Farewell. The Flying Pig Has Left The Building.

Steve Hynd, August 16, 2012

After four years on the Typepad site, eight years total blogging, Newshoggers is closing it's doors today. We've been coasting the last year or so, with many of us moving on to bigger projects (Hey, Eric!) or simply running out of blogging enthusiasm, and it's time to give the old flying pig a rest.

We've done okay over those eight years, although never being quite PC enough to gain wider acceptance from the partisan "party right or wrong" crowds. We like to think we moved political conversations a little, on the ever-present wish to rush to war with Iran, on the need for a real Left that isn't licking corporatist Dem boots every cycle, on America's foreign misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. We like to think we made a small difference while writing under that flying pig banner. We did pretty good for a bunch with no ties to big-party apparatuses or think tanks.

Those eight years of blogging will still exist. Because we're ending this typepad account, we've been archiving the typepad blog here. And the original blogger archive is still here. There will still be new content from the old 'hoggers crew too. Ron writes for The Moderate Voice, I post at The Agonist and Eric Martin's lucid foreign policy thoughts can be read at Democracy Arsenal.

I'd like to thank all our regular commenters, readers and the other bloggers who regularly linked to our posts over the years to agree or disagree. You all made writing for 'hoggers an amazingly fun and stimulating experience.

Thank you very much.

Note: This is an archive copy of Newshoggers. Most of the pictures are gone but the words are all here. There may be some occasional new content, John may do some posts and Ron will cross post some of his contributions to The Moderate Voice so check back.


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Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Fubar U.S.A.

By Steve Hynd


What does it say about the state of the U.S. constitution that the two main parties now divide into those who want to do away with Miranda Rights for accused U.S. citizens (but only if they're brown - white ones get out on bond) and those who want to assassinate them without trial?


And what does it say about the state of our partisan punditry that most of the Dem-supporting writers castigating John McCain and others for the former aren't mentioning the latter at all? Or that GOP-supporting writers are just ok with Hutarees getting Miranda, Habeas Corpus and bail but not anyone with a non-WASP name?


It mostly says, I think, that bipartisan political gameplaying now trumps everything, including the Constitution.


Seriously, come the 2010 and 2012 elections the best course of action might well be to support "None of the above" as a write-in candidate, because both the main parties are fucked up beyond all recognition.



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4 comments:

  1. Mike in SLOMay 4, 2010 at 6:51 AM

    This year I vote all write-it or Green party or anyone who has the balls to say they are a socialist.
    After 40 years of voting for Democrats I'm through. Barbara Boxer won't get my vote, I don't care how much she claims to be progressive. She ain't. None of 'em are. They are all part of the corrupt rotting system and the only way things will change is if we march in the streets (unlikely if there is anything halfway decent on TV) or vote all the incumbents out.
    Finally, I've decided its better to have a real Republican in office than a Democrat who governs like a Republican because the Democrat who governs like a Republican (Obama) can get away with things like destroying Social Security where a Republican can't. In other words, its better to have your opposition out in open than pretending they are one of you.

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  2. hidflectMay 4, 2010 at 8:01 AM

    It's kinda embarrassing really. There seems to be no legal recourse to stop incessant breaching of the constitution. I always thought if anyone violated that document they'd be clapped in irons but it seems to have no enforcement teeth at all. Why haven't any US citizens brought any cases against any govt. officials for all the violations (illegal war/extrajudicial murder/black budgets/etc, etc.)? All those people out there claiming to be patriots waving their rifles. But they do nothing.
    Note: I'm British so I can't do it myself!

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  3. John BallardMay 4, 2010 at 8:36 AM

    This might be a good place to note the best political comment I've come across lately. Dana Milbank, Washington Post...
    There is something exquisite about the moment when a conservative decides he needs more government in his life.

    ReplyDelete
  4. geoffMay 4, 2010 at 3:40 PM

    There does seem to be the strange case of Glenn Beck though becoming a civil libertarian but then you titled the post fubar USA :
    http://balkin.blogspot.com/2010/05/glen-beck-as-civil-libertarian-and-joe.html

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