For what it's worth, I'm an atheist and I think Richard Dawkins (qua atheist) is uninteresting and counterproductive to religious discussion.

Zarathustra, So when Muslims try to shape the interal affairs of our society, they are "bridge building." But when we try to shape the interal affairs of their society, we're responsible for terrorism? Beyond the visceral reaction that I described myself as having, I guess I just don't und...

Well, I think it's a little reductionist to label a man telling a woman she ought to be "raped by a pack of niggers" merely "yelling at his girlfriend." And I hardly think our default position should be that she "deserved it." In fact our default position should be that...

Cail,

Isn't that essentially what Polanski's defenders say about him? Gibson hasn't raped anybody, but the verbal abuse heaped upon this woman is pretty serious.

No religious site should be built on Ground Zero, and I even would go so far as to say that Islam would be a particularly ill-advised religion to be housed there. I like the idea of the site as "holy" -- in the same sense that the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol and the Washington Monumen...

The limits of my language mean the limits of my world. I'm pretty sure he backed off from that, and nearly 100% sure he said [paraphrased] "That doesn't mean what you think it does." That's awfully flippant. But, yeah, he didn't always hold that position. He later of course said there's a...

Aw yeah. Juan resurfaces.

My thoughts on this decision are essentially that it's the logical consequence of Heller . Of course, I disagree with Heller (on which more in a second), so I disagree with this decision as well. But the second follows nicely from the first. For all the talk about the "enshrined" right to ...

It's a local past time to bitch about the T , Boston's public transportation system, and often with good reason , but in many ways it's one of the best public transit systems in the country. We have an extensive subway and rapid transit that extends into the metropolitan area, tons of bus lines thro...

Scot,

I said the same thing way back when we decided to start making more forums. (We used to have a set-up that was just TCTC forums and then a couple general ones.) I suppose this is just the way it is now.

I have pitched to him a political forum on the Watch where we can say whatever we want (called Foul's Creche :twisted: ), with no rules or moderators whatsoever. But that idea was shot down by our eye-rolling hating mod. I say bring it on. But wouldn't that confusingly split all of our discussions?

By the way, I'm waiting for the universal condemnation of Mark Kirk's lies about his military record.

RR, John Kerry entered the service because that is what aspiring young politicians did back then to make sure they had thier ticket for that punched. This is an utterly specious thing to say. First of all, there was a draft. Second, many "aspiring young politicians" didn't serve in Vietnam...

Avatar, Interesting how military service is such a big deal in your country. I was thinking similarly. All politicians lie. People want to hear that politicians have served in the military. Ergo, politicians will lie about serving in the military. :P Rawedge Rim, John Kerry happened to have thought ...

Bad news from the Gulf: NEW ORLEANS — In the most serious setback yet in the effort to stem the flow of oil gushing from a well a mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico, BP engineers said Saturday that the “top kill” technique had failed and, after consultation with government officials, they had decided ...

Rawedge Rim, Would it not be less expensive for these folks to use conference calling and such from thier home states rather than spend all thier time either commuting to DC or just living in DC for most of the year, except when it's time to go back home and campaign for another 6 years? Perhaps the...

More deceit on military service from a political candidate, this time from Rep. Mark Kirk, the Republic candidate for the Illinois US Senate seat: In 2005, a political tussle in Ohio led to Rep. Jean Schmidt claiming that Rep. Mark Kirk (who's currently running for Barack Obama's former Senate seat)...

Zarathustra, The more you ignore the obvious--after I repeatedly point it out to you--the less likely this is true. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but it looks like your strategy is to dig yourself deeper into this hole, rather than admit you were wrong. If I may, I'd like to co...

Thanks to EJ Dionne at the Post for reminding me of these lines, but Bobby Jindal is the man who declared: "The strength of America is not found in our government. It is found in the compassionate hearts and the enterprising spirit of our citizens." Well, when it comes down to it, not even...