We need some fun!

I thought this is one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. The pics and video really tickled my funny bone! I hope you enjoy!

If you would like to learn more about these amazing tree climbing moroccan goats, please visit Webecoist.

What’s made you laugh lately? You might have noticed that I’m not picky when it comes to humor, almost anything goes. The image of goats in trees has had me giggling for the last half hour!

OPEN THREAD

The Perverted David Letterman and Other Matters of Concern to Feminists

Cross-posted at Katalusis

For many feminists it was a challenge in 2008 to stand our ground among “liberal” acquaintances venting their hatred of Hillary Clinton in the primary and later on in the general election ripping Sarah Palin to shreds – and not solely on the basis of policy disagreements. As others have pointed out, misogynists in the electorate chastised Hillary for not being feminine enough and then scolded Sarah for the crime of being pretty.

It’s encouraging these days to follow blogs like the Widdershins where sober discussions are held regularly on how best to move forward on issues of women’s rights and the rights of the LGBT community.

Unfortunately, the shock troops in the extreme left-wing blogosphere are still cranked up to assault their main targets with full force. Just check out readers’ comments here defending David Letterman’s right to make perverted jokes at the expense of Sarah Palin and her daughters.

Amy Siskind, president and co-founder of the New Agenda, is stating the obvious in her post titled “Sexism Against Conservative Women is Still Sexism,” while also addressing concerns about the several factions in the feminist movement that surfaced in 2008.

Amy writes:

When is sexism acceptable? The answer should be never. Yet for many feminists in our country, only certain types of women have been worth defending. When a conservative woman is the target of an attack, many so-called feminists stay silent. This “selective sexism”, or speaking out against sexism on a case by case basis, does not advance our national dialogue on women’s issues. Rather, selective sexism allows a dangerous level of permissible sexism to live and breed in our country. The only way for the women of this country to truly move forward is to unite and speak out against all forms of sexism regardless of party or the source of the attack.

When Playboy publishes a piece titled So Right It’s Wrong which is a “hate rape” fantasy of Guy Cambalo targeting ten conservative women, all women (and like-minded men) should be outraged and renounce this immediately. The identity and party affiliation of the 10 women is not of consequence — this is simply a despicable act.

Or when Ms. California, Carrie Prejean, voices her point of view on gay marriage and then becomes the target of an objectifying sexist rant by Keith Olbermann, where’s the outrage? Carrie is entitled to her point of view, and if you don’t agree explain why — don’t diminish her opinion by turning her into a sexual object.

Or when Governor Sarah Palin’s 14 year-old daughter is the subject of a degrading and humiliating joke by David Letterman, how can we let this be part of our culture? How would any one of us feel if this comment were directed at our daughter? And if Governor Palin were Governor “Sam” Palin, would Letterman dare to make that joke?

We all know the answer to that one: the perverted Letterman would not dare to make that joke against Governor “Sam” Palin or any straight male politician. And let’s face it, as far as the extreme left-wing blogosphere is concerned, bigotry against straight African-American males is the only form of bigotry to be treated as morally wrong.

Progressive Fallacy – “Anti-Israel sentiment can never be anti-Semitic”

Lincoln Mitchell has an article up at the Huffington Post, calling out the anti semitism of the left. I do not have much to add, but suggest everyone visit the link and read the entire article.

The Shooting, Anti-Semitism and Blogging

I am preparing myself to for the comments to this post and am not expecting to feel good about what I read. However, I welcome this exercise in free speech and will read and think about even the most hateful comments. I would hope that all who read this post will approach it in that same spirit.

The shooting at the Holocaust Museum, and killing of Stephen Tyrone Johns yesterday is a terrible event and a reminder that words do occasionally lead to deeds. It is good to see so many progressive voices, on the Huffington Post and elsewhere, condemning this bigoted and twisted act of violence. However, much of the analysis of this incident seems to skirt a more troubling and confounding question.

That question is whether or not it is possible to reconcile our anger and disgust about this incident with the constant drumbeat not so much of anti-Israel rhetoric, but of the suggestion of, for lack of a more delicate way of saying it, a Jewish cabal driving American foreign policy, that one often finds in the comment section of this and other “progressive” websites? I recognize that this is a confrontational, not very pleasant, and perhaps even rude, question, but the point should not be ignored. You can’t have it both ways, expressing righteous indignation when a white supremacist attempts to shoot visitors to the Holocaust Museum, while no longer being startled by the suggestion that the Chief of Staff to the President of the United States as well as millions of hard working, tax paying and voting Americans somehow don’t have America’s best interest in mind and are disloyal to their country, because of their support for Israel. Nonetheless, these suggestions are made almost daily in the comments section of this website.
The notion that one can be critical of Israeli policy without being anti-Semitic is, of course, true. Many, if not most, American Jews are critical of various aspects of Israeli policy while being far from anti-Semitic. However, the logic of this must end somewhere because too often this truism is interpreted to mean that anti-Israel sentiment can never be anti-Semitic. When it is suggested that Jews are subverting or controlling American foreign policy, putting what is good for Israel ahead of what is good for the US, or hoodwinking good Christians into supporting Israel, the criticism is no longer targeted on Israel. While one can criticize Israel without being an anti-Semite, suggestions of Jewish conspiracies or that Jews are not loyal citizens cannot so easily be made without being anti-Semitic. Historically, these have been at the core of the very definition of anti-Semitism.
It is not just criticism of Israel that is the issue here. It is the regularity with which, in these comments and elsewhere, virtually every foreign policy issue is related back to Israel and somehow the Jews are blamed. Some friends and I play a game with foreign policy blogs on the Huffington Post where we try to guess how long it will take before Israel or the Jews are mentioned. Usually this occurs by the tenth comment, regardless of the ostensible topic of the piece in question. This is an obsession that is not healthy and goes beyond simply garden variety criticism of Israel.

And to prove Mr. Mitchell’s point, you can read the comments……..

The excuse:

This is nonsense.

Real anti-Semitism is easily identified and answered.

We don’t need anyone’s “permission” to hold and express our views. None of us should give these kinds of “shut up” efforts a moment’s thought, except to heap scorn on them.

This kind of cheap smear has muddled objective discussion of our MidEast policy for decades now. Increasingly, people are not falling for it.

If Mr. Mitchell wants to defend Israel, he should stick to facts.

The twisted logic:

Being anti-Israel is not being anti-semitic. Every time someone like you claims it is, you encourage the racist belief that all jews anywhere are answerable for Israel’s behavior. You are, in other words, encouraging anti-semitism.

Here is Mr. Mitchell’s last paragraph which I think sums up pretty nicely what we have been saying here at The Widdershins. To bad the thought will be lost among those on the left, as witnessed in the above comments:

Criticism of Israel, as well as any other country, should be legitimate and important parts of our political dialog. Similarly, probing the value and nature of American relationships with all foreign countries is also important. Upon this we should all be able to agree. We should also all be able to agree that attempting to murder people for the crime of visiting a museum lies outside any notion of morality. Unfortunately, history has shown us that blaming Jews and imagining cabals and conspiracies has been a bridge between these kinds of things. Today, while we in the Huffington Post community may be relieved that the shooter was a right wing white supremacist, we should ask ourselves how we would feel if the shooter was a left-wing anti-Israel fanatic and then have the integrity and honesty to recognize the future possibility and danger of that happening.