coldhearted scientist وداد

The principal whiteman of this hour is, of course, the McCain/Palin campaign. Momo has a relevant post, and the Anxious Black Woman has another. Fortunately Christopher Buckley, William F. Buckley’s son, sees beyond the Republican smoke bombs and says this:

Obama has in him—I think, despite his sometimes airy-fairy “We are the people we have been waiting for” silly rhetoric—the potential to be a good, perhaps even great leader. He is, it seems clear enough, what the historical moment seems to be calling for. So, I wish him all the best. We are all in this together. Necessity is the mother of bipartisanship. And so, for the first time in my life, I’ll be pulling the Democratic lever in November. As the saying goes, God save the United States of America.

That is excellent news but I still say we must remain vigilant. It is not over until it is over, so we must get out the vote. The best critique of the Obama/Biden campaign is by Clio Bluestocking, and it is really a critique of the Republican and Republicanesque rhetoric into which Democrats now often slip as well.

A passive whiteman is my student who is voting third party without realizing what a McCain/Palin victory would really mean. I have often voted third party myself and although I do not think this is a time to do it, I understand the people who have told me they cannot bring themselves to vote for Obama after his FISA vote (and a few other things), and that they are voting further left. I understand them as well as I do those who actually agree more with McCain’s positions than with Obama’s. But my student is voting against both for impressionistic reasons and I would really like to be able to talk about history in class. It would not actually be un-germane to our topic but I cannot afford complaints even though I am tenured, y yo sé perfectamente donde vivo. Some can away with having this kind of discussion – if, for instance, they are foreigners seen to be bringing news of the view from abroad, or men seen to have (therefore) knowledge and not just opinions. And I am neither.

A third whiteman said: you are so much better at administration than I, can you please write the funding proposal for my service initiative? I have been saying no to this request for eight days but it is a service initiative I would like to see succeed for my own reasons. The daily request came again this morning. I wrote the proposal this afternoon, signed my own name, pressed send, and listed it on my annual activities report. That is why I am in grading jail tonight while others go to the movies or polish their manuscripts. I had planned to polish a manuscript of mine tonight but there is paperwork which must be walked around campus for what is now my service initiative. I expect to polish my manuscript at lunch. I will allow no interruptions.

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WordPress does not allow advertising. I just spammed a commercial comment full of hyperlinks but due to its specific nature I will post it here, minus the links, in case it is actually useful to any of you.

“I just found a good source of education jobs and teaching job [listings] you should be aware of, a new site called EducationCrossing. . . .”

I personally suspect that it is an imperfect aggregator and that you are better off using the listing services you already know of. But as I say, this could conceivably be of use to some.

Axé.