One of the hallmarks of the current American political discourse is ossification: you can no longer seriously grapple with issues, because to be seen even considering a possible change in thinking is a sign of weakness and betrayal. The initial responses to my last post on the radicalization of American politics in response to the Fort Hood massacre is a case in point: an anti-abortion proponent jumped right in to essentially disavow the existentance of radicalized anti-abortion groups, implying that I had said there were only radicalized anti-abortion groups. The comment cites the case of Abby Johnson as a non-violent anti-abortion activist who is being harassed by a Planned Parenthood gag order , leaving out two salient facts made clear with the link provided in the comment : (1) Johnson is not prohibited from protesting, just talking about confidential medical and staff information; and (2) it would be illegal for her to share confidential patient health information in the fir...

In a WaPo story criticizing the Obama administration for a long series of mistakes in Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy, this sentence appears: Daniel Levy, a veteran Israeli peace negotiator now at the Century Foundation in Washington, summed up the administration's efforts in recent days as "amateur night at the Apollo Theater." Given that the Apollo Theater is one of the historic landmarks of African-American culture.... On the other hand, you can't lampoon the Century Foundation as rightwing... And Daniel Levy cannot be written off as some hardline conservative.... So in the good spirits of "see, Hube, I found one before you did [finally]" I have to wonder how this one will be treated by the pundits. If at all.

Recently I wrote a post on end-of-life counseling under proposed health care revisions in response to this rather bizarre post at Resolute Obfuscation. [By the way, at two days and counting, Hand-Reared Boy -- an homage to Brian Aldiss --still can't see his way clear to take my comment out of moderation.] I cited research collated and posted at Medical Futility Blog indicating that not only was such counseling effective, but was desired by patients. Hube responded by agreeing with me on the benefits of the counseling, but arguing that financial incentives taint the process: But even some Dems are worried about the financial incentives in that section. And while I concur about your analysis of "end-of-life" consultations, I must say I am flummoxed by your seeming non-chalant attitude that the government would be involved in such ... and also considering some of the characters in Obama's admin. mike w. seconds that opinion: I'm with Hube. I don't like the fi...

The remnants of my original 600+ comix collection of Silver-Age Marvels exist safely under glass, framed on the wall of the home office. I picked these to hang on to as representative of the joy of the early 1960s Marvels, when Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Don Heck, and Dick Ayers were revolutionizing the comix industry. Lee and Kirby, obviously, are legitimate icons of the whole business. Ditko was something of a cult figure, an acquired taste, and a master of almost baroque mood (I tend to think about him, somehow, in the same category with Gil Kane, except that Kane never quite had Ditko's class). Heck and Ayers were second-stringers--journeymen artists who did most of the heavy lifting on the back-up heroes like Giant Man and Iron Man. (Ayers' true love and place to shine was obviously NIck Fury and the Howlin' Commandoes; Heck did a number of early Avengers--after Kirby left and prior to issue 40--that deserve more attention than they usually get.) Ayers and...