Kansas' anti-Sharia law is an assault on religious liberty

A tremendous takedown of Kansas' new anti-Sharia law in (wait for it) National Review: "It is particularly disappointing to see Sam Brownback — a committed Catholic with deep ties to the evangelical-Protestant community and a strong record on religious-liberty matters — signing an anti-Sharia bill. Addressing the 2006 Religious Liberty Dinner in Washington, D.C., Brownback said that people denied religious liberty “deserve our efforts” to vindicate their rights. He cited the Epistle to the Hebrews in calling on those who possess liberty to remember “those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” Brownback’s point is as true today as ever: American Christians must stand for the religious liberty of Muslims if they are to argue persuasively for their own."

Emphasis added. This isn't nice to say, but I'll say it: There are a fair number of folks who regularly sound the alarm about "religious liberty," but really only mean "religious liberty for Christians." They're chauvinists, and nobody should think they're particularly principled.

Philadelphia workers who live out of town

Maybe it's illegal for Philadelphia's City Hall to require workers to live in town, but it's kind of a bad idea if they do so—and it's bad for them. I've got some thoughts about public unions I'll be noodling over the next few weeks—I'm for 'em, but they're not without flaws, and those flaws must be addressed—but civic workers who make their money off the taxes of Philadelphia but don't want to live among Philadelphians probably shouldn't expect much sympathy with the politicians come after their pensions.

'Mad Men' and the infantilization of American culture

A perfect image.

When 'Mad Men' premiered a few years back, one of the things that its fans celebrated was the show's old-fashioned sense of adulthood: Don Draper smoked, drank, dressed well, and only occasionally seemed to notice that his children existed. "Remember when men were men!" we barked, and if nobody actually said those words, well, that's what a lot of people seemed to mean.

We've all expected the show to depict the rise of youth culture as the '60s wore on, and that theme was indeed explicit in the just-finished Season Five. We witness Don being out of his element at a Rolling Stones concert, befuddled by a Beatles record, chafing at his wife's out-of-office ambitions. It's in his marriage to Meagan, though, that we see something that doesn't get talked about a lot: Yes, the older generation hated the Peter Pan frivolousness of the Baby Boomers. But that older generation really helped create and nurture that frivolousness, as well.

Don's job, after all, is to create fantasies. And fantasies are often, in the end, the realm of childhood—a way of dreaming about "someday" and "what could be" instead of what actually is. (In some ways, too, Draper is a fantasy, dreamed up by a guy named Dick Whitman.) And the younger generation finds itself increasingly unable to tear itself away from those fantasies.

Take Meagan. When we saw her at the end of Season Four she was young, yes, but clearly a woman, even maternal with Don's kids. That's why he asked her to marry him. But as Season Five progressed, Meagan seemed to regress—from an adult who worked and dressed like an adult, back into a teen whose fashion choices were barely discernible from that of Don's adolescent daughter, till finally she ended up dressed like a princess, playing make-believe in her final scene of the season. This, after she pouted at her mother for not getting everything she wants.

And Meagan was playing princess, incidentally, in a commercial—a fantasy—constructed by Don Draper.

It was, in some ways, the saddest and most melancholy scene of the season—ranking right up there with Lane Pryce's suicide. (Er, spoiler.) Contrast that with one of the most joyful and fun scenes of the season: Don and Joan's trip to a local bar. (Giving us the near-perfect pop-cultural image above.)

Yes, there's an element of fantasy there, too. But what makes the scene satisfying is not that two incredibly sexy people flirt. It's that they don't do anything about it. They have responsibilities, to their business, to their loved ones, and they behave—ultimately—like self-possessed adults.

Maybe that's the fantasy these days, that we can all act like grownups. God knows, I'm about Don Draper's age, yet I feel adolescent next to him. But if Don's generation is grumpy with the immaturity of the kids who came after, they shouldn't feel too self-righteous. They created the fantasies, and made the promises they couldn't keep.

I love Rod Dreher. I am terrified of Rod Dreher.

Dreher celebrates a Texas father who beat his child's molester to death: "[Insert pro forma regret that the alleged molester was not captured and handed over to the proper authorities.] It’s at times like this that I’m glad we have Texas, where he needed killin’ is an affirmative defense against homicide charges."

