Author: Andrew Sullivan

I'm hardly surprised that Sarah Palin has had a conniption over someone threatening to commit journalism in her vicinity. She has kept it at bay for so long. But whining about her next door neighbor is a little conveenient after all these years:

The home Joe McGinniss is renting used to be an Oxford House from 2005 until 2008. The tenants were men recently released from prison who were recovering addicts. What? No fence to protect sexy Sarah in her tank top? Dear God! Who was lurking in that house watching her children play?

The Palins themselves rented the home McGinnis is staying in for six months in 2009, but weren’t interested in purchasing it. They didn’t want to spend the money. Last October they were “done with the house”.

Palin's implication that Joe McGinniss is some kind of pedophile is de rigueur but still disgusting. My hope is that now that McGinniss has been smeared by Palin and threatened by Todd, he will forge a bond with everyone else in Alaska who has experienced the same. They must have some stories to tell.

Good luck, Joe. Hang in, Sherry and Mercede. C'mon, Levi!

Joyner refuses to admit that DADT repeal is no longer a "hot button issue" for the vast majority of the country. As evidence that gays serving openly is controversial he writes that "referenda to ban gay marriage, for example, seem almost always to pass easily." His attempt to square the circle:

At least three possible explanations obtain.

First, people are more passionate about gay marriage than gays in the military.

Second, people are lying to pollsters about their views on gays in the military, in a variation of the so-called Bradley Effect, or what pollsters term the “social desirability bias.”

Third, the issue is much more salient for the 22 percent who oppose gays in the military than the 78 percent who favor.

My guess is a combination of the three, with the third being the most powerful explainer. 

The referendums on full marriage equality have been getting narrower and narrower – and are in line with most polls. But compare the polling on marriage equality with the polling on gays in the military. Most Americans rightly see this is unfair discrimination that we can ill afford in wartime.

A reader writes:

It is generally accepted by most biblical scholars that in the course of his argument in Philippians 2, Paul cites an existing hymn that would have been well known to his readers. As one of your readers has already pointed out, Paul's writing pre-dates the writing of the Gospels. But it should be added that this hymn predates Paul, and has evidently become well known throughout the early Christian community by the time Paul is writing (about 60 CE). 

This points to the existence of a rather robust belief in Jesus' divinity quite early in the history of the Jesus movement.

That passage remains for me a fulcrum of my faith – because it wraps together the two great Christian mysteries, the Incarnation and the Resurrection, and casts it in terms of God "emptying himself." The longer I live, the more I think "emptying oneself" is the critical Christian move.

Duck, North Carolina, 12.54 pm

Some ghastly social experiments have indeed gained force with the dawn of gay equality. A reader writes:

I was a beta-male (basement dwelling, video gamer, overweight, unfashionable, creepy around the opposite sex) until I was about 20. The change was gradual, but the single biggest factor was my acceptance and emulation of gay culture: dressing well, enjoying high culture, reveling in your eccentricities.

Will Wilkinson addressed the Menaissance a while ago with the same conclusion. And the use of the term "retrosexual" is just proof the spectrum of masculinity is here to stay. "Heterosexual" wasn't a category until "homosexual" was; now, a "retrosexual" isn't an archetypal male, just one type among many. Really, gay men and lesbians figured all these little gender nuances out ages ago (bears, butches, femmes, twinks, etc.), but the straight world is a bit slower on the uptake.

Some provisional good news from the Gulf. But I'll wait for the cement to set before I pop some champers.

It's reminiscent of this phrase, uttered by another man trying to subdue Afghanistan: "bleeding wound." The man was Mikhail Gorbachev. His job was to put the Soviet empire into foreclosure. Obama seems to be intent on extending America's for another (bankrupt) generation.

Well, that's one explanation for last night's Idol result. And, yes, this is also true:

We understand why the lyrics of Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” had to be altered during that singer’s duet with Ms. Bowersox, but did they have to choose such a laughably obvious replacement line? When Oliver Stone makes his Crystal Bowersox biopic, that scene is going to be hilarious.

The whole event felt like a badly organized wedding.

A list.

Tom Ricks notices a comment:

An Army officer writes about being a lesbian in the 10th Mountain Division — and, in a courageous move, does it on the division commander's discussion board. I think this is one of the best pieces of writing I have ever seen on the subject.

Part of the officer's letter:

I know exactly how hard it is to serve knowing that my career could end at any moment if someone were to find out about my sexuality. I have never gawked or looked at a woman inappropriately whom I serve with. That is not out of fear of being caught, it's out of respect for other women. I would never want someone gawking at me while I change, so I don't do that myself. I have deployed with 10th Mtn proudly and when I came home I was not able to share my relief and joy with my girlfriend as others could at the welcoming home ceremony. I live in constant fear that my career could end at any moment. I hate having to hide who I am and there's not a day that goes by that I don't struggle with it. When I ended my relationship of 7 years, I couldn't talk to anyone about it. My relationship lasted longer than most military marriages and yet I have no support. I still go to work everyday having to put up a front that everything is fine, because as far as anyone was concerned I wasn't even dating anyone. I can't express the insurmountable stress it causes to have to hide a piece of who I am.

When DADT is overturned, I won't be jumping out of my office screaming "I'm gay" to the world. I'll just be able to breathe easier knowing that my job is secure and relax. I won't discuss my personal life with coworkers because it's none of their business, but at least I would have the option to. I wouldn't have to pretend to have a crush on a guy or go on a date with a fellow CPT in order for others to not get suspicious.

For those saying that gays shouldn't be allowed in the military, the news flash is that we currently do and are allowed to. Under the current policy, no one is allowed to accuse us without evidential proof nor ask us questions about our sexuality. I am also not able to talk about my relationships as others are free to discuss their husbands/wives/girl/boyfriends. Could you heterosexuals imagine not being able to say anything about your partner? What if the policy said no one discusses their relationships, period? I bet the suicide rate would skyrocket. Don't discuss your wife's new attitude or husband's infidelity. Don't talk about your girlfriend getting pregnant or boyfriend proposing. Imagine going throughout your entire career not being able to discuss your relationships and not being able to bring your loved one to any military function. I bet you couldn't.

It's easy to say the policy should stay the way it is when you don't have to live it.