Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2721

Douthat: Pro-Gay Is Pro-Family?

I'm stretching things a bit, I know, but it's interesting to see Ross praise what he calls David Cameron's "pro-family" impulses - especially by supporting married couples in the tax code, something I also support. The Lib-Dems have largely quashed this for now. But Cameron's pro-family agenda specifically and emphatically included gay couples. In fact, his entire argument was that we should not distinguish between gay and straight, but focus on core values - like commitment and...

Ezra Klein Walks It Back

Ezra emailed the Dish yesterday and wrote the following:

I set two rules for members: Center to left, and not working for the
government, I didn't exercise discretion beyond that because I didn't
want to be in the position of selectively choosing people.

He now concedes in another email that this is untrue:

I should say that I did make a few discretionary decisions. I didn't
allow the Media Matters people on Journolist. I thought that was a
conflict of interest.

He now says he also...

Impersonating A Human

"Sabbar Kashur wanted to be a person, a person like everybody else. But asluck would have it, he was born Palestinian. It happens. His chances of beingaccepted as a human being in Israel are nil...

Now the respected judges have to be asked: If the man was really Dudu posingas Sabbar, a Jew pretending to be an Arab so he could sleep with an Arab woman,would he then be convicted of rape? And do the eminent judges understand thesocial and racist meaning of their florid verdict? Don't they...

Poor Sarah Palin Couldn't Cope With The "Press"

Now she tells us she simply couldn't handle the pressure of being asked, you know, basic questions like what she reads (nothing), what she knew (next to nothing), and why none of her substantive political claims (Bridge To Nowhere My Ass) passed muster. She is telling us that she resigned from the governorship because the mama grizzly.barracuda couldn't handle the heat in the political kitchen. Altogether now: awww. Can you imagine a Thatcher or Meir or Merkel quitting because the press was t...

Creepy Ad Watch

A Mudflats reader writes:

I keep thinking about her son in 15 years or in 20 years. If
looks at this ad campaign or searches magazines and
articles/blogs for his family's bizarre behavior and commentary
his birth—it just makes me sad to think how he will feel. Its just
twisted.

But to comment specifically on the imagery. I'm a cultural historian(meaning, I used alot of art and objects during my studies and work)and the image of Bristol with the baby on her lap is very...

Why Israel Serves America's Interests, Ctd

Noah Millman goes through Frum's defense of the Israeli-American relationship point-by-point.
















United States - Middle East - Warfare and Conflict - Organizations - George W. Bush

How Debt Sinks A Superpower

Tyler Cowen worries:

At some sufficiently high debt-GDP ratio, it becomes a foreign policyissue and a big one.  Postwar UK had a high debt to GDP ratio, and tothis day it is a fine place, but that debt meant the end of England asa world power, for better or worse.  The U.S. for instance usedfinancial issues to push England around and they basically had to giveup on their overseas commitments.  A very high debt ratio here wouldmean the end of the U.S. as a global world power, again even if GDP...

Missing The Point On Trig, Ctd

A reader writes:

Your reader's excellent email describing the dialogue between Palin and her doctor reminded, oddly, of that recent video that went viral about the stupidly insistent person that wanted an iPhone 4.  I imagine Palin's dialogue with her doctor sounding more like that video:

Palin:  My water broke, and I'm having contractions.  I want to give this speech, then fly to the hospital in Wasilla.
Doctor:  You should stay in Texas and go to the hospital.  Due to your age, your pregnancy...

Newt vs The Constitution

A reader writes:

Did Newt really claim that the Cordoba House mosque would "overlook" the World Trade Center site? Rubbish. It is three blocks away and has no line of sight.

And 3,000 Americans? 3,000 human beings, mostly but by no means entirely American, as anyone in reality-based discourse knows. Another writes:

I live two blocks from Ground Zero in a six-building apartment complex with an active tenant association. As best I can tell, Cordoba House is a non-issue among local residents...

Rape-By-Deception, Ctd

Dana McCourt makes a distinction:

Apparent consent can be invalid is if the person has been
If a prankster serves you a delicious brownie telling you that
made of chocolate, and neglects to tell you about the
ingredient, it's fair to say that you didn't consent to getting high.

In this case, the woman argues that she was deceived, and if
was, her consent would be meaningless.  Lack of consent means rape.

So, I'm still not convinced.  I think that the difference lies...