I follow Dreher because I think he's mostly thoughtful, even if I don't agree with him in his vociferous opposition to gay marriage. But sometimes his instincts elude my understanding. Don't get me wrong: I'm not shedding any tears over a dead sex offender. Reacting gleefully, though, disturbs me a little bit: It suggests that civilization is little more than a game, to be abandoned when it feels good. I don't think Dreher actually thinks that, but his joy at vigilantism creates some doubts. It's just kind of ugly.

Michael Kinsley's 'full disclosure' paragraph is my favorite in the history of the genre

He writes about Mayor Bloomberg's proposed soda rules:

The basic case in favor of Bloomberg’s proposal is in some ways even more compelling: Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News’s parent, Bloomberg LP, and therefore my boss. In all likelihood, therefore, he is right about soft drinks and sugar, just as he is right about almost everything. (And even that “almost” is only there as a sop to my dignity.)

Do Philadelphia cops hate Philadelphia?

That's what I said last week in a column at The Philly Post—a column that, coincidentally, published the same day I started a weeklong out-of-state vacation. In the meantime, the column was picked up at Reason.com's blog—they shared my interest in FOP president John McNesby's letter to the Police Advisory Commission, and I received a few letters. I'll excerpt three of them: One correspondent took issue with my contention that police officers are wrong to want to live outside the city they serve:

Most of my career was spent in shift rotations of six days of 4X12, followed by six days of 8X4 and then a big one day off and the next evening you had to report for six days of 12amX8am. Included in this mess was last minute court notices and the average sleep was about two hours a day on that midnight to eight shift. Most officers were in a constant state of sleep deprivation, sometimes reporting for court at 10am and spending all day there until 5PM and were expected back for work in the evening at around 11PM. Sleep? Apparently the city did not account for it. Much work was spent by our union to adjust this situation and eventually a compromise schedule was implemented. During my entire career, I was a captive of the city. The reason the city wanted to keep you localized was to contact you when they wanted.(To the point of sending a patrol car to your door with a note to come in to work) Even when you are on vacation, if there is a perceived “emergency” they call you back from where you are. Only overseas vacations were exempt. I lived in a typical NE row, kept a low profile, acted in several off duty arrests, etc. I had two desires. One was to return to school to acquire the B.A. that I should have had but never had a chance to complete. (I had an old Associate Degree, so two years were left). The other was the idea of moving out of the city to a suburban area just like the Philadelphia TEACHERS were allotted in their contract since the time of Wilson Goode (who rewarded the teacher’s union liberally, and was employed by them as a “consultant” after his terms as Mayor). The Degree could not be worked out despite several attempts, until I was retired. The other was never realized either, until I retired. I should have had the same rights back then as the teacher’s union, why was there discrimination in this capacity? The reason they now have the ability to leave is because a majority of the higher ranking personnel live on the extreme edge of the city. In order to prevent experienced officers from a mass exodus, they needed to have this right to live outside the city or they would lose most of their experienced personnel. That is the real reason why it was granted in the contract.

Another responded to my suggestion that Philadelphia police have "palpable" contempt for the residents they serve:

really? can you blame them? head into any area other than center city (where i happily and safely reside) and see what the hell the cops have to deal with every single day.... not many cats stuck up in trees or crossing little old ladies... just nonstop violence, no witnesses, zero cooperation, NO stop to the cycle of reproducing generations of criminals.....so, should they be dropping "stay in school" to the kids or try to dodge the bullets so one of those kids doesn't get shot? or better yet, run over by an ATV doing 90mph wheelies down allegheny ave? so, the parenting and coddling is up to the po-po, not the mom with the neck tattoos who is on her 5th kid with 5th babydaddy before her 26th birthday? c'mon, cuz..... the problem is DEEP but it ain't the cops fault.... also - so, the people shooting - they're not the fatherless kids (now 18) OF the women in the same neighborhoods that they're shooting up???")... you want to write a cutting piece, expose that saga.....

