Ta-Nehisi Coates tag:ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com,2009-03-24://8 2009-11-20T16:45:41Z Movable Type Enterprise 4.32-en New Mooned tag:ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com,2009://8.30564 2009-11-20T19:00:00Z 2009-11-20T16:45:41Z I don't really have anything intelligent to say about Twilight. But as always, Alyssa does. Read the whole thing:I don't imagine that I was alone when I was young in wishing there was something magical about me - or in... Ta-Nehisi Coates Twilight. But as always, Alyssa does. Read the whole thing:

I don't imagine that I was alone when I was young in wishing there was something magical about me - or in reading Talking to Dragons until it became dog-eared or keeping The Mists of Avalon perpetually on renewal at the library.  What girl doesn't wish she could discover some special attribute about herself that would smooth her way through the demons of junior high school and beyond--particularly if that something would get her noticed for the first time by a boy or girl with special attributes of their own?  But earlier this week, when I stumbled over the Twilight finish line, reaching the final page of Breaking Dawn, the series' last book, it seemed clear to me that even in my younger days, Bella Swann would never have captured my imagination in the same way Cimorene, or Juniper, or Wise Child, or Morgaine had, and still do. Those heroines understand the joy of being loved by someone else.  But their stories make the case that being a witch, or a warrior, or a queen--even without a king--might be better than an eternity as a metaphorical princess in a metaphorical tower, no matter how much the vampire company sparkles.
]]> So You Ig'nant Voters Hear Me... tag:ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com,2009://8.30553 2009-11-20T18:00:00Z 2009-11-20T15:20:15Z Nate Silver offers the prognosis:For starters, I'd somewhat dispute Tom's unspoken assumption that Palin is liable to be looking at this decision through such a narrowly rational prism. Was quitting the Alaska governorship -- particularly in the sudden and disorganized... Ta-Nehisi Coates offers the prognosis:

For starters, I'd somewhat dispute Tom's unspoken assumption that Palin is liable to be looking at this decision through such a narrowly rational prism. Was quitting the Alaska governorship -- particularly in the sudden and disorganized way that Palin did it -- a decision characteristic of someone who carefully ponders all the facts and circumstances before jumping to a conclusion? Not hardly. Palin is impulsive, impatient, ambitious, thrill-seeking: not the type of politician to prudently wait for a better moment.
Add on to that painfully, painfully unself-aware. Thinking about Sarah Palin in 2012, makes me think back to being a kid when all your friends, after school, would pump your head up, in hopes of getting you to step to some big-ass Walbrook Junction kid, who'd failed eighth grade twice. You'd end up getting your feelings hurt--and your Starter snatched.

There are people pumping up Sarah's head, and she's just ig'nant to take the bait. She will run in 2012--and get destroyed in the primary. She needs to talk to Ziggy Sobtka. It all ends with her stranded up on one of those cans...


Ziggy takes some bad advice.
by bzzinglikeneon
]]> Open Thread At Noon tag:ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com,2009://8.30559 2009-11-20T17:00:00Z 2009-11-20T15:20:51Z The world is yours...... Ta-Nehisi Coates The world is yours... Again, Am I Missing Something? tag:ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com,2009://8.30558 2009-11-20T15:08:58Z 2009-11-20T15:21:48Z Is there serious evidence that political correctness led to Fort Hood? Is there real evidence that the military didn't look into Hassan for fear of offending Muslims? I'll gladly post that evidence, but right now, this is all I can... Ta-Nehisi Coates political correctness led to Fort Hood? Is there real evidence that the military didn't look into Hassan for fear of offending Muslims? I'll gladly post that evidence, but right now, this is all I can find:

As a student, some who knew Nidal Malik Hasan said they saw clear signs the young Army psychiatrist -- who authorities say went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood that left 13 dead and 29 others wounded -- had no place in the military. After arriving at Fort Hood, he was conflicted about what to tell fellow Muslim soldiers about the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, alarming an Islamic community leader from whom he sought counsel.

