Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2547

The New McCarthyism

Beinart heralds it in:

Ever since 9/11, according to opinion polls, Republicans have worriedmore about terrorism than have Democrats. Initially, this feartranslated into overwhelming support for military action abroad. But asRepublicans (like everyone else) have grown tired and embittered byAmerica's wars, they have turned their anxiety inward, lured by thesame idea that attracted Palmer and the McCarthyites: that Americacould guarantee its safety on the cheap by ferreting out the realthreat...

Cool Ad Watch

HuffPo asks what should be on everyone's mind:

Now that the suspense is over about what Conan O'Brien's new TBS show will be called, it's time to get excited for the November 8 premiere. To help in that department, TBS released the first print ad for "Conan" today, featuring CoCo with his animal doppelganger. The photo also brings up one question: when show time comes, is he going to keep the beard?

Conan O'Brien - Advertising - TBS - Business - Television

The Consequences Of Calling The President A Prick

A funny story if the details weren't so disturbing:

[British teenager:] Luke [Angel:] yesterday admitted he fired off a single email criticising the US Government after seeing a TV programme about 9/11. He said: "I don't remember exactly what I wrote as I was drunk. ButI think I called Barack Obama a prick. It was silly - the sort of thingyou do when you're a teenager and have had a few." Luke, of Silsoe, Bedfordshire, said it was "a bit extreme" for the FBI to act. He added: "The police came...

The Treasure Of Hitch

A simple sentence I missed on my break about the Beck rally on the Mall:

The numbers were impressive enough on their own, but the overall effect was large, vague, moist, and undirected: the Waterworld of white self-pity.

And a reminder of his democratic spirit in penning a private 1,000 word response to a writer he could easily have ignored in the intellectual wars of the past decade. The person who received that rather brutal letter now writes:

Hitchens' advice [in that letter:] is also the...

De Profundis

Can something good come out of the recent wave of anti-Muslim fear and prejudice? An excerpt from a fascinating and nuanced conversation between two Muslim-Americans:

Islam in the United States - Islam - Religion and Spirituality - United States - Social Aspects

"Heart Speaks To Heart" Ctd

A reader writes:

I live in Brooklyn, NY attend one of the oldest Catholic parishes with my two sonsevery Sunday (my daughter is too young). I went to confession recently and saidhow I sometimes wished for the death of Benedict. The priest absolved me andwasn't surprised. He took the time to discuss it with me and the anger in myheart over the state of things with regards to the abuses, non-inclusiveness andhypocrisy of the Vatican . In his homily this weekend, our pastor actually cameout and...

Colbert Bait

The woman who mistook her husband for a bear. Actually, pretty awful story.
















Recreation - Outdoors - Death - Criminal negligence - Fish

Suing Over Mutilation

If more parents did this, maybe the barbarism would end:

The parents of a four-year-old boy who was circumcised at a Miami hospital against their wishes are suing the facility.Vera Delgado, whose infant son Mario Viera was circumcised at South Miami Hospital in August, will announce the multi-million dollar lawsuit Monday afternoon with her attorneys from the Aronfeld Trial Lawyers.According to Delgado's attorneys, Viera's parents told South Miami doctors several times that they did not...

The Seniors Behind Bars

Jamelle Bouie their numbers swell. His proposal:

I understand the logic of incarcerating the elderly -- a murdercommitted 40 years ago is still a murder -- but it's hard to see theenterprise as anything other than absurd. Crime is a game for theyoung; the vast majority of crimes are committed by men in their lateteens and 20s. Criminal behavior drops sharply drops after age 30 andenters a permanent tailspin after late middle age. According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report for 2009...

Accountability For Torture

Even chaotic Iraq now holds government torturers more accountable to their foreign victims than the United States does to its. Seriously. When it comes to American exceptionalism - human rights apply to every state but the US if it will embarrass us - the cognitive dissonance is impossible to parody.
















Iraq - United States - Human rights - Human Rights and Liberties - Middle East