Author: Andrew Sullivan

“Certain distressed liberals and progressives are talking about fleeing to Canada or, better yet, seceding from the Union. We can’t literally secede and, let’s admit it, we don’t really want to live in Canada. It’s too cold up there and in our heart-of-hearts, we hate hockey. We can secede emotionally, however, by turning our backs on the heartland. We can focus on our issues, our urban issues, and promote our shared urban values. The Republicans have the federal government–for now. But we’ve got Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, New York City (Bloomberg is a Republican in name only), and every college town in the country. We’re everywhere any sane person wants to be. Let them have the shitholes, the Oklahomas, Wyomings, and Alabamas. We’ll take Manhattan.” – Dan Savage, celebrating the urban archipelago, in the Stranger.

The campaign continues in the Nation:

Bird’s biggest achievement in The Incredibles is to have inflated family stereotypes to parade-balloon size. His failing is that, in so doing, he also confirmed these stereotypes, and worse. Helen mouths one or two semi-feminist wisecracks but readily gives up her career for a house and kids; women are like that. Bob’s buddy Frozone, the main nonwhite character in the movie, can instantly create ice; black people are cool. The superheroes are in hiding because greedy trial lawyers sued them into retirement; and, while concealed, they chafe at their confinement, like Ayn Rand railing against enforced mediocrity. The family is the foundation of our society. Freedom is on the march.

So the family is not the foundation of our society? And we’re supposed to worry that freedom may be on the march? The left’s estrangement from America continues.

TIME FOR HEALING WATCH: “Joe Glover, president of the Family Policy Network, has worked tirelessly for family values, including the fight against legalized homosexual ‘marriage.’ He says it was conservative Christians who put the president back in office and who held to the belief that the president shared their views. But Glover says the day after the election, that all seemed to go out the window. ‘The day after George Bush was elected president again, because of this morals revolution taking place in our country, he allows his vice president to not only put his lesbian daughter on the platform, but to bring her lesbian ‘partner’ up on the stage with him,’ Glover says. ‘It almost seems to be a slap in the face from the get-go against the very conservatives that re-elected the president at a time when he ought to paying them some homage and respect.’ Glover says the Cheney daughter’s open flaunting of her homosexuality is the antithesis of what the administration claims to stand for — and that the post-election display sends a mixed message to Bush supporters.” – Randy Pugh, from the American Family Association’s Agape Press.

The Free Republic crowd swoon over Cheney’s package. (Hat tip: Wonkette.)

“In your re-election, God has graciously granted America-though she doesn’t deserve it-a reprieve from the agenda of paganism. You have been given a mandate. We the people expect your voice to be like the clear and certain sound of a trumpet. Because you seek the Lord daily, we who know the Lord will follow that kind of voice eagerly.
Don’t equivocate. Put your agenda on the front burner and let it boil. You owe the liberals nothing. They despise you because they despise your Christ. Honor the Lord, and He will honor you.
Had your opponent won, I would have still given thanks, because the Bible says I must (I Thessalonians 5:18). It would have been hard, but because the Lord lifts up whom He will and pulls down whom He will, I would have done it. It is easy to rejoice today, because Christ has allowed you to be His servant in this nation for another presidential term. Undoubtedly, you will have opportunity to appoint many conservative judges and exercise forceful leadership with the Congress in passing legislation that is defined by biblical norm regarding the family, sexuality, sanctity of life, religious freedom, freedom of speech, and limited government. You have four years-a brief time only-to leave an imprint for righteousness upon this nation that brings with it the blessings of Almighty God.” – Bob Jones III, of Bob Jones University, reminding George W. Bush who Karl Rove’s friends are.

An amazing freelance portfolio.

Boy, did he love expediting the executions of prisoners. Barely a cursory review of the issues in Texas. No wonder George W. Bush had so many people killed. Just don’t expect the Catholic “culture of life” theocons to have any qualms whatever.

“Straight male seeks Bush supporter for fair, physical fight – m4m. I would like to fight a Bush supporter to vent my anger. If you are one, have a fiery streek, please contact me so we can meet and physically fight. I would like to beat the shit out of you.” – a current New York listing on Craigslist.