"I told him, `There's something wrong with you,'" Osman Danquah, co-founder of the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen, told The Associated Press on Saturday. "I didn't get the feeling he was talking for himself, but something just didn't seem right."

Danquah assumed the military's chain of command knew about Hasan's doubts, which had been known for more than a year to classmates in a graduate military medical program. His fellow students complained to the faculty about Hasan's "anti-American propaganda," but said a fear of appearing discriminatory against a Muslim student kept officers from filing a formal written complaint.

I find that last graph really suspicious. It's not a quote, and I can't actually tell who said what. Please help me. Is there more to this?

]]> Of Course The Only Frog-Prince I Care About... tag:ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com,2009://8.30552 2009-11-20T15:00:00Z 2009-11-20T15:26:53Z ...is Susan Mitchell's. This is one my all-time favorites, and if I had a daughter I'd give this to her right when she went on the pill. I'll give it to Samori as soon as voice starts deepening.I no longer... Ta-Nehisi Coates Susan Mitchell's. This is one my all-time favorites, and if I had a daughter I'd give this to her right when she went on the pill. I'll give it to Samori as soon as voice starts deepening.

I no longer tremble.

Night after night I lie beside her.
"Why is your forehead so cool and damp?" she asks.
Her breasts are soft and dry as flour.
The hand that brushes my head is feverish.
At her touch I long for wet leaves,
the slap of water against rocks.

"What are you thinking of?" she asks.
How can I tell her
I am thinking of the green skin
shoved like wet pants behind the Directoire desk?
Or tell her I am mortgaged to the hilt
of my sword, to the leek-green tip of my soul?
Someday I will drag her by her hair
to the river--and what? Drown her?
Show her the green flame of my self rising at her feet?
But there's no more violence in her
than in a fence or a gate.

"What are you thinking of? she whispers.
I am staring into the garden.
I am watching the moon
wind its trail of golden slime around the oak,
over the stone basin of the fountain.
How can I tell her
I am thinking that transformations are not forever?
On the basics of word-play, it's a beautiful poem. (It's displayed after the jump.) But on another a level it says so much about boredom. I mean, the dude is dreaming of mud...

]]> In March I dreamed of mud,
sheets of mud over the ballroom chairs and table,
rainbow slicks of mud under the throne.
In April I saw mud of clouds and mud of sun.
Now in May I find excuses to linger in the kitchen
for wafts of silt and ale,
cinnamon and river bottom,
tender scallion and sour underlog.

At night I cannot sleep.
I am listening for the dribble of mud
climbing the stairs to our bedroom
as if a child in a wet bathing suit ran
up them in the dark.

Last night I said, "Face it, you're bored
How many times can you live over
with the same excitement
that moment when the princess leans
into the well, her face a petal
falling to the surface of the water
as you rise like a bubble to her lips,
the golden ball bursting from your mouth?"
Remember how she hurled you against the wall,
your body cracking open,
skin shriveling to the bone,
the green pod of your heart splitting in two,
and her face imprinted with every moment
of your transformation?

I no longer tremble.

Night after night I lie beside her.
"Why is your forehead so cool and damp?" she asks.
Her breasts are soft and dry as flour.
The hand that brushes my head is feverish.
At her touch I long for wet leaves,
the slap of water against rocks.

"What are you thinking of?" she asks.
How can I tell her
I am thinking of the green skin
shoved like wet pants behind the Directoire desk?
Or tell her I am mortgaged to the hilt
of my sword, to the leek-green tip of my soul?
Someday I will drag her by her hair
to the river--and what? Drown her?
Show her the green flame of my self rising at her feet?
But there's no more violence in her
than in a fence or a gate.

