To Appeal, or Not...

While a legislative repeal of DADT would be preferable for a few reasons, appealing Judge Phillipsè ruling seems rather silly now that that avenue has proven futile. Obama seems more afraid of being accused of slipping a repeal in through the legislative back door.

Given that the logic of the decision hinged largely on whether keeping gay troops in the closet harmed troop cohesion, the Justice department will now have to argue the opposite. This puts them in the very odd position of having to argue the opposite of what they argued when campaigning for repeal.

DADT Overturned by Republicans!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Log_Cabin_Republicans_v._United_States_of_America

Israel's Settlement Offer

The Palestinian Authority just offered to freeze the expansion of settlements in exchange for recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. This is a convenient way to paint the PA as not willing to bargain, but given what accepting the offer entails, it's hard to blame them for turning it down. Recognition of Israel as a Jewish state would basically be conceding that Jews deserve more rights in Israel than non-Jews. Granted, one would not expect Palestinians or any other Muslim community to grant equal rights to non-Muslims, but either way, ethno-states are ugly, ugly arrangements.

Take THAT WLC

I was kinda disappointed when I saw this video, I was going to do one making roughly the same criticisms.

Waiting For Armageddon

I’m watching Waiting for Armageddon. It’s pretty entertaining for the most part, though it’s a little boring due to the fact that it’s mostly shit that I’ve heard before. What you can get out of this movie, you can get out of pretty much any other footage of fundamentalist Christians: they are not interested in being reasoned with. These people cannot be defeated by mere refutation. They must be marginalized. Making movies like this one and Jesus Camp are good steps toward that. The more people see how foolish and dangerous these people are the better.

Mmmm, Drinks

Today I'm drinking a Moscow Mule.
1 part lime juice
1 part vodka
3 parts ginger ale.

Yum!

Now Let's All Forget About Robert Byrd

Robert Byrd was one of those Democrats with a bit of an odd past that Republicans like to bring up when they need something shady sounding to smear Democrats in general. Like Ted Kennedy, who, whenever he did something that Republicans didn't like -- which covered practically everything he did -- would be reminded of that time he got into a car accident at Chappaquiddick that ended up killing the girl in his passenger seat (even though you never hear an elected Democrat bring up the fact that Laura Bush killed a guy -- that's right, Laura Bush killed a guy), Robert Byrd could never live down his membership in the KKK, his opposition to desegregation, and the fact that he filibustered against the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Also he was getting really old and every speech he made sounded increasingly senile and non-sensical. While he may very well have helped out with some decent legislation here and there, he was kind of an embarrassment, and now that he's dead I'm relieved that I'll no longer have to hear Republicans whine disingenuously about his personal history.