Bombing Al-Jazeera

Weird when the news starts to resemble a prequel of the movies. I just got through showing Jehane Noujaim's amazing doc Control Room in class, and now this. So, Georgie wasn't content to ignore the news he didn't like to hear, he contemplated bombing the messenger. The predictable reactions to stories like the Post's and the NYT's is indignation about how preposterous an idea it is. But watch the movie, and you see that on the same day, headquarters of two Arab channels were bombed, plus the Palestine hotel where so many journalists crash. Anybody not ready to believe the worst about this administration is not paying attention.

One of each

If its guest list is any indication, the white house is starting to resemble the kind of after-school television that the "conservative base" likes to ban (remember Buster's friend with two moms?). Will wonders never cease?

Gitmo is no gulag, THIS is a gulag!

We totally misunderstood the indignation when human rights advocates raised concerns about the "gulag" conditions at Guantanamo. I guess Bush, Rumsfeld, & Co. didn't want to dilute the term's applicability to secret prisons in old Soviet compounds. When do we stop being shocked by this stuff?

Support the troops-- vote for them

Interesting twist on our post red state-blue state existence: soldiers coming back from Iraq and running as Democrats for public office. What does it say about our system that this seems surprising? Dayton Daily News covers it, as does Air America.