"What are you thinking of? she whispers.
I am staring into the garden.
I am watching the moon
wind its trail of golden slime around the oak,
over the stone basin of the fountain.
How can I tell her
I am thinking that transformations are not forever?]]> Not That I'll Be Going To See It... tag:ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com,2009://8.30551 2009-11-20T14:00:00Z 2009-11-20T13:33:15Z ...but a reader sent along the trailer to The Princess and The Frog. It's amazing how much shit has changed. Doesn't mean it's all changed. By as a kid who came up on 80s cartoons, it's shocking to see them... Ta-Nehisi Coates a reader sent along the trailer to The Princess and The Frog. It's amazing how much shit has changed. Doesn't mean it's all changed. By as a kid who came up on 80s cartoons, it's shocking to see them doing this in New Orleans with black folks.


]]> Giuliani Out Of The Gov Race tag:ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com,2009://8.30504 2009-11-19T20:13:51Z 2009-11-19T20:15:03Z Thank de lawd. Had he won, I might have had to relocate. I can deal with a GOPer after Patterson. But not Giuls.... Ta-Nehisi Coates Thank de lawd. Had he won, I might have had to relocate. I can deal with a GOPer after Patterson. But not Giuls. ]]> Holder Wants KSM To Go Free tag:ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com,2009://8.30503 2009-11-19T19:56:46Z 2009-11-19T20:05:46Z Dahlia Lithwick on the AG's testimony before Congress:What Holder could not possibly answer for today was the claim that his Justice Department ostensibly wants to help the terrorists. This is hardly a new trope. But today offered a new twist:... Ta-Nehisi Coates on the AG's testimony before Congress:

What Holder could not possibly answer for today was the claim that his Justice Department ostensibly wants to help the terrorists. This is hardly a new trope. But today offered a new twist: Holder was called out for harboring just such terror-lovers as, well, himself. Grassley demanded that Holder explain the presence in the solicitor general's office of Neal Katyal, who represented Osama Bin Laden's driver at the Supreme Court. Grassley used a smear from the New York Post (penned by the writer who ridiculously claimed Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh believed "Sharia law could apply to disputes in US courts") to demand that Holder account for Jennifer Daskal as counsel in its National Security Division, who allegedly wants terrorists to have more time to write poetry. Grassley demanded that Holder produce a list of DoJ appointees who have ever acted as lawyers for terror detainees.

Then John Kyl, R-Ariz., read from an editorial suggesting that the reason these detainee trials have been so long delayed is all the "leftist lawyers" who stalled the military commissions by challenging them in the courts. Kyl noted many of those lawyers--including Holder--work for the Justice Department despite the fact that Holder's firm, Covington & Burling, "volunteered its services to at least 18 of America's enemies in lawsuits they brought against the American people." Remember in 2006 when the deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, Cully Stimson, had to resign his position at the Pentagon for urging U.S. corporations to boycott any law firm that defended terror suspects? Apparently those law firms are still un-American, and anyone associated with them should be barred from DoJ. (The subtext for much of this criticism, as Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., observed, is that all these lawyers are somehow in it for the money.)

You read something like this, and as fucked up as this sounds, you start to doubt the actual intelligence of folks. If no one reps these people, the legal system fails. Right now, there's a woman, in North Carolina, who evidently tried to sell her kid into slavery. I hope she gets competent counsel. And then I hope the prosecutor kicks the shit out of her and puts her in jail for the rest of her life. Somehow--much like KSM--I think she's facing worse.

Seriously though, why even have a tribunal? Why not just shoot them all?

]]> Pick Em Ratings tag:ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com,2009://8.30502 2009-11-19T19:48:37Z 2009-11-19T19:50:14Z Read em and weep, folks. Last week really hurt. Dwayne is fucking running away with this one. Don't forget to get in you early pick for tonight's game.... Ta-Nehisi Coates

]]>

Rank

Pick Set Name

Total Points

W-L

1

DBetts

593

78-49

2

thegunner1981

571

71-56

3

Odoacer's Guesses

571

76-51

4

Go Bengals!

