Okay, just another country heard from, opinions are like a**holes, discount as necessary and so forth, but ...

I give adnoto deep credit for his mea culpa. Nobody ever says, 'shit, i was wrong, sorry' anymore. It seemed sincere, and was a bigger dive compared to what you generally see, esp in comparison with his position before. I think that's admirable and should be encouraged. No, I don't mean necessarily by you, but ...

'We' don't have any reason to think otherwise? Says who? You think this beef started yesterday?

I've been seething about it for months now. Great, NYT wants to replace Tierney; why do they have to resort to Rosenthal's rolodex? There aren't any other 'conservative' writers out there who want to write op-eds for the NYT? Why the hell do you think Brooks took the job after spending his whole life in the conservative ghetto?

And yeah, the childhood/boyhood/adulthood friendship thing is an established fact. What's your beef with that? You think we have to start by assuming boyhood buds are strangers on a train?

Thanks for fightin' the good fight.

You're a slugger!

And you're not alone.

Hell with these idjits. We'll get Obama elected in spite of their stupidity!

Thanks. I won't bloviate further ... other than to say that it's ironic how on a blog hosted by such a First Amendment champ, suddenly a bunch of people pop off about who they'd like to see deep-sixed and by what mechanism ... esp when said guy is, as you said, our prose poet, and someone whose posts I read, every single one, every day ... and about whom later arrivals (including me) ought to tread lightly. But Pedinska already said all I could say about community and the value thereof ...

This is a republican talking point that seems to have entered your vocabulary.

Bullshit. It's a fact. Dems have had an impossible time talking to the white working class since at least 1980 (my first year voting and active), because 'they' (the leadership) don't know what to say. It's appalling; these are the natural roots of the party. Yes, it should expand, but should we be treated to Howard Dean's lame ass appeal in 2004 about how he wanted to be the candidate for the NASCAR, confederate flag vote?

The fact is, Dems have an easier time talking to the committed base than they do to the fringes, including not only white working class, but (for example) veterans. It always comes down to 'ally in the can' or 'victim'. Neither works well, with either of these groups.

The Dems need to do better about this. It isn't a Republican talking point, just an honest fact.

I really don't need a wikipedia article, because I've lived it. Besides, you're talking about ancient history, as are a lot of people posting here .. and history filtered, as usual, through someone else's lens.

It's a new day. There's a huge coalition of potential dems and potential Obama supporters here in these hills, if only a small amount of effort and sensitivity is put in play to claim it. The question is what will you do to claim it? It won't take much.

Setting aside all the bullshit generalizations about how everyone down here is a 'racist' because they don't fall over in a dead faint over Obama is a start.

We seem to have trouble even getting there. I'm really sick of trying to find common cause with people who start from the assumption that I or people in my coalition are knuckle-dragging thugs, or that they have somehow 'sacrificed too much already' for the people I am trying to recruit (which is complete nonsense), or having to knock on doors and spend the first several minutes disclaiming those attitudes. I do it out of my convictions, and I would do it anyway. But it would be nice if the bullshit could cease and I didn't have to make apologies for people who don't know what the hell they are talking about. Know what I'm saying?

That's great news ... I started my career in 1/75, then spent a year in S Korea setting up a joint S. Korean/US Strat Recon Unit, then re-upped to go to 2/75, then 5th SFG and then I vanished into the SOF underworld (not as exciting as it sounds).

Always good when one of ours got his due, though I feel for the knee injuries (472 jumps later) ... but a little less so since he's running the marathons! :> Give him my best Sua Sponte, a virtual coin check, and final stanza of the Ranger creed (esp the all-important last line)... and tell him I'm spittin' distance from Camp Frank D Macho these days, in the Mountain phase ... where good Rangers go to die ...

I just got around to this piece from George Packer about the (fall of the) conservative movement, which dovetails nicely with what we're talking about here (when we aren't just slinging mud in the eyes of people we're supposed to be on the same side with):

http://tinyurl.com/4d225u