Your criticisms of MD appear to have to do with his methods rather than his intent. As far as I can determine (having read your posts and taken your advise to google Diaz), your objections focus on what I'll label (for lack of a better term) Diaz's "dishonorable" choices and actions. In order to not dismiss your objections out of hand, I have to put aside the irony of actions in defiance of an institution as patently dishonorable as Guantanamo being labeled "dishonorable". No amount of code, honor or civilized standards can stand as anything other than "dishonorable" when used to perpetuate/obfuscate/hide that which is an affront to our society. From there, I am quite comfortable dismissing the issues you raised for a few reasons. First, I know who Matt Diaz is to some degree and his story (based on my google research) while I have no clue who jazzlstnr might be. Second, I'm comfortable with ends justifying means when the damage wrought by the chosen means is self-directed (nothing I've turned up through google suggests any serious damage done to the US or the detainees). Third, Valerie Plame's case is too recent and raw for me to ignore and it serves as a powerful demonstration that honor, code and client trust are little more than quaint concepts in a federal world turned fully orwellian in less than 5 years.

So, until "honorable" military personnel stand up in sufficient numbers and say with voices loud enough to be heard over our chattering pundits that "This is WRONG", I'll applaud the Matthew Diaz's who end run the system by what ever means they chose. I wish his choices weren't necessary but I fail to see how claiming higher moral ground is anything other than an attempt to plant oneself on a safely stable platform for purposes of pointless pontification.

Put simply, there are individuals who take action and there are dozens to hundreds of other individuals who take pot shots at those actions. I, personally, don't much care about pot shooters.

Are you seriously equating "ends justify the means" results perpetrated by the administration behind full cover from US and international law to the actions of an individual? Come on. Matt may have tried to release the information he released without identifying where it came from. Is that honorable? Of course not. It's also a nit on an elephant's ass in the larger scheme.

What have I done? As in recently? Everything I can think of. Have you noticed? If it makes any difference to you, neither have I. I'll continue trying, though. Yeah for Matt that he can have ANY impact.

As to your nonsensical suggestion that our visceral reactions are a red-state/blue-state thing, give some of your fellow citizens a little credit. Guantanamo is bad. It is a blight on our country. It's one of dozens of things done by this administration that makes me embarrassed to reveal I'm a U.S. citizen when traveling abroad. Those same things are probably the reason foreigners I meet are embarrassed for me. Under these circumstances, it doesn't matter to me whether it's a Bush or Cheney running the country; it's just plain WRONG.

Having watched the primary voting, doesn't an 80% to 90% break for Obama by blacks tend to counteract the knuckle-draggers? And who will be more motivated to go out and vote: knuckle draggers or blacks?

Then, there's the youth vote. I've never believed the hype during past elections that the youth would have a significant impact. But I'm getting a sense this election cycle they may well might have something (FINALLY) to say. What's the knuckle-dragger component of the youth vote? I suspect, not so much.

If I'm Obama, I'll take the black and youth votes and let McCain have the knuckle-draggers.

Sheesh... Wright's on every newspaper and cable news show today and, according to many Obama supporters here, it's all Joan's doing. I hate to break the news to some of you but GWB (a National Guard wallflower who's military service to his country was an insult to himself and the nation) beat a decorated war hero on that hero's war record. If you don't think this issue is a huge gift to McCain and the Republicans ("yeah but Clinton" justifications/defenses not withstanding) you're naive or a fool.

McCain and the right-wing 527s will hammer Obama with footage of Wright's inflammatory statements. They will beat that horse until it's nothing more than a bloody spot on the road.

to say what's ultimately more important -- the actual numbers that say who's really ahead, and who's really behind, or the media narrative about the campaign."

That has to be one of the funniest things I've read during the entire campaign.

It has NEVER been hard to say what's ultimately more important. Though it may run counter to the media's self-image, it's ALWAYS been about the actual numbers.

Hunting just for fun is something juvenile delinquents do. I've never met a serious hunter who is a delinquent of any kind. In fact, my direct experience with wildlife management issues is that hunters, as a group, give broader thought to and much greater financial support for wildlife conservation goals than the public (vegan or otherwise) at large. Though everyone is entitled to an opinion, all opinions are NOT created equal.

Which is to say that there are more complex issues involved in managing wildlife than just doing stuff for fun. Consider the possibility, for example, that polar bears occasionally have to be put down for quite valid management reasons. I would hope and expect that necessary kills yield more benefits than just a pile of dead animal. If that includes income to the local community from a vacationing hunter with too much money on their hands, so much the better.

And, no, I'm not a hunter. But I'm also not some insulated city-dweller with cutesy, simplistic views courtesy of PETA.