This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It first appeared on the Substack blog Can We Still Govern?
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1417545
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1417545
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And of course Andrew Sullivan fell for it.
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Very important story. It would be great if it were widely read. Not holding my breath, however.
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I Googled “andrew sullivan asshole”.
The results were beyond counting.
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What it tells us is that they’re so starved for cash that getting a click matters more than having a reputation.
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Adjusted for accuracy…
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I’ve been saying that the Corporate Controlled Conservative Press will lie any lie for the Republican Party and this is more proof.
As for that Tory Twit Sullivan don’t forget how he glorified The Bell Curve while he was turning The New Republic into The New Republican.
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I still read Sullivan (what can I say, I’m a glutton for punishment). Here’s one of his latest:
The acronyms are Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Great Replacement Theory (GRT) for the uninitiated.
And, yes, he is equating the two as basically two sides of the same coin:
In fact, it is a liberalism that fuels and empowers, legitimizes and provokes white nationalism. It sees race first; it sees groups rather than individuals; it denies the possibility of color-blind citizenship; and it sees white people as a “problem” — in Jon Stewart’s formula — bigoted until proven otherwise, inherently oppressive, a race to be stigmatized and diluted as quickly and as broadly as possible. And this form of racial essentialism — this anti-white racism — is now propagated by every major cultural, corporate and educational institution as if it were God’s own truth.
And this is the trap we are in. CRT and GRT are in a deadly and poisonous dance in our culture. They foster ever-increasing levels of racial identity in each other; they demonize whole populations because of skin color; they both believe liberal democracy is rigged against them; and the logic of their mutual, absolutist racial politics is civil conflict, not democratic deliberation.
Apparently, acknowledging racism exists and still present in our society is the same as believing white people are deliberately being replaced. You really can’t make this sh*t up anymore.
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The sad part of this is that it has poisoned the atmosphere and will make it much more difficult for the school system to implement fairer grading practices. Nothing that gives the Blessed Precious a little competition can be acceptable. Try explaining why it’s reasonable to eliminate 0’s from the grade book. Yikes.
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Motivated Reasoning so that’s what the kids are calling it these days. Back in the day it was called payola.
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
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I wonder what Little Awful Andy will post if the corrupted court overturns Obergefell
I already know what that snot will write if Loving is overturned…
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I miss John Stewart being on the Daily Show. I’m surprised conservatives are not pointing to Stewart’s replacement as proving GRT.
I read one Sullivan article, at the time he was supporting the Iraq War. That was more then enough.
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There is no race-based grading or plans to grade students using different standards according to race.
The above sentence is definitive, but it is in the TPM article and not in the school board response to the description of their policy and meeting. You wonder how long it will take folks to learn that using two paragraphs where a single sentence will do is ineffective communication.
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My heart sank when I saw the headline, and I pretty much knew what I would be reading.
This isn’t a low standard of journalism - it isn’t really journalism of any kind. And calling it some kind of motivated reasoning gives it more credit than is due. It is just in your face lying dressed up as some kind of reportage. I remember hearing a story about a guy 5 or 6 years ago who was becoming a small sensation on YouTube where he just made stories up out of whole cloth. He called himself a reporter, but there was nothing he did that resembled reporting besides driving around and carrying a camera and recorder with him. The thing I remember most is he almost came in his pants when Trump re-tweeted one of his bullshit stories about the 2016 election. It gave me an insight into the DeSouza’s and O’Keefe’s of the world and all of their mentors and imitators.
Flood the zone with bullshit indeed. This stuff is really grim and it scares the shit out of me.
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The author totally missed the primary takeaway: The fraud had such success only because it is not at all far-fetched.
I had to stop reading him, but back in the day I ready his Daily Dish religiously.
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Motivated reasoning, a sub species of lie??
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I just retired from a 25 year teaching career. For as long as I can remember, we had separate grades for academic achievement, behavior issues, and student responsibilities (I forget the actual label). None of this was race related. It just made sense to report, say, that a child had mastered their math skills, was struggling with essay writing, got their class work in on time, missed a lot homework, was polite to teachers, rude to classmates, and frequently disobeyed school rules. All separate grades (and dozens more). This school is just trying to avoid conflating academic marks with other things. Who would object to that?
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“Readers can judge for themselves if framing “race based grading” under the name and picture of a female educator of color is a deliberate choice or not. That said, I would not like to see what Ms. Fiorenza’s inbox looks like after this story.”
I’d be much more interested in seeing what her lawyer’s correspondence with LGIS looks like. I would hope it’s voluminous, and contains LOTS of zeros between a dollar sign and decimal point.
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Perhaps I misread the article, but my take away was that “motivated reasoning” addresses the acceptance of false or misleading information, not its production.
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