That statement puts me in mind of an old proverb: "Der liebe Gott lebt im Detail" [the beloved God lives in the deatails"].

because it blows my mind: is that from a Beatle's song? Or am I dreaming?

A bow to you, bahhummingbug, a buddha to be. I still stop to evaluate Bush's arguments (though as Nietzsche once said, sometimes you have to stop and put on gloves before dealing with some of these things).

[totally o/t: Did I ever tell you how much I love your name: bahhummingbug? Pure genius, that.]

I would not hesitate to call them irrational; and if the ad hominem was a lie, surely you could reasonably call them a liar. One might even then reasonably call them an irrational liar, having defined your terms. It is these kinds of logical and honest responses I find the democrats to be lacking in. The truth can be really painful, if you insist on it. The democrats have, puzzlingly, not insisted on it, which has often made me think they were not against what the Republicans are doing at all. The truth should be fought for with all your passion. But relying on fallacies or charged language because of its practical emotive effect is a mistake, I think.

who are the true elite? To my mind, only those able to play professional baseball :) Alas, I long ago found out I could never join that elite group. I can only watch them and sigh.

I thus easily defeat the charge against Obama:

Pr. 1. If someone is elite, then they are capable of being a professional baseball player.

Pr. 2. Obama is clearly not capable of being a prof. baseball player.

Concl. Thus (by the rule of Modul Tollens) Obama is not elite.

Now I am growing giddy. Bah (useful phrase, I will borrow it from the felicitously named one).

Modus Tollens, not Modul Tollens!!!

are so many people attacking that little yellow bird from the Warner Brothers cartoons? What have they got against poor Tweety bird? Grandma is weeping.

Good news about the martial law revision. Funny I came across it nowhere else. I will do a little dance, though I am no democrat (not too much to dance about these days: gotta take the opportunities when they come).

"more Sunday news shows than a human being should ever have to endure" so I don't have to.

Thanks, Glenn :)

Sorry you had to give your Springsteen tickets away! I was at the Tampa concert with two of my children (down in the pit, as they call it). It was an incredibly moving show, with everyone (including the crowd) seeming to put all their heart into it. An amazing kind of wake (irish style) for Danny Federici. I will never forget it.

For again saying something that needs to be said, and for saying it so clearly. Your blog is a sort of resting place for me in the midst of a howling media wilderness: a place where I can reorient myself and organize my thoughts. Thanks again.

Just wanted to thank you for your posts here. As I have read through this long series of comments and felt so very, very sad, your posts were a real bright spot for me. I am glad to know you are out there, trying to think it through, with such honesty and good heart.

Seriously, you have cheered me.

A bow to you.

Gate 14 Brigade

Sign me up, WT.

Jedimaster, you know how to coin a phrase.

*Goes off humming: If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning, etc.*

someone who thought like this would run for president:

To talk of immaterial existences is to talk of nothings. To say that the human soul, angels, god, are immaterial, is to say they are nothings, or that there is no god, no angels, no soul. I cannot reason otherwise ... without plunging into the fathomless abyss of dreams and phantasms. I am satisfied, and sufficiently occupied with the things which are, without tormenting or troubling myself about those which may indeed be, but of which I have no evidence.

-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, August 15, 1820

@Green Job

""His littering South Carolina with brochures about what a committed Cbristian he is"

That's the only item on your list that is actual pandering. I'll give you that one. But please heed the meaning of the word.

To cater to the lower tastes and desires of others or exploit their weaknesses"

Thanks for making me smile.

I have been thinking about Carter a lot lately (who I voted for twice, and who really makes me look smarter and smarter for voting for him as time goes by.

We had one

Someday, this country will get a real leader who will share some unpleasant facts about this country with its citizens. One of those facts is that U.S. oil prices have been suppressed for the past 60 years

We had one in 1978. Jimmy carter told the American people that the US could no longer afford to rule the world, that we were going to eventually run out of oil and we all needed to start learning to live with less and develop alternative energy sources. The Electorate has never forgiven him for it. Instead they elected B-movie actor who told them what they wanted to hear and started out his tenure by removing the solar panels from the Whitehouse roof.

Hillary's doing what she thinks will get her elected. Telling the American people the unvarnished truth has never been a good idea for a politician who whants to stay in politics.

eerily sums it all up for me: the one guy in the sinking boat who has an altruistic impulse is of no help at all because his leg is rotting: eat me and save yourself, he cried. We can't: your leg is rotting, they shouted.

Worthy of Kafka, that image is, oh Bebop-o. The imagination speaks more truly and simply than all the learned disquisitions.