with another incisive post that holds reason and principle above allegiance.

War Metaphor is on a roll too, everywhere, seemingly unstoppable, with its fear-driven, socially and globally suicidal, and regressive images and need for symbols of tribalism and conformity, idealized heroes in uniform, our protectors, protecting us from them, rolling out, through the streets of Oakland, to the Mexico border, to Afghanistan, outward, to meet the enemies.

Patrick McEvoy-Halston, et al. said. Word.

Gary, please take note. A maudlin idealization of the war metphor is not helpful.

of deconstruction by Ms. Miller, modestly disguised as a book review, much as Ms. Havrilesky’s pieces are disguised as TV criticism.

She carefully and pleasingly uses language and logic to set out points

But what makes relics compelling across creedal divides isn't, as Manseau muses, some earthy, Circle-of-Life acknowledgment of "the hard facts of ... bodies and death and the inevitable end of all that we know." The dismemberment of holy bodies doesn't, as he seems to think, somehow symbolize "a state of existence ... somewhere in between, not fully in the world and not fully of it," reminiscent of his daughter's fetus in utero, either. Saints' corpses aren't sought after because they're in bits and pieces, they're in bits and pieces because they're sought after, one of those rare commodities that can be multiplied by division; Manseau himself offers evidence that the Crusades were in significant part a ransacking of the Holy Land in search of relics that commanded handsome prices back home, and casually notes the "little-known fact that every Roman Catholic church has a relic," presumably as verification of its authority. Relics are potent, largely because the value of these objects lies not in their testimony to the ordinary lot of humanity, but in their promise of transcending it. The devout believe that holy relics can miraculously cure diseases, heal broken relationships, deliver loved ones from misfortune, straighten out misguided children, and so on and so on, ad infinitum. Their adoration is utilitarian. This isn't about flesh and blood, but about magic.

where a less temperate, tolerant, and talented writer might tactlessly, simply point at the criminal cabal running the global fear-and-protection racket out of the Vatican, and in just such offending terms!

Or here, she gently and deftly elicits discrepancy

This in turn led to allegations, made by civic and religious authorities, that a network of secret satanic cults was active throughout the country, engaging in . . . the sexual molestation of children among other crimes . . . . (Other possible causes for disillusionment, such as the recent clerical sex abuse scandals, aren't even mentioned in "The Rite.")

where a less patient and polite observer might simply have noted the apparent use by the Church of classic projection.

She concludes, rather than with simple blaming or judging, by fairly and insightfully contextualizing the Church’s predation on fear to achieve and maintain power by noting that the needs that drive and allow it – born of humanity's blocked emotional, intellectual, and moral development - are yet within us to escape, a prospect, a choice, like growth and differentiation, both liberating and terrifying. Thou mayest

I fear there is too much that is true and discomforting here

Hey look, the AP is hiding a war crime in plain sight

• "Obama irked Pakistan"--by violating their sovereignty and murdering civilians in pursuit of political goals; the very definition of terrorism.

• "A powerful but controversial weapon"--killing people by remote-controlled, not unmanned drones.

• Obama continues Bush's violations of Pakistan's sovereignty, continues to kill civilians deliberately (if you know they will die, but do it anyway, that's not an accident, it's deliberate), and yet demands accountability from them?

• We are, right here and now, discussing a war crime in broad daylight, as if it were one of our inalienable rights.

• If we're so vigilant against threats, then why haven't we invaded Italy and made war on the mafia, with the stated goal of making sure they can never ever come back ("to disrupt, dismantle, and destroy," to infinity and beyond, I'm sure)?

even for this thread, and that we will see more of this

-- Vacca

Nice to see that everybody here is flaming touchy!

...and if whining here were banned, we wouldn't hear from you again either.

Please stop your incessant whining. You come across as a spoiled 3rd grader in an adult's playground.

as the system attempts to regain homeostasis.

But who knows?

. . . . . . . . ah, nevermind.

Perhaps you have not heard the news?

President happens to be an INTELLECTUAL, by American standards, and is perceived as such by his supporters. This has been widely noted in the American media. So I guess he just couldn’t be the fibbing, confused demagogue your account portrays him to be, now could he? I don’t know about you, but when President reasons that they “. . . want to kill as many of our people as they possibly can", I know I am not safe in my home unless and until we root them all out.

He is a Harvard graduate, and was just elected President of the United States of America for fracks sake!

Shouldn’t that tell us something?