Month: April 2006

Let‚Äôs talk about Rummy. Yet another former military bigwig has slammed the Defense Secretary‚Äôs leadership skills and even called for his enforced retirement. In this case, retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste said in an interview yesterday on CNN, ‚ÄúWe need leadership up there that respects the military as they expect the military to respect them. And that leadership needs to understand teamwork.‚Äù Not that we should expect any of this to make a dent in Rumsfeld‚Äôs belief in his own infallibility. Batiste, much like poor little Condi, probably just suffers from ‚Äúa lack of understanding‚Ķof what war is about‚Äù‚Äînot to mention of the management genius required to bungle things so thoroughly.  

Daily Dish devotees apparently already know Walter, but since this is my first time subbing for Andrew, I’ll quickly add a bit of personal info to his kind introduction so you all will have a sense of the background and blinding prejudices informing my posts.

Unlike the dishy Mr. Sullivan, I am not British, conservative, Catholic, or gay; I don‚Äôt own a dog; I never supported the Iraq war; and I‚Äôm not all that crazy about men with loads of body hair.I am, in fact, a transplanted red-stater who nonetheless tends toward blue-state politics– especially when it comes to all the self-serving moral-values blather we‚Äôve had to endure from Tom ‚ÄúAnointed-by-God‚Äù Delay and Co. these past few years. (Sorry, but just because Big Tom gets the willies thinking about ‚ÄúBrokeback Mountain‚Äù and fought to keep poor Terri Schiavo tubed for another decade doesn‚Äôt make him a good person.) But lest anyone accuse me of being unfamiliar with the will of the Lord, please note that I was raised a devout Southern Baptist (is there any other kind?), although I long ago abandoned the belief in biblical inerrancy–along with pretty much every other aspect of the religion. Still, a childhood full of fire and brimstone leaves its mark, putting me in the theologically unsettling position of not being sure that I believe in God but being utterly convinced in the existence of Hell.

I’m an out and proud breeder with two wee tots committed to ensuring that I never get more than four hours of sleep a night or accomplish more than four hours of work a day. I have two ancient cats that, for a variety of reasons, have been exiled to our basement, where they spend their days trying to drive my journalist husband insane with their meowing, shedding, and strategic defecating. I never bought the Bushies‚Äô rationale for the Iraq war, and I always kinda figured they‚Äôd botch the execution. As for the body hair thing, although I do have my preferences, at heart I believe it‚Äôs a personal matter between each man and his god. —Michelle

Post-book edit break and Easter are taking me and the other half to England. While I’m gone, I’m happy to say two guest bloggers will take my place. Returning to this space is Walter Kirn, novelist, critic, occasional essayist for the corporate overlords. His latest novel is "Mission to America" and the movie of his novel, "Thumbsucker" is now available on DVD. An extra reason for inviting Walter is that, after we threw him in the deep end of the blogosphere last year, he has become more enmeshed in the medium. He’s writing an online, real-time novel, "The Unbinding," on Slate. Think Dickens with a modem. I.e. he hasn’t written the end yet. Guest blogger Number Two is Michelle Cottle, a fellow senior editor at The New Republic for the last seven years, and contributor to Time. She has also written for the Atlantic, NYT, Slate, and Beliefnet.com. They both have access to the email in-tray so keep emailing. But, as a hard-hatted worker in the Simpsons’ gay steel mill once put it, "Be nice." They’re our guests. If you hate them, take it out on me when I get back. On the other hand, if you love them, and you will, don’t hesitate to let them know.

Geitner Simmons has several other such maps, portraying the religious landscape of America. I love maps and found these fascinating.

"Iran has dropped its pretense of benign intent. It has used the passing time to disperse, diversify, conceal, and protect its nuclear centers. But [the U.S.] cannot prevent this through military means‚Äîunless it is willing to commit itself to all-out war. Realism about Iran starts with throwing out any plans to bomb," ‚Äî James Fallows, the Atlantic. Fallows was one of the few writers to predict the chaos in Iraq and to warn against it. He’s earned our trust. Read what he has to say.

(Photo: Irna/AFP/Getty Images).

I’m so sorry. It turns out I "inned" the new editor of "Out," which is quite an achievement. My source was a very good one, and I emailed Aaron Hicklin to double-check, and should have waited longer to hear from the horse’s mouth. Aaron emailed a little while ago to say:

"I’m flattered that you should name-check me in your column, especially as I’ve long been a fan of your writing, and want to bring some anti-consensual ideas into Out, but I must correct one possibly irrelevant misapprehension: I’m very definitely gay, however much I may be accused of acting straight (five years of editing Gear, as senior and then executive editor could easily leave that impression)."

D’oh! Well, the good news is a) his orientation did not seem to be a factor in his being hired, and b) these days, someone can be rightly upset that he has been publicly outed as straight. It could ruin his career! Still, my apologies. I never meant to offend. I know how hard it is to be a public heterosexual these days, and I apologize for throwing the accusation around without proper double-checking.

The NPR series of personal credos in less than five minutes is now available on DVD. My own contribution, "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" is included. It’s also playable online. John McCain has one. So do Studs Terkel and Isabelle Allende.

The group of former generals calling for Rumsfeld to resign keeps growing in number.

The disturbing story of an Iraqi cameraman thrown in Abu Ghraib by U.S. soldiers as a terrorist suspect, and ultimately cleared, after a year, because there was not a shred of evidence against him. The Pentagon had first given off-the-record briefings accusing him of being a terrorist. There must be better ways to win hearts and minds.

Have I offended everyone sufficiently? But I kid you not.