Defending Your Life (1991)

Good morning, my fellow Little Brains. I've spent a lot of time this week thinking about fear, because we seem to be surrounded by so much of it lately: fear of the Other, fear of change, fear of the "ism" of the week--socialism, communism, etc. There are way too many frightened people out there, fearful of some intangible bogeyman keeping them from what they feel is rightfully theirs. I quote Bob Diamond from the movie:

"Fear is like a giant fog. It sits on your brain and blocks everything. Real feelings, true happiness, real joy. They can't get through that fog. But you lift it, and buddy, you are in for the ride of your life."

I don't know that truer words have ever been written. So let's lift that veil of fog for this Sunday, and refuse to accept the fear in which these bobbleheads deal. And fear is definitely on the agenda this week. The issue of Afghanistan--nine years and thousands upon thousands of deaths after our initial invasion--will be discussed. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will be on both This Week and State of the Union to talk Afghanistan, but you can bet there's going to be a little fear-mongering on Iran too. We get both Clintons--Hillary on Face the Nation and Bill on Meet the Press and your basic coterie of Republican politicos: John McCain (yes, again--more on that later), Bob Corker, Lindsey Graham, John Kyl, Kit Bond and might-as-well-be Republicans Evan Bayh and Dianne Feinstein. All of them full of doom and gloom prognostications, no doubt. Is it small of me to say that I suspect that politicians aspire to use 3% of their brain?

ABC's "This Week" - Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Former President Bill Clinton, New York Gov. David Patterson and Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Jim Webb, D-Va.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Rick Stengel, Trish Regan, Kathleen Parker and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Topics: How will President Obama address the looming tower of unemployment? Could Democrats lose their majority in the House of Representatives in 2010? Was the anti-Obama venom unavoidable? YES: 6 NO: 6; Has Obama Got Command Back?

YES: 12 No: 0.

CNN's "State of the Union" - Gates, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. and Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - With open arms Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi welcomed home a convicted terrorist. Fareed asks him why, and whether he regrets that move now. Gadhafi speaks out about his controversial UN speech, his meeting this week with families of Lockerbie victims, and why he calls President Obama "my son."

"Fox News Sunday" - Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Kit Bond, R-Mo.; Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell; conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe.

So, what's catching your eye this morning?

The Malcontent takes Santorum apart in a long, but worthwhile post.
A few graphs:

Santorum has still not coherently articulated how the marriage of another discrete couple affects his own marriage personally. Does it cause him to become divorced? Will it alter the amount of alimony he would pay in the event that he became divorced? Does it alter his joint-filing status for tax purposes? Gay marriage merely opens an institution to couples for whom it was previously denied. Spinning an answer with bogus history is a rather thin veil for bigotry.

Santorum also refuses to contemplate the potential benefits of gay marriage – the conservative argument for marriage. Efforts to constantly marginalize and stigmatize will lead to more loveless male-female marriages entered into by gays, and the largely inevitably infidelity, the bringing of STDs into the home, and divorce.

I await Santorum's views on how such a broken home qualifies as an "optimal place" for children simply because it was established as one-man, one-woman in such square-peg, round-hole fashion.
Read on

When Morpheus Comes Thomas Paine's Corner

British channel C4 is spare the time because "I'm 35 years old, my family couldn't afford the lost income, I have a baby daughter, my a** is, er, sorry, are a few -- ever seem to suffice." No word on when an American version will be introduced, but FOX is said to be monitoring the ratings of the show. A Fox aide said under the veil of anonymity ".. with Bill O'Reilly, Dick Morris, Oliver North, Sean Hannity, Geraldo Rivera, and all the Weekly Standard guys," we have a great stable of pro-torture guys to choose from and it would lend real legitimacy to the show.
(hat tip to Wiz)