Author: Jonathan Schwarz

Have you ever wondered who’s the new top Marine general at U.S. Central Command? And what kind of decisions he gets to make? And why things have gone so very, very well in Iraq?

I think you’ll be pleasantly horrified by the answer to all three questions, here.

• • •

And beautifully enough for lovers of human folly and hubris, he was promoted one day before this recent meeting at the Pentagon:

…the president expressed frustration that Iraqis had not come to appreciate the sacrifices the United States had made in Iraq.

If you want to feel better about our often-benighted species, go visit the impressive Jonathan Edelstein and Hilzoy of Obsidian Wings. Both are offering to match donations up to a certain amount for the rebuilding of Lebanon and/or northern Israel. In addition to the matching funds, you will also receive an imaginary tote bag filled with real positive feelings about humanity.

1. This has been zipping about, but if you haven’t seen it already, don’t miss the take of Craig Murray, the former UK Ambassador to Uzbekistan, on the latest terror plot. (Murray was fired by the British Foreign Office for criticizing Uzbekistan’s routine torture, thereby mucking up England’s highly moral and extremely rational foreign policy.)

I have been reading very carefully through all the Sunday newspapers to try and analyse the truth from all the scores of pages claiming to detail the so-called bomb plot. Unlike the great herd of so-called security experts doing the media analysis, I have the advantage of having had the very highest security clearances myself, having done a huge amount of professional intelligence analysis, and having been inside the spin machine.

So this, I believe, is the true story…

The rest.

2. Dennis Perrin takes his son to the water park:

The boy and I were diving through a chlorinated waterfall running down a faux rock face when I surfaced and saw a Nazi tattoo on a big white arm. I couldn’t believe it. Open militarism is one thing, part of Americana, a disease you somewhat get used to; but an actual swastika is a deeper statement. The guy wearing it was large and muscular, looking like a bodyguard or bouncer, his head shaved, his goatee closely trimmed. The swastika was surrounded by two tiny American flags with an eagle atop…Check please!…

We moved through the parking lot choked with SUVs, Hummers, and pick-ups, many boasting “Support Our Troops,” “These Colors Never Run” and “USA Number 1” bumperstickers. I couldn’t wait to get home, lock the door, and drain a stiff drink. But my son strolled along, oblivious to the raw nationalist sentiment on all those gas-guzzling symbols of our collective arrogance and greed, and thanked me for taking him to the park, saying “This is one of the best days ever. I had a blast, Dad!”

This filled me with happiness, love, and fear. Poor kid. Look at the world that awaits him.

More.

3. Internet legend Dooce writes hilariously and movingly about post-partum depression, her own and others.

For some time now Billmon has been engaged in a series of posts I call Things I Wish I’d Written. (Of course, I’m one of many in this regard.) He’s now at #4529.

#4529 points out the weird, um, undertones of a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed blasting the “secular transnational professional class” who supported Ned Lamont.

After all, we’ve heard about the secular transnational professional class before, haven’t we? They’re always up to no good. As Billmon says:

I think its obvious that the big problem here is all the liberal doctors.

You gotta figure there’s some kind of conspiracy behind it.

Read it all.

What kind of nachos would one eat with Juan Cole, if given the opportunity? Dennis Perrin has the answer, here.

Oh, also—besides the nachos, both Dennis and Professor Cole have some opinions about current events.