568

72-55

5

sgwhiteinfla

563

75-52

6

Team Mulva

561

72-55

7

dondrapersdemons

560

68-59

8

Singapore Slingers

559

66-61

9

Electric Messiah

552

67-60

10

Please Dont Hit the Scoreboard

551

69-58

11

Capt. Zubaz

546

71-56

12

Also.

546

68-59

13

szspeak

546

70-57

14

SKI's Selections

545

69-58

15

Chi Picks

543

67-60

16

allusionist

542

65-62

17

Juba

542

69-58

18

Replacements

540

70-57

19

Wookies

539

65-62

20

Jerry's Kids

538

66-61

21

BisonMightyBison

537

68-59

22

Bearable

536

66-61

23

drlemur

535

67-60

24

Josh's Picks

533

68-59

25

Bright Green Future

533

65-62

26

Blandas

533

72-55

27

altonsmith101

532

68-59

28

Defpotec

531

69-58

29

lheger

527

63-64

30

Weehawken Toffees

525

65-62

31

BreakerBaker

523

60-67

32

BlindHope

522

65-62

33

Child OfAnNFCEastDivorce

520

68-59

34

tinare

519

68-59

35

ScoutAbouts

519

66-61

36

Dan W

518

68-59

37

jenawesome

518

70-57

38

Go Sqaudron Go

517

68-59

39

bloodstar

517

65-62

40

Pickin' the nose

515

64-63

41

wolfpack

513

69-58

42

Shoestring Tackle

513

63-64

43

BetterThanYou

513

66-61

44

Shark Week Every Week

511

67-60

45

Blowed Up

510

62-65

46

19th St. Gangsters

510

65-62

47

TObills

508

63-64

48

the oxford set

506

69-58

49

The Ballad of Ron Mexico

505

65-62

50

Egan's Picks

502

67-60

51

CitizenE

502

66-61

52

Districto Federal

502

62-65

53

Cambridge Royal Giants

502

58-69

54

TW Andrews

501

65-62

55

The Blue Lanterns

500

69-58

56

motownjunk

499

65-62

57

Turf on Your Tonsils

498

63-64

58

AZfootballfan

498

61-66

59

Who We Thought They Were

496

60-67

60

N0chance - mjnewton

496

69-58

61

scoundrels

494

63-64

62

leland

494

59-68

63

sean_in_nh

494

63-64

64

Fightin' Gremlins

494

63-64

65

drbec4dacolts

493

62-65

66

I Dream of Mangini

493

62-65

67

Dirk Diggler

491

64-63

68

Torgo3

490

63-64

69

Seymour's Ghost

490

61-66

70

Baba Booey

490

62-65

71

Da Demondeacs

489

66-61

72

Persia's Picks

487

67-60

73

DougEMI

487

60-67

74

Incertus(Brian)

