The more I think about it, the more it seems like a perverse semi-reversal of classic male hero/damsel-in-distress tropes (think "Officer and a Gentleman," "The Quiet Man," or the generic image of the girl tied to the railroad tracks, the male hero racing on horseback to save her). In those type of films the male hero saves the woman and incorporates her into his life--he is the powerful and dominant figure who sets the terms of their future life together. With the MPDG archetype, the male protagonist is conversely saved by the woman. However he is saved in order that he may gain power and control. The male character's life still takes primacy. It is a neat 21st century post-feminist trick of giving the female character the illusion of power. But that power is all in service to a whiny vampiric male hero. We've traded John Wayne for Zach Braff. Essentially they're the same self-centered hero.

(Say what you will about the Duke, but at least he had John Ford and Howard Hawks).

Interesting topic. I wonder how many others we can come up with. Some fit better than others; this should be an interesting discussion. A few I can think of:

Maggie Gyllenhal in "Stranger than Fiction."

Angie Dickenson in "Rio Brovo." (of course Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, and Walter Brennan also play a type of MPDG for the Duke too--hmmm...)

Grace Kelly in "Rear Window"

Jennifer Aniston in both "Along came Polly" and "Office Space"

Good point. That's why these type of movies do so well when released on DVD.

I spelled colloquial wrong.

This is the funniest thing I've seen in the political world in some time: A buffalo chip is colliquial for COW DUNG. Some call it bull shit.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce Mr. and Mrs. BullShit: John and Cindy McCain!

On the other hand, perhaps this is part of McCain's energy policy: in many parts of the world cow dung is used for heat and electricity. As Ms. Buffalo chip, Cindy McCain would certainly have a significant bully pulpit to preach the value and resourcefulness of burning cow crap! LOL!

"It's possible that "Pineapple Express" is much funnier if you're totally baked."

Um, isn't that the point of stoner comedies? I understand your criticisms, but aren't you being a little too hard on a movie that is directly aimed at potheads?

You're points are taken, but don't you have to ask yourself, "will the film work for its intended audience?" With stoner comedies, I'm not sure the bar is set too high ;)

Cheney's bunker and "undisclosed" location is Site R (or Raven Rock). Site R is colloquially known as "the underground Pentagon." It is about ten miles north of Camp David.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/facility/raven-rock.htm

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/raven_rock.htm

I can't believe no one has commented on this quote yet: "We have the most sex workers per capita (in D.C.) than any other city in the country."

Think about that sentence for a minute. With all the issues that prostitution raises regarding power, exploitation, and legality what does this factoid mean? Sort of opens up all kinds of interpretations of the term "getting screwed by your government."

The government may technically be allowed to do this, but it should be completely unacceptable to any thinking citizen. This is of course a clear violation of the 4th amendment. The only acceptable response is to flatly refuse. Get arrested. Contact the ACLU. Contact the press. Contact your representatives. Make a stink. Sure they'll still take your info, but it is important to take a stand against this type of egregious privacy violation. Our rights mean nothing if we don't stand up for them.

People will say that this type of stand is unrealistic. People will say that jobs and reputations can be ruined by an act of civil disobedience like this. Perhaps. That is what the government is counting on. Your FEAR. Doing the right thing is rarely easy or profitable.

The article quotes an officer stating that NCOs are the backbone of the armed forces. This cannot be overstated. I was an E-5 when I got out after 10 years. The same month I got out, SIX fellow E-5s also left the same unit (if you are wondering why they have stop-loss...).

One of the problems not mentioned in the article is the fact that, increasingly, people are being promoted to E-5 without first going to PLDC (Primary Leadership Course). I started to see this before I got out. PLDC is sergeant school, a rigorous school indoctrinates prospective Sgts with administrative, tactical, and operational aspects of leadership under stressful circumstances.

The other problem is essentially a self devouring problem: Training. Besides leading soldiers and completing the mission, a sergeant's main job is training. For example on the squad level (6-8 people)every soldier (down to the lowliest Pvt)should be able to perform everyone else's job (soldiers die). It is the E-5 squad leader who is responsible for this training. This has been increasingly neglected as Sgts who are only marginally trained themselves become NCOs.

Thanks to Mr. Sasser for this important and relevant article.

I mostly agree with Walsh here. Kaine? Bayh? What do these guys do for him outside of strategy? Biden or Richardson would be good picks.

That being said, I still think Anthony Zinni would be perfect.