Ms. Baez calls the snub “strange irony”—which leads me to conclude that she defines “strange irony” differently than most of us.  Say, as “completely predictable.” From the Washington Post: Folk singer and anti-war activist Joan Baez says she doesn’t know why she was not allowed to perform for recovering soldiers recently at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as she planned. In a letter to The Washington Post published Wednesday, she

Funny, I seem to recall a lot of Democrats supporting his appointment.  Which I guess was just so that they could cut off his funding, deny the truth of his accounts about who we’re fighting in Iraq, and in essence, paint the military as part of the great neocon conspiracy to keep us fighting in Iraq on behalf of Halliburton and the monied Jews. Petraeus?  An administration automaton—a political mouthpiece

Remember.  She’s third in line for the Presidency—and she already considers herself part of a shadow State Department, though she’s far too desirous of publicity to actually, you know, remain in the shadows. Okay, then, Madame Speaker. You want some publicity?  Revel in this: The second most popular politician in Syria these days may be an American: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The California Democrat warmed Syrian hearts with her trip

From the New Republic’sLawrence Kaplan, “The Knowledge Gap”: Maybe it was a slip of the tongue. But, when Nancy Pelosi confessed last year that she felt “sad” about President Bush’s claims that Al Qaeda operates in Iraq, she seemed to be disputing what every American soldier in Iraq, every Al Qaeda operative, and anyone who reads a newspaper already knew to be true. (When I questioned him about Pelosi’s assertion,

I’ve already recommended the fantastic Balvenie Doublewood (about $33-$39), for my money the best value in single malts, but for those on an even tighter budget—or who wish to try different Scotches without having to pony up $99 for a bottle of Macallen—Lismore, on sale in these parts for $15 this week, is a great value, and has ranked rather high on tasting lists, including one prominent list where it

In the airy forest green, a marshmallow boy sits alone beside a cool brook sipping hot cocoa from a cup made of crystalized sugar—his tiny marshmallow feet washed over by the gentle caress of liquid caramel. The sight makes me weep.  —Which, of course, doesn’t keep me from eating the little fucker.  But it sure makes for an idyllic memory, once properly edited.

Today’s topics: how the US military is stocked with a bunch of intellectual midgets and would-be felons who, sadly, had no other life choices but to live and die as Uncle Sam’s war puppets; how Bush went to war for BIG OIL; how terms like “terrorist” and “cell” are merely shock words meant to “scare” us (unlike, say, “fascist” or “oil baron” or “neocon conspiracy”—which are merely descriptions of the

Early reports are legion, but there’s been no confirmation.  So, you know, keep your chin up, Harry!  There’s still hope!  From the Australian: The reported death last night of al-Qa’ida’s leader in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, in an internal power struggle could be the second significant blow to the insurgent group in as many weeks. Masri’s reported death comes just nine months after he succeeded the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a

I call it, Joe Biden:  A Man and his Nuance. Unfortunately, my initial title— Joe Biden:  A Man, His Hair, “His” Writings, and an Unwavering Respect for Very Clean Negroes—just seemed a bit too, you know, unwieldy… **** update:  related.  Too.