Possumblog

Not in the clamor of the crowded street, not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

REDIRECT ALERT! (Scroll down past this mess if you're trying to read an archived post. Thanks. No, really, thanks.)

Due to my inability to control my temper and complacently accept continued silliness with not-quite-as-reliable-as-it-ought-to-be Blogger/Blogspot, your beloved Possumblog will now waddle across the Information Dirt Road and park its prehensile tail at http://possumblog.mu.nu.

This site will remain in place as a backup in case Munuvia gets hit by a bus or something, but I don't think they have as much trouble with this as some places do. ::cough::blogspot::cough:: So click here and adjust your links. I apologize for the inconvenience, but it's one of those things.

Wednesday, March 20, 2002

Demagogues find fertile soil in state
Elaine Witt's column in yesterday's evening paper, the Birmingham Post-Herald. (Scroll down to read it--and no, I don't know why they don't separate individual stories)

Earlier this month, political scientists Carl Grafton and Anne Permaloff published a commentary on demagogues. The two, who teach at Auburn University at Montgomery, argued that much of the history of the 20th century was shaped by demagogues.

Witt attended a meeting at which Grafton discussed his and Permaloff's work, and in particular the role of Alabama as a breeding ground for demagogues such as Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore--

Demagogues, he said, "seem to prosper in certain settings. I'm not sure what the parameters are, but it seems clear Alabama is an environment where they thrive." The great cases in the state's recent history have been Wallace and Bull Connor, he said, describing Fob James as somewhat "small-bore for that role." Demagogues may be attracted to "crackpot legal theories," he said, noting that in 1956 the Alabama Legislature declared civil rights rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court "were null, void and of no effect" in Alabama.

For his part, Moore has inspired a political movement that bases its defense of the Alabama Constitution on the assertion that the document is "godly." To justify his rejection of the U.S. Constitution's ban on state-sponsored religion, Moore has developed a dizzying, highly selective mixture of legal theory, history, theology and biology.

According to Grafton, Moore's writings and speeches "suggest he believes in a unified theory that scientific theory and law all derived from religious contemplation," Grafton said. And Grafton does believe that Moore, unlike Wallace, believes every word of the hogwash he is spouting.

As Mr. Costanza would say, "It's not a lie if you believe it."

posted by Terry at 8:21:00 AM

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