(Note to literalists: the Watched column presently contains only a smattering of 'warblogs' because the facilitator of the template-change--Dr. Menlo--is not very familiar with them, and will be adding more as they are sent to him. Also, this blog may contain areas of allusion, satire, subtext, context and possibly even a dash of the surreal: wannabe lit-crits beware.)
Control
[Watch this space for: Pentagon and Petroleum, The Media is only as Liberal as the Corporations Who Own Them, Wash Down With, and Recalcify]
WARBLOGGER WATCH
Sunday, September 22, 2002
Mickey Kaus continues to maltreat his hobby horse, flogging it when clearly unwarranted. In his latest avalanche of idiocy, Kaus scolds Germany for its generous system of social benefits, implying that welfare causes terrorism - an idea endorsed by the increasingly addled G. Harlan Reynolds. "Let work do the work of assimilation" of Muslims, Kaus writes, believing his thought so novel it merits an exclamation point. In the future, Kaus may want to vet his Kausfiles on the topic with these German Muslims, who comprise the majority of Germany's Muslim immigrants according to the German Register of Foreigners.
Policies and attitudes towards these individuals have been governed by a "guest worker" approach, whereby they are perceived primarily in terms of their utility value. Accordingly, these individuals, despite making Germany the focus of their lives, often have a precarious residence status, which, besides those problems of discrimination they face, affects their possibilities for integration and participation in German society.
Maybe membership in that "unassimilated opposition culture" isn't exactly voluntary.
"Suddenly the Republicans who denied welfare benefits to new immigrants as part of the 1996 welfare reform look a bit more sensible, no?" No, actually, and neither do you for your effort, Mr. Kaus. posted by Anonymous5:56 PM
The Watchers
WBW: Keeping track of the war exhortations of the warbloggers.