It's hardly an original observation on my part, but it bears repeating that translating war into a confrontation with one person or a tiny ruling junta is fundamentally distortive and a chief enabler of war. Even in his mea culpa, Sullivan addresses Saddam moreso than the nation of Iraq. And I don't mean to single him out particularly; almost everyone does it.

The bombing, conquest and occupation of a country -- at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives -- is reduced to such a Hollywood abtraction as "confronting Saddam." This personalization has long been a staple of war propaganda, and anyone who frames the Iraq war as "confronting Saddam" is a naked if unconscious propagandist.

On our next march to war, the question leaders and their surrogates need to be asked is "what is your justification for killing the thousands of people who will definitely die in this war?"

Frank Schaeffer on the double standard:

When Senator Obama's preacher thundered about racism and injustice Obama suffered smear-by-association. But when my late father -- Religious Right leader Francis Schaeffer -- denounced America and even called for the violent overthrow of the US government, he was invited to lunch with presidents Ford, Reagan and Bush, Sr.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/obamas-minister-committe_b_91774.html

Think about the self-selection process that goes into becoming a presidential campaign reporter. Why work your tail off to chase that particular beat? The true-blue journalists who really get into it to make a difference don't want to follow disciplined spin machines across the country and file half-digested crap every day for countless months. Fill in the blanks for yourself about what kind of person aspires to be the arbiter or ratifier of national coolness.

In addition to Muslims and gays, Hagee hates the Catholic church, calling it "The Great Whore" among other things. Progressive and right-wing Catholics alike are denouncing him and demanding that McCain reject his endorsement.

http://catholics-united.org/?q=node/136

http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1393

It's not just the writers themselves who are frivolous. It's also the pollsters. The CNN entrance and NBC exit polls that everyone uses to attribute Huckabee's win to evangelicals and declare evangelicals to be a resurgent force in the Republican party didn't ask Democratic caucusers about their religion. If I were feeling uncharitable, I'd say they didn't want to collect any data that might muddy their pre-ordained narratives.