The Dish

We desperately need many, many more of them. We desperately need not to be firing them because they’re gay, as has happened many times. The fact that this still hasn’t happened almost six years after 9/11 shows the degree of seriousness with which this administration is fighting the global war. Max Boot explains.

Man, do they hate him.

A reader writes:

Regarding obesity prejudice, it is a conundrum. I am convinced there is a gene/heredity aspect to it. I have two sons. One is built like me (or at least like I was when I was 19. I’ve put on a few pounds myself in the last 30 years), tending to be slender. The other is built like my father in law, thick throughout, from the shoulders, through the chest and hips, right down to his calves. He is overweight, but not obese. Both grew up in the same house eating the same food.

I think the prejudice comes from seeing obese people who appear to not even be trying. You see them at the store driving around in the parking lot waiting for that close-in spot so they don’t have walk an extra 50 or 100 feet. You see them in the restaurants eating chicken fried steak with gravy and fries instead of grilled chicken and a salad. You see a lot of them wearing ill-fitting clothes that accentuate their weight. You wonder if they have given up, and many probably have. On the other hand, I know many people who are overweight or bordering on obese. They are active (including walking, running or some other form of exercise). They dress in clothes that fit properly, and have an air of self-confidence. Those people aren’t, to my observation, discriminated against.

So, maybe the discrimination is against sloppy, poorly dressed people, who don’t seem to care about their appearance. For example, the photo you posted of the very large lady wearing a bikini. When I’m at the beach, I wear a loose fitting swim suit, and know body pays any attention to me. If I wore a Speedo, everyone would be saying "look at that fat guy wearing the Speedo." So, the conundrum is that there are some aspects of obesity that can’t be helped, but there are others that can. I think the discrimination is against those who don’t seem to care about their appearance or health.

When it’s this bad, why the hell not?  There’s even a blog devoted entirely to the genre.

A reader writes:

Thanks for your mention of Ron Paul in today’s Daily Dish.

I arrived in the US almost 10 years ago now. Born and raised in Holland, I was about as liberal as you can get, but after only a few years of visiting political online sites, I found myself a libertarian. In the 2000 presidential election, listening to the debates between Gore and Bush, I honestly believed that the Republican Party could finally bring out the true potential of the United States. It didn’t take long for me to see the truth, that the current crop of Republicans has done more damage to the United States than I could’ve ever imagined.

I do not believe the Democratic Party has what it takes to undo the damage. Their socialist ideology of fairness goes against my core belief of liberty, and the best they had to offer in ’04 was John Kerry. The Libertarian Party just doesn’t seem to be able to reach an audience in the US. I still support them, but don’t believe that they have a chance to accomplish anything until things get really, really bad in the US. I was so disappointed with politics that I simply stopped caring.

And then came the Republican debate last week. The format was horrible, most of the questions were lame, and the three main candidates got most of the airtime, but it gave me, for the first time in a long while, a glimmer of hope. There was this one candidate that seemed to say everything I wanted a candidate to say. The next day, I went online to do some research about this candidate, and the more I read, the more passionate I became about this candidate.

The Republican party needs root and branch reform. Maybe a Paul candidacy is the best way to express this sentiment.

Yangshuo, China, 10.23 am.

For an interactive gallery of Dish readers’ window views across the world, click here.

Has George Soros been dating Queen Noor?

It’s the only word to describe Alberto Gonzales’ relationship to the truth and the constitution.

A reader writes:

Thank you for the plug for Ron Paul. I had no idea he existed and I have been looking for a replacement for McCain since he sold his soul to the Christian Right. Thank heavens we have a candidate that espouses the philosophies of Reagan, Goldwater, and true libertarian conservatism. I was also gladdened when I visited Paul’s site and read his congressional record. He is the man for me:

He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.

He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.

He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.

Wht’s not to like? Maybe he’s the Howard Dean of the truly conservative right.