This one has to be read to be believed. The military, which is having severe shortages of personnel who speak Arabic, is actually firing Arabic speakers because they’re gay. The New Republic will have a story online soon about this scandal. I’ll link as soon as it’s up. Geitner Simmons provides the crucial and damning background to this insanity. The anti-gay policy makes no sense anyway. No other civilized country engages in such bigotry. No other country at war would put discrimination against its own people above the need to fight a deadly enemy. This targeting of Arabic speakers is, of course, only the tiniest part of it. Each year, the military throws away hundreds of good servicemembers, wastes millions of dollars, to pursue a policy that is not only unconscionable as a moral issue, but dumb as a practical matter. And now they’re jeopardizing the war on terror as well. When will what Dick Cheney once described as an “old chestnut” of a policy finally be abolished? UPDATE: Here’s a link to the TNR story. It’s superb. Read it and weep about our misplaced priorities.
LEFTWING DEPRAVITY WATCH: Check out Steve Bell’s vile cartoon in the Guardian yesterday. It says everything you need to know about why the Left has become so rancid and bitter.
BEGALA AWARD NOMINEE: “Give the Republicans credit. They know what they stand for. Tax cuts. Guns. Bombs. Oil. Big business. Old boy networks. Privatization. Plundering the earth. Pillorying and padlocking the poor. Party-line votes.” – Derrick Jackson, the Boston Globe.
THE PRODUCTIVITY NEWS: “For the 12-month period ending in September, productivity grew at a rate of 5.3 percent, the strongest gain since the third quarter of 1983.” – the New York Times today. This must be a good sign for the long-term health of the economy.
NEWSWEEK ON THE WAR: At Yale, senior editor Michael Hirsh gives an insight into the way Newsweek is covering world events. “The war policy is a crock,” Hirsh opined. “This is a hugely risky operation for potential gains that probably won’t justify the risk.” Just passing on information about the views of those who control the mainstream news.
The Dish 