482

63-64

75

Waimea Rancheros

481

64-63

76

Wonderlic My Balls

481

57-70

77

The Best Guesses

479

67-60

78

The Foulness

477

69-58

79

Will in STL

477

57-70

80

obscene

476

63-64

81

Death Panel

476

60-67

82

At Least We Got Herschel

475

62-65

83

daveintexas

474

63-64

84

Hot Sauce Committee

473

60-67

85

J-Dubs Pix

473

59-68

86

Steven Donegal

471

60-67

87

Far East Beasts

469

61-66

88

DW

468

61-66

89

Tom Brady's Achilles Ankle

468

62-65

90

VandelayIndustries

468

65-62

91

Burgh AC

466

59-68

92

Eric K

466

68-59

93

Karate Fists FTW

466

61-66

94

Eric F

464

59-68

95

the pineapple express

460

56-71

96

Bevo's Ballsack

459

56-71

97

thephoenixnyc

455

56-71

98

ClubberMyPredictionisPainLang

450

61-66

99

CJ_in_Harlem

447

67-60

100

jennifer_oh_jenny

441

59-68

101

brooklynj

440

55-72

102

roadrunner

435

57-70

103

Green Cup

434

60-67

104

ticats

431

60-67

105

ThrowingDarts

430

53-74

106

Jesse S

430

55-72

107

OGWiseman

426

52-75

108

Gobblegobblegobble

417

55-72

109

Imby

415

51-76

110

Lincoln Abes

411

51-76

111

Douchemanzadah

405

55-72

112

earninghemistway

404

48-79

113

Justin C

398

49-78

114

nixpix

393

53-74

115

brendan

388

51-76

116

The Bailoutees

384

61-66

117

Law Abiding

364

47-80

118

DirtyLiberal

353

47-80

119

Johannesburg Prawns

351

44-83

120

NYDCWolv

340

49-78

121

ajb498

316

40-87

122

Miskatonic Minions

309

36-91

123

TheBulge

303

39-88

124

bertie

301

38-89

125

BrockAun's Picks

216

24-103

126

bourbon renewal

215

27-100

127

Jordan

213

50-77

128

Orton Hears Some Booooos

209

32-95

129

BruceCrew

195

28-99

130

DC Texans

181

25-102

131

Tim Allen Is Not Very Funny

179

24-103

132

CerebralOllie

178

35-92

133

H.N.I.C.

170

20-107

134

beauzeau

167

22-105

135

VandyGirl

161

32-95

136

the fighting dogs

156

19-108

137

AndrewG

153

18-109

138

Pats Guy

72

9-118

139

Team Better Than You

70

8-119

140

A-Web

68

8-119

141

MarcFein

16

11-116

142

bobcats

16

14-113

143

l

0

22-77

144

Ghetto Defendant

0

0-127

145

Ellis Carver

0

13-114

146

AJCinSC

0

0-127

147

viktor vaughn

0

10-117

148

What's a Pick Set?

0

0-127

]]> Be Serious tag:ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com,2009://8.30479 2009-11-19T18:00:00Z 2009-11-19T16:42:10Z Shockey's right. Lebron can't play in the NFL.... Ta-Nehisi Coates Shockey's right. Lebron can't play in the NFL. ]]> Open Thread At Noon tag:ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com,2009://8.30469 2009-11-19T17:00:00Z 2009-11-19T15:22:54Z Go for it.... Ta-Nehisi Coates Go for it. Rambling... tag:ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com,2009://8.30462 2009-11-19T16:00:00Z 2009-11-19T15:58:57Z Sticking with the theme, I find Community to be hit or miss--it has a kind above-average funny quality that's always there humming. From time to time you get an episode that goes further. I thought "Home Economics," for instance, was... Ta-Nehisi Coates Community to be hit or miss--it has a kind above-average funny quality that's always there humming. From time to time you get an episode that goes further. I thought "Home Economics," for instance, was hilarious. But Community, with its rather diverse cast, also brought something else out for me--the notion of finally "getting past it."

TV takes it's share of hits for not having enough characters of color, but I think, over the past five years or so, they've done a decent job. Part of the problem is we want television to be better than us. Gawker has a piece up criticizing Hollywood for its lily-white male writing corps. I can't actually gauge the criticism, because I'm not familiar with what Hollywood is or isn't doing to attract a more representative group of writers.

But whenever I read that XX field isn't diverse enough, I don't so much doubt the truth of it, as I think the charge deeply underestimates exactly the price being exacted for white supremacy in this country, and the length of time for which it went unchecked. We're 50 years into a truly democratic, non white-supremacists America. Congratulations. But we we spent some 150 years in which the country's major institutions--its government, its business, its churches, its block associations, its military, its police force, its labor unions--in the main, aided and abetted white racism. There are certainly exceptions, but I tend to think that the long-term damage done is incalculable and has a lot to do with how we live today.

