Category: The Dish

Another one joins the anti-Hillary chorus. My take is here. We’re not, apparently, alone.

A reader writes:

"The only thing worse than the ridiculously PC left is the moralistic/theocratic PC right who point the finger at the PC left. I’ve never seen ‘The Book of Daniel‘ but it’s too bad that it couldn’t sink or swim on its own merits."

Amen.

Muslims aren’t the only ones worried about women’s swimwear. Check out this stunning collection from "WholesomeWear." Fundamentalism: bringing the world closer together – by putting women in their place.

I’ve tried to resist linking further to the JPod-Frank Foer smack-down, but it’s so entertaining I’m going to have to give in. Here’s the ravishingly gorgeous JPod defending himself from Foer; and here’s Frank’s response and, er, final knockout. Can J.P. Normanson get off the floor? Stay tuned. Meanwhile, I think I’ll avoid getting into any elevators with Norm and Midge’s offspring in future.

"Hollywood could save itself a lot of money if they simply asked us to vet their shows.  Our fee is high ‚Äî obscenely high ‚Äî but we‚Äôre worth it," – the Catholic League’s Bill Donohue, jokingly bragging about the demise of NBC’s "The Book of Daniel."

Underwhelming numbers, I’d say. And their latest exercize in cluelessness is actually to start a blog – yes, a blog – and put it behind a subscriber firewall. Chris Suellentrop is a swell guy. But having a sealed-off blog is an oxymoron.

This is a question some Chinese train-travelers ask in a slightly more desperate tone than most American kids. For the latest news in economy travel, click here.

The new swimwear catalog is in. Yes, women are allowed to swim! In Australia, anyway. You get to pick between this design and this one. Choices, choices … (Hat tip: Tim Blair.)

Some interesting developments for Islam, modernization and basic rights. Money quote:

If the king has his way, Moroccans will liberate themselves from the slogans and handouts of radical Islamist preachers. Although they may represent a threat to Mohammed VI’s reform policies, the only Islamist party seen as capable of succeeding in next year’s parliamentary election is the Justice and Development Party.

The party’s young leaders are using the Turkish ruling party, AKP, and the German Christian Democrats as their model. In the eight cities controlled by the Islamists, they have already dispensed with prohibitions on serving alcohol, Western films and provocative swimwear — knowing full well that Morocco’s economy depends on tourism.

Keep hope alive. And have a drink.

Europe gets closer to the truth. Meanwhile, a statement on the matter has been issued by a large number of people from a spectrum of religious groups – Jewish, Catholic, evangelical, Eastern Orthodox, and so on. It is indeed astonishing that a presidency declared to be "faith-based" will go down in history as having authorized, condoned and enforced a policy that violates every conceivable Christian principle; and that so much of the religious right has either acquiesced or approved. Maybe they’re just reflecting the views of this emailer:

"I take it you’ve yet to figure out that not only does Abu Ghraib not matter much to J.Q. Public. He actually expects his government to go over and above what would normally be thought of as acceptable, when pursuing information that would thwart terror attacks and protect American lives. Your apparent need to maintain a publicly viewed veneer of outrage is a bore. And quite frankly, one begins to wonder how long we’ll continue to suffer through you rhetorically "banging your head against the wall" day in and day out, knowing full well the only people who seriously give a damn are the other members of the flat forehead club. All of whom seem to be primarily motivated by the need to let everyone know they’ve occupied a plot atop the moral high ground. Great. We’re all happy for ya. Sorry bout not joining ya. But you see … While being full of one’s own sense of self-righteousness is appealing, desiring to protect the lives of our fellow countrymen by any means necessary trumps it."

"By any means necessary." We’ve heard that somewhere before, haven’t we? And if it is "self-righteous" to oppose torture, is every campaign against blatant government immorality "self-righteous"? Of course, we have had a public debate. We did have a full Congressional airing. We did pass a law banning such practices. It’s just that we have a president who sees himself as above the law. And so the torture continues.