Author: Andrew Sullivan

SLDN prints its final dispatch from a gay solider: a love letter from one WWII solider to another.

Say what?

Positano, Italy, 7.30 am

A reader writes:

I can understand why some of your readers think McGinniss's move borders on stalking. That said, Palin makes it extremely difficult for journalists – except for the Fox-approved variety – to cover her in more conventional ways. She refuses to do interviews outside the right-wing crew, limits access to speeches, and does her best to keep her records out of reach. She cooperates only with those who are paying her for access or whom she is paying to write and speak for her. What should someone like McGinniss do? She started this game. He's just upped the ante.

Another writes:

There certainly is a valid point to be made about the sorry state of celebrity journalism. From Princess Diana's car crash to Brittany Spears' house surrounded 24/7 by paps, the public has an unseemly thirst for reality TV, celebrity gossip and photos. However, Palin had a high-profile run for the nation's highest elected office before quitting her governor's job for a huge book advance, a cushy Fox "News" commentator job, and a lucrative speaker circuit. She inserts herself into a every public debate, regularly thrusts her family into the public spotlight, and gets paid like a rock star in return. Now, she is learning what celebrities the world over have learned the hard way: there is also cost to that fame and fortune.

Another:

Your reader writes: "moving next door is clearly meant to provoke and mock". No, it isn't. What it's meant to do is shake down that little fantasy world that Palin lives in and peddles to her adoring rubes.

Joe the Journalist doesn't have to do anything, and shouldn't. Frankly, he should just sit and look at Russia from his front porch and never even glance in her direction. His presence is enough to shake her. She's already terrified that her little facade will be blown. She's never home, she doesn't raise those children – and if you think she Grandma Palin tills her garden with a heavy toddler strapped to her back, I have ocean-front property in Kansas I'd like to sell you.

Another:

McGinniss' real reason for living next door is plain and simple: marketing. What could be better than the subject of your book railing against you day in and day out, on national television. So many writers would salivate at the opportunity to have so much press.

Another:

I have never read any of Joe McGinniss’ books about political figures. However, he did write one of the best soccer books of all time – The Miracle of Castel di Sangro.  McGinnis spent a year living in Castel di Sangro (which is to Rome what Wasilla is to New York City) in Italy following the local soccer team, befriending some of the players, and getting to know the team owners. The book is a funny, revealing look at soccer, Italian culture, the Mafia, corruption, and the sheer ridiculousness of becoming an obsessed fan.

Did McGinniss “stalk” this team and its players? Did he print all sorts of things that the team would rather not have been published? Did he become too close to his subject matter? I am not in a position to judge. However, the book is also a triumph of journalism of the first order and considered one of the best sports books ever written. Nobody ever accused McGinniss of being anything but a great journalist and story teller.

This type of journalism is an accepted and beloved art form. The fact that McGinniss is now turning his gaze upon Palin makes her supporters nervous not because it is an invasion of privacy but because McGinniss will undoubtedly reveal all sorts of uncomfortable facts about Palin.

Another:

You posted those dissents without comment. What do you think, now that you've read them?

I'm with Joe. I want her full phoniness exposed – because the MSM won't do it.

Matt Zeitlin knocks Ed Rendell for saying that if “Bill Clinton was president, he’d have been in a wetsuit, you know, trying to get down to see the spill.” Massie sighs:

As Dave Weigel tweeted the other day, the old argument was that Obama is a socialist wannabe-dictator; today's line is why won't Obama take control of everything?

I'm just trying to banish the mental image of Clinton in a wet-suit.

This little post on vintage postcards, featuring the famous Ralph of Aquarena Springs, sparked one of the most popular threads of the week. A reader writes:

What I remember most about Aquarena Springs was being confused.  As a kid, I had several animal books that had pictures of elephants swimming, and our dog could definitely swim.  Why not pigs?  But everyone was so excited at watching Ralph dive into the water and swim around that I figured he must be a really special, uniquely swimming pig.

Not so much. From a speech by David Lawrence, Jr.:

[Charles] Kuralt once told this story on himself. CBS headlined that story: "The Remarkable Swimming Pig of San Marcos, Texas," and it was envisioned as quite the attention-grabber. To ensure that the piece was documented quite precisely, CBS even obtained a special camera that could take underwater pictures of that little porker paddling along. After the program ran, Mr. Kuralt got a semi-blizzard of letters from farmers saying, "You idiot! Any pig can swim." In Mr. Kuralt's subsequent judgment, "It would have been helpful to have known that before we did the story."

Richard Lutwyche chronicles the long and storied history of swimming pigs. Vince Lauro captured the photo above:

As the first mate on a 118-foot motor yacht, Vince Lauro has the opportunity to continuously travel across the Caribbean. This photograph was taken near a small key famous for the "swimming pigs." A colony of pigs lives on the key, and they often swim near visiting boats. To capture this clear image Lauro said, "I had to lure this pig into an undisturbed area with its favorite food: fresh watermelon."

Frigid, actually:

This week feels like déjà vu circa 1993. I hope I am wrong. But I do not take President Obama, or the leadership of the Pentagon at their word to end DADT.

Ambers makes a persuasive case:

I had assumed that the TP movement would be beneficial to the party in the short-term and harm it in the long-term, but today, it is hard to see where the short term benefits are.

Seriously:

CNN aims to deliver its most profitable year in its 30-year history in 2010 even as the network that invented the 24-hour television news business suffers its worst US ratings in memory… Bright spots include a surge in digital revenue, strength in international advertising and stability in the subscription fees it receives from cable, satellite and phone distributors. Some 80 per cent of its advertising sales come from so-called cross-platform packages that bundle more than one property.That had helped CNN deliver 10-plus per cent profit growth annually over the past six years, during a period when profits had trebled.

It's odd that this is so rarely mentioned. CNN needs work; but it has not become talk radio. Which is something.

Fallows remembers Stephen Banker:

"This is a second-rate article," he told me one time, after reading something I had written. "First-class among the second-rate, but second-rate" …

Bonus points for:

"You look bad!" "Stop rushing for a minute and sit and talk!" "The only magazine I care about is the New Yorker"