More 'civil discourse' from the right.

Sheldon Drobny is a Chicago-based venture capitalist who has worked hard for over a year on the possible launch of a liberal national talk radio network. Anshell Media's pitch is that Rush has proved that there is a market ; this will fill demand from the other side. Certainly the #1 bestseller status of Al Franken and Michael Moore's books suggest the strength of demand for an alternative point of view.

But the right wing has mustered their chariots in response and, in a predictable effort to stifle dissent, hopes to drown this initiative in trash before it can start.

Read it for a sense of how 'fair and balanced' Fox News continues to be, as well as the stream of right wing bile anonymous e-mailers like to spew at dissent.

Victory in Florida Feeding Case Emboldens the Religious Right

Religious conservatives say that with an arsenal of prayer vigils, Christian radio broadcasts and thousands of e-mail messages to Florida lawmakers, they played a pivotal role in the legislative battle this week over whether to feed a brain-damaged woman who has been kept alive artificially for 13 years.

Randall Terry, founder of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, said he and other conservatives intended to use what they consider a stunning victory here to pressure lawmakers elsewhere to chip away at court rulings allowing abortion and banning organized prayer in schools and the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools, among other issues.

Hide the women. Heck, hide anyone who wants to choose their lifestyle. Or death.

Syria, Long Ruthlessly Secular, Sees Fervent Islamic Resurgence (Neil McFarquahar in the Times)

Syrian experts on religious matters and others attribute the phenomenon — more creeping than confrontational — to various factors. It is part of the appeal of Islam particularly in the Arab world, as a means to protest corrupt, incompetent, oppressive governments.

In the face of threats from the United States and Israel, Syria seeks to forge nationalist sentiment with any means possible, experts believe, including fostering the very brand of religious fundamentalism that it once pruned so mercilessly.

In any case, unintended consequences, one has to believe.

I don't have a problem with Rumsfeld's two-page butt-kicking memo to his subordinates. I would have a bigger problem if he didn't admit the difficulties. I don't think it says anything about his competence. Other than the fact that the only two policy people on the four-person receiving line were Feith and Wolfowitz, which certainly confirms the uber-hawk theology underpinning their direction.

So let's assume for the moment that Bush loses and a Dem inherits the mess fourteen months from now. We'll still be amidst an immeasurable, long, hard slog.

We would have to enlist allies in any continued military effort at that stage, which will mean a smaller presence or at least fewer fronts.

We'll have to take a longer, higher road in combatting terrorism.

And we'll have to do so while increasing security (which does not in my view mean at the expense of civil liberties -- it means better management and perhaps more resources) at home.

Will that work?

This isn't:

"It is not possible to change DOD [Department of Defense] fast enough to successfully fight the global war on terror," he said. "An alternative might be to try to fashion a new institution, either within DOD or elsewhere -- one that seamlessly focuses the capabilities of several departments and agencies on this key problem." He did not elaborate.

He also lamented the state of long-term planning in the anti-terrorism war, suggesting that the need remains for "a broad, integrated plan to stop the next generation of terrorists."

The religious right running the country stripped women of some of their freedoms today, and took a family's right to care for their child away.

Republican state Sen. Tom Lee said senators felt political pressure to quickly approve the bill or be blamed "for killing Terri Schiavo."

"Some people came up with a political brainstorm to use this woman's life as a political football, to appeal to the Christian conservatives in this state who will never understand the details that construct this case," Lee said.

The hypocrites are laughing in their detox centers.

via Bartcop

This isn't getting enough attention (via Truthout, from WaPo):

A broad survey of U.S. troops in Iraq by a Pentagon-funded newspaper found that half of those questioned described their unit's morale as low and their training as insufficient, and said they do not plan to reenlist.

The survey, conducted by the Stars and Stripes newspaper, also recorded about a third of the respondents complaining that their mission lacks clear definition and characterizing the war in Iraq as of little or no value. Fully 40 percent said the jobs they were doing had little or nothing to do with their training.

It doesn't mean that the mission was wrong or will fail, but it does mean that the troops are being mis-managed.

A total of 49 percent of those questioned said it was "very unlikely" or "not likely" that they would remain in the military after they complete their current obligations. In the past, enlistment rates tended to drop after conflicts, but many defense experts and noncommissioned officers have warned of the potential for a historically high exodus, particularly of reservists.

What are the Pentagon's plans if reenlistment falls too dramatically? First; extend enlistment period requirements. Second; extend reserves and call up more.

Third: draft?

Word has it that custom agents are slowing work down for traditional commercial business, as they're overwhelmed trying to act like container cops under the new TSA.

Any 25,000 person reorganization (think; HP/Compaq) is difficult, but the economy can't afford this kind of incompetence.