said...

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Unknown said...

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Unknown said...

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Unknown said...

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Unknown said...

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Unknown said...

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Cara Mengobati Wasir Ambeien said...

MANTAB * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

obar herbal manjur alami said...

MANTAB * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *******

Unknown said...

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Unknown said...

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penyakit kencing nanah dan infeksi saluran kencing nanah dapat dilakukan
dengan benar.

Pengobatan Ambeien Wasir said...

wkwkwkwkwkwkwkwkwkwkwkwkwkwkwkwkwkwkwkwkwk

Unknown said...

Kadang disertai
dengan sakit saat kencing, perih, organ intim terasa panas menyiksa,
gatal,..

kLINIK oBAT mANJUR said...

Bismillahhirrohmaanirrokhim.... *********************************

Unknown said...

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Cara Mengobati Wasir Ambeien said...

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Unknown said...

Ambeien bisa mengeluarkan darah(seperti invander salim yang terkena ambeien dan mengeluarkan darah)

Unknown said...

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saya ingin menjelaskan sekilas tentang ambeien, agar kita semua bisa
memahami benar apa itu penyakit ambeien

Unknown said...

obat wasir, Adalah  Obat alami berkhasiat dalam bentuk kapsul yang berasal dari tanaman herbal seperti daun ungu, mahkota dewa dan kunyit putih, diberikan pada penderita jika penyakit masih dalam tingkatan stadium ringan

kLINIK oBAT mANJUR said...

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obar herbal manjur alami said...

???????????????????????????????????????

obar herbal manjur alami said...

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kLINIK oBAT mANJUR said...

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Unknown said...

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kLINIK oBAT mANJUR said...

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Anonymous said...

Assalamualaikum wr.wb, Salam Sehat semuanya. numpang komen ya gan.

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Pengobatan Ambeien Wasir said...

SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG SAYANG

Unknown said...

 Apabila menemukan ada daging atau seperti Kutil yang tumbuh di area kemaluan atau alat ...

Unknown said...

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