I'm reporting out a story now in which I had to talk with older black folks who'd grown up in an industrial city in the 40s and 50s. One of the things that comes through from them is that being smart and black, during that time, was really scary. I keep hearing these tales of black people with degrees in electrical engineering, who ended up working in the post office, driving cabs, or worse, running numbers. This is toward the end of Jim Crow, and after slavery, both of which did their best to exact a toll on uppity nigras, who though they were above their station. I don't think I would have made it past fourteen in that world.

]]> What is the long-term damage of communicating a penalty, including death, for black intelligence while rewarding white intelligence? What is the long-term damage of having a federal government policy which intentionally seeks to retard the wealth of black communities? What is the long-term damage of using the police--theoretically the guardians of all that is right in society--as a kind of thug army charged with enforcing racist edicts?  These are, literally, questions. I don't have answers for them, but when I hear people asking Hollywood to grapple with a history that we, ourselves, don't want to grapple with I wonder whether we really understand precisely what happened, how much we lost, and how long it will take to get it back.

And then I watch something like Community, where they're clearly aware of race, but not race-obsessed, Pierce is hot for Shirley, and Annie is hot for Troy, and I can almost see my kid, or my grandkid throwing it all off and walking into this world where we've settled our accounts. I watched "Home Economics" and I was envious, like I'm envious when I walk down Broadway and see the interracial couples hand in hand. And it's so incredibly common, now. I'm not envious because I hate Harlem, or because I regret Howard, or Mondawmin or banging Malcolm's "Message To The Grassroots." I'm envious because I never thought I had a choice. Nationalism wasn't in my blood--but, without religion, it was the only thing that made the world make sense.

I struggle with this, when it comes to my own kid. Of course we talk about race, but I worry about putting my shit on him. My politics were shaped by Willie Horton, Chuck D, the mythology of Superpredators. He deserves to have his own shot at shaping his own politics. The kid deserves a choice.
]]> Teh League tag:ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com,2009://8.30459 2009-11-19T15:00:00Z 2009-11-19T13:57:51Z I just want to say I was prepared to hate this show, but I love this show. It reminds me a lot of the Apatow formula, but without the whole "good woman civilizing immature man" trope. They're all immature on... Ta-Nehisi Coates
]]> Not Pro-Life Enough tag:ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com,2009://8.30460 2009-11-19T14:00:47Z 2009-11-19T14:02:59Z From Stephanie Mencimer:When she was running for governor of Alaska in 2006, Sarah Palin reportedly said that even if her then-14-year-old daughter were raped, she would "choose life" and force her to bear a child. Comments like that that have... Ta-Nehisi Coates Stephanie Mencimer:

When she was running for governor of Alaska in 2006, Sarah Palin reportedly said that even if her then-14-year-old daughter were raped, she would "choose life" and force her to bear a child. Comments like that that have endeared the fiery Alaskan politician to most pro-life voters, who lionized her for not aborting her Down's Syndrome baby. But Trig isn't enough to protect Palin from a phalanx of anti-abortion activists who plan to protest her appearance on Thursday to promote her book in the conservative heartland of Indiana. Their reason? They think she's not really pro-life.

For the Denver-based American Right to Life, when it comes to abortion, Palin is as impure as any godless feminist. "[H]er words and actions prove that she is officially pro-choice and stands against the God-given right to life of the unborn," they write in a new report. ARTL members plan to educate reporters about Palin's many alleged failings as a true believer, particularly her March nomination of a former Planned Parenthood board member to the Alaska Supreme Court and her refusal to call for a ban on the morning-after pill.


]]> The Weather Dominator tag:ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com,2009://8.30414 2009-11-18T19:46:18Z 2009-11-18T19:56:54Z Man. China is inducing snow storms. Incredible. Looks like a job for Shipwreck.... Ta-Nehisi Coates snow storms. Incredible. Looks like a job for Shipwreck.

]]>