Eye Rollers (Part I)

Steve Benen comments on the Washington Monthly blog: Long-time regulars may know I have quite a few “conversation enders.” These are comments that lead you to know, the moment you hear them, that the writer/speaker is either clueless or intellectually dishonest, and there’s really no reason to engage the person in a serious dialog. He […]

Praise in Public, Correct in Private

I rode my bicycle down to the corner coffee shop this morning, my favorite mode of exercise (it’d be good exercise too, if it weren’t for those damn scones).  A leisurely cup of coffee at an outdoor table, reading the book and movie reviews in the latest Tucson Weekly, makes for a great morning. But […]

They’re Laughing at Us in China (and Everywhere Else)

The stupid, it burns: This is what’s on a band T-shirt being rounded up by the local school board in Sedalia, Missouri, after parents complained. Typical of the complaints is one by Sherry Melby, parent of a marching band member: “I was disappointed with the image on the shirt.” Melby said. “I don’t think evolution […]

Athiests in Foxholes

The media occasionally report on Christian evangelicalism and proselytization in the military services, particularly at the military academies.  One journalist who tracks stories about non-believing and minority religion servicemembers coerced into Christian worship is Ed Brayton, who blogs about this and other issues at Dispatches from the Culture Wars. Last week he published a letter […]

National Day of Fear

Oh for Christ’s sake. Back in April, President Obama signed a law establishing September 11 as an annually recognized “National Day of Service and Remembrance.” Reaction on the right? Uh, about what you’d expect: The Obama White House is behind a cynical, coldly calculated political effort to erase the meaning of the Sept. 11, 2001 […]