PhotoDude.com

“There was a time when we could disagree without resorting to name-calling or the outright distortion of facts, when we could focus on the common good and call our political opponents ‘the loyal opposition.’ It seems, as autumn comes and an election looms and our quarreling continues, that such a time has passed. That’s a shame. We stand divided at our own peril. And though we may not see the enemy, we must know, deep down, that the enemy is not us.” Rex Huppke

Posted 10:53AM, Aug 30 2010 in Politics · Comment?

I have been assigned as a staff officer to a headquarters in Afghanistan for about two months. During that time, I have not done anything productive. Fortunately little of substance is really done here, but that is a task we do well […] For headquarters staff, war consists largely of the endless tinkering with PowerPoint slides to conform with the idiosyncrasies of cognitively challenged generals in order to spoon-feed them information. Even one tiny flaw in a slide can halt a general’s thought processes as abruptly as a computer system’s blue screen of death. Col. Lawrence Sellin
…who was later fired

Posted 2:14PM, Aug 28 2010 in War · Comment?

“I don’t think Franklin Graham’s father was a saint. But at least ‘America’s Pastor’ focused on preaching the truths of the Christian gospel rather than spreading lies about rival religions. And for all his hobnobbing with presidents from Eisenhower on, he usually managed to stay above the political fray. Franklin Graham, in comparison, is looking increasingly sounding like a garden variety political hack, carrying the holy water for the most unholy elements in American society.” Stephen Prothero

Posted 12:57PM, Aug 23 2010 in Politics · Religion Comment?

“President George W. Bush was statesmanlike after 9/11 in reaching out to Muslims and speaking of Islam as a religion of peace. Now many Republicans have abandoned that posture and are cynically turning the Islamic center into a nationwide issue in hopes of votes. It is mind-boggling that so many Republicans are prepared to bolster the Al Qaeda narrative, and undermine the brave forces within Islam pushing for moderation. Some Republicans say that it is not a matter of religious tolerance but of sensitivity to the feelings of relatives to those killed at ground zero. Hmm. They’re just like the Saudi officials who ban churches, and even confiscate Bibles, out of sensitivity to local feelings.” Nicholas Kristof

Posted 9:26AM, Aug 23 2010 in Politics · Al Qaeda Comment?

“So virulent is the Islamophobic hysteria of the neocon and Fox News right — abetted by the useful idiocy of the Anti-Defamation League, Harry Reid and other cowed Democrats — that it has also rendered Gen. David Petraeus’s last-ditch counterinsurgency strategy for fighting the war inoperative. How do you win Muslim hearts and minds in Kandahar when you are calling Muslims every filthy name in the book in New York?” Frank Rich

Posted 9:11AM, Aug 23 2010 in Al Qaeda · Media Comment?