A similar response from a man identifying himself as a retired police officer:

In the past 20 plus years, respect for any authority, be it the Police, the Clergy, or even Parents and Grand Parents has all but eroded… the mentality is that you can do whatever you want, to whomever you want, with complete impunity. We I grew up if an Officer told you to get off of a corner, you did! If an Officer ever brought me home to my parents, no matter what, I was in trouble. We were taught to respect our elders, now all you ever hear is “not my Johnny, or not my little angel… Parents don’t want to take responsibility for their children’s actions, for the most part, all they want the kids to do is go out and bother ANYONE ELSE but them. Are Police Officers perfect, no, but then again, no one else is perfect; we all make mistakes, But just because you wear a Blue Uniform, and agree to be a target for anyone who wants to strike out at authority, and just because you give up most of your family life to work long hours in all weather, doesn’t automatically make you a bad guy. My challenge to you would be to put on that same Blue Uniform, and go out and drive a police car on Philly’s streets, and see if your attitude changes. But I’ve made that challenge before, and so far, not one journalist has had the stones to take up my challenge. And for the record, all during the time I was a Philadelphia Police Officer, I served as a Boy Scout Leader in my neighborhood for 15 years, served on two Civic Groups, and served in my Church as a member of our Parish’s Music Ministry and on the Parish Council… but then, according to you, I must have hated Philadelphia.

For what it's worth, I have some sympathy for some of what I find in these letters. Philadelphia Police could do everything right, and this town would still be an incredible, and often-dangerous, challenge to those officers.

On the other hand, I think plenty of officers—led by FOP president John McNesby—use those challenges as a shield to deflect criticism and avoid introspection about how they might do better, much less examine their own (partial) culpability in creating the culture they despise. "It's tough out there! You can't possibly understand!" I can acknowledge those challenges are considerable, but still expect better from my police department. And I do.

Kansas and sharia law

In this week's column, Ben and I tackle Kansas' new law banning sharia law. My take:

Sam Brownback and Kansas Republicans are hypocrites, through and through. In 2008, then-U.S. Sen. Brownback introduced a resolution in the Senate that designated the first weekend of May as "Ten Commandments Weekend." A few years before that, Brownback was out front urging that the Pledge of Allegiance retain its mention of "one nation under God," saying: "There is nothing more American than the Pledge of Allegiance and an acknowledgement of God is at the heart of our founding principles and is our nation's motto." The examples don't end there. Along with former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Brownback has been one of America's most aggressive and unapologetic politicians in advocating for religion's role in America's public and governmental life. Islam is the exception to this rule. Brownback and Kansas Republicans are vigorous defenders of the separation of church and state only when non-Christians are involved. Supporters of the law point to places like Europe, where "hate speech" codes can make it illegal -- or, at least, inadvisable -- to criticize Islam. "That could happen here!" they cry, but no, it probably couldn't: Europe doesn't have America's First Amendment traditions or law that vigorously defend freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The bill's supporters never showed that Islamic law actually was distorting or affecting Kansas jurisprudence. They never had evidence on their side, only demagoguery and fear. So the law is a solution in search of a problem -- the kind of thing conservatives disdain, unless Muslims are involved. All the law really does, then, is signal to the state's Muslims that they are second-class citizens. Kansas has a proud civil rights history. It fought to be a free state before the Civil War; it was where the Brown v. Board of Education ruling delivered the first stunning blow against desegregation. The new law betrays that heritage. But it does highlight Sam Brownback's hypocrisy.

Ben, on the other hand, warns of the dangers of "creeping sharia":

Examples of "creeping Shariah" abound. A few years ago, Muslim cabbies in Minneapolis refused to pick up passengers carrying alcohol or dogs, even service dogs for the disabled. Islamic law says dogs and booze are unclean and forbidden, anti-discrimination laws notwithstanding. A judge in New Jersey in 2010 accepted a Muslim man's defense against sexual assault, saying his supposed religious beliefs mitigated his crime. (That ruling was later overturned.)

The second example shows how weak the "threat" is: A bad court decision was overturned, after all. And the former example is very interesting. Conservatives fight all the time for pharmacists to refuse to dispense birth control in the name of "religious freedom." I'm not sure how it's different from cabbies refusing to carry alcohol, except for simple chauvinism. Which is, really, what the Kansas' new law is all about.