It isn’t over. The worst part of the battle might still be to come:

Until late Thursday, resistance in Fallujah had been piecemeal, with individual rocket, mortar, and rifle teams making surprise attacks. US heavy artillery, tank guns, and airstrikes have waged steady barrages, paving the way for marine infantry advances.
US military leaders have deemed the effort in Fallujah so far as a success. In three days of fighting, coalition units have swept across more than half the city, sustaining relatively few casualties. But Thursday night, casualties appeared to mount. Coalition forces have been targeted from mosques. They have uncovered unarmed sleeper cells that they believe have been seeded throughout the city and primed to strike after the initial assault.

Meanwhile, Mosul goes up in flames. And guess who’s wreaking havoc in Mosul? The same men who fled Falluja! The sad truth is that this insurgency cannot be subdued without a political solution that our early mis-steps made far, far more difficult. These grueling battles may be necessary, but they are really functions of our past failure than any guarantee of our future success.

Their first victory, argues Ryan Lizza. The fundies didn’t want him for the Court and AG is a consolation prize. The man who defended torture and the suspension of the Geneva Conventions is therefore now in charge of defending our civil rights. Just remember: in the new Republican party, he’s the moderate.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “As a Texas Supreme Court justice, Gonzales’ rulings implied he does not view abortion as a heinous crime… Why is President Bush betraying the babies? Justice begins with protecting the most vulnerable in our midst. Please, Mr. President – just say no to the unjust views of Alberto Gonzales.” – Judie Brown, president of the American Life League.

THE RIGHT’S COMIC HEROES: Are “The Incredibles” and “Team America” basically right-wing? That’s what some on the left thinks. If right-wing means dreary, joyless puritanism, then no. If it means backing self-reliance, celebrating individual freedom and abhorring Hollywood leftism, then sure. By the way, I’m amazed at how few people seem to have seen “Team America.” It’s genius in so many ways. And completely under-estimated by the reviewers. Go see it. I’m seeing the “Incredibles” this weekend. I don’t think I can stomach “The Polar Express.” Christmas itself makes me want to puke. Christmas propaganda, created by that pillar of sanctimony, Tom Hanks, is a highly elevated form of torture.

I never joined in the sanctification of Matthew Shepard. What happened to him was appalling, evil, horrifying. But what gay rights groups made of it was, in my view, exploitative and crude. I gave up counting the number of direct mail requests for money I received using Matthew Shepard’s name. I wrote about my misgivings here. My opposition to hate crime laws is laid out here. Harper’s Magazine has already sketched the role that crystal meth may have played in the scenario that led to Shepard’s murder. Now ABC News has prepared an important, thorough and debunking review of what happened. I was tangentially involved in the documentary, but wasn’t privy to its most closely held findings. I have a feeling it will reveal how dangerous it is to rest an entire political argument on one incident, whose details were always murky and subsequently turned into myth.

WEEPING FOR ARAFAT: Here’s the BBC correspondent, Barbara Plett, finding herself in tears at the demise of Arafat:

To be honest, the coverage of Yasser Arafat’s illness and departure from Palestine was a real grind. I churned out one report after the other, without any sense of drama. Foreign journalists seemed much more excited about Mr Arafat’s fate than anyone in Ramallah. We hovered around the gate to his compound, swarming around the Palestinian officials who drove by, poking our microphones through their dark, half-open windows. But where were the people, I wondered, the mass demonstrations of solidarity, the frantic expressions of concern? Was this another story we Western journalists were getting wrong, bombarding the world with news of what we think is an historic event, while the locals get on with their lives? Yet when the helicopter carrying the frail old man rose above his ruined compound, I started to cry… without warning.

Do you think she’d shed a tear for the Pope? Or Mother Teresa? The far left’s attraction to foreign murder and tyranny endures, doesn’t it? Notice also this BBC timeline for Arafat’s life. The last two dates are his Nobel Peace Prize and the 2001 Israeli blockade in Ramallah. No mention of Camp David or Taba. The BBC has the historical objectivity of Stalin.