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Lincoln Reconsidered (and he's still one of my heroes)...

Abraham Lincoln is consistently ranked as one of our nation's "best" presidents in the eyes of scholars and historians. Polls of Americans will also reveal that he is one of our most beloved leaders. In January 2009, Barack Obama insisted upon being sworn into office on Lincoln's bible and has tried through transfer fallacy (glory by association) to insinuate himself as a sort of modern day Lincoln or at least the fulfillment of Lincoln's promise in the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment that ended slavery in being the first African-American American President (although his father was Kenyan and he is not descended from slaves). I think regardless of our political views, those of us with any intellect at all threw up in our mouths a little through such brazen plainsfolk demagoguery and logical fallacy... But I suppose it got the last president elected, so I suppose this is the bread and circuses necessity of any contender for the highest office in th...
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An Anecdote (or Two...)

Laura prompted me to write this blog. I agree. It's interesting to hear personal stories and oral histories. As I read others relating their short anecdotes, I became painfully aware of just how abnormal most of the stories I could share are... But I won't be afraid to share my abnormal ones because they're the only stories I have to share. The clichéd formulaic answer repeated ad nauseum to the question about whether or not one has any regrets that one doesn't regret anything because one's experiences made them who they are has always bothered me. While I reluctantly agree with hesitation, I think such statements rob the power of the past to teach. Well, I have regrets. The story I'll relate here is about regret that I'll go to my grave lamenting. I suppose I wanted to pick a story that taught me a lesson, and one I've never forgotten and am unwilling to ever forget. First, the back story... ANECDOTE 1: Explaining the Doctor As many of you know, my cous...
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Was the Pentagon hit by a plane on 9/11?

Loose Change and other films further the false idea that the Pentagon was not struck by a plane on 9/11. I think there's no question that it was. The 9/11 Truthers, PrisonPlanet/Infowars fringe folk I think really do unfortunately discredit by association the truly troubling facts of 9/11 (Moussoui, 8/27 President's Daily Briefing, Phoenix Memo, Coleen Rowley, Able Danger, Harry Samet, Sibel Edmunds) by their truly outlandish and suspect claims. I think like Keane said (Republican ex-governor of New Jersey and chair of the 9/11 Commission), if history is to be remembered correctly, then it must be said that this administration had sufficient specific, actionable intelligence to have prevented 9/11 and failed to act.
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