It’s not as simple as being delightfully color-blind (is it ever?).

Why Barack Obama would be the most pro-Zionist President in American history. He managed to single-handedly disprove much of the argument I made alleging that non-Jews could not effectively advocate for Zionism as understood by Jews in the public sphere. Obama’s interview with The Atlantic is simply fantastic — it hits every base I could have asked for. He called Zionism “just”. He related it to anti-Semitism — not just as something in the past, but as something Jews...

The principal of Irmo High School in South Carolina (former debate foes of mine) has resigned after being told that he had to allow a gay/straight alliance club to form at his school. As I say in the linked post, as much as I find his arguments against the GSA repulsive, I think he did the honorable thing by resigning. I support a pretty broad array of religious accommodations — more than most Americans, I’d wager. But at the end of the day, if you feel like your religion prohibits you...

Zionism is, at its essence, the national liberation project for Jews as applied to creating a Jewish nation-state in Israel. Its object and purpose centers around Jews. Since Israel has been established, Zionism today means just that one thinks creating Israel was a pretty good move and it should stick around (a definition inspired by, if not outright plagiarized from by virtue of not being able to find a link, Phoebe Maltz). Consequently, being a Zionist doesn’t mean supporting any given Israeli...

A short while back, I predicted that Michelle Obama would become the latest target for GOP attackers desperate to slow her husband’s momentum. The Tennessee GOP quickly verified that hypothesis by running an attack ad questioning her patriotism. To their credit, both of Tennessee’s Republican Senators, Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander, have come out against the ad. Corker explicitly calls for it to be taken down, Alexander is more tepid, merely saying that “There are probably better...

Last time I reported on election results in the 1st Mississippi Congressional District, it was competing with the Pennsylvania Primary. The race went into a run-off, and today it competes for attention with the West Virginia Primary — which Clinton won handily to no effect whatsoever. Just to review: the Mississippi 1st is one of the reddest districts in the country — even more than the Louisiana 6th where Democrats scored an upset victory to flip a seat a few weeks back. In the first...

Some folks have been giving Barack Obama a hard time for his claim that the court’s should serve as a refuge and defender of the oppressed in America. This, they argue, is politics substituting itself for law. They gleefully point to John McCain’s statement on what he’s looking for in a judge — a position that is supposedly non-ideological and apolitical. Conservative judges go where the law takes them. Liberal judges go where they want to go, law be damned. Tragically, this...

All the flak over the Jeremiah Wright controversy notwithstanding, Obama seems to have pretty Teflon skin. Conservatives are banking that the same is not true of his wife. Also, I have Obama’s new campaign anthem. Tell me I’m wrong.

There is a persistent tendency amongst people (all people, not just Americans) to deny their group or nation’s role in oppression or atrocities — something I discovered recently when I observed that the U.S. has, in fact, supported terrorism in Central America (the death squads of the 1980s). Denial is a tempting emotion. But it is also exceedingly dangerous, and lays the ground work for the reiteration of mass atrocity worldwide.

One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post on the special election for the Mississippi 1st House District: If nobody gets over 50%, it goes to a run off. That being said, it might not matter. Latest results (40% reporting): TRAVIS W. CHILDERS (D) 15,321 (53%) GREG DAVIS (R) 12,634 (43%) This would be a huge Democratic pick-up, and yet more proof that 2008 might make 2006 look like 2002 (how’s that for political in-geek humor?). UPDATE: Just as I write that, Davis surges (50% reporting) TRAVIS...

The Pennsylvania primary may not actually be that important, but there actually is an intriguing race being decided today: the special election to fill Mississippi’s First Congressional District (vacated by Roger Wicker (R), who was appointed to a Senate seat). This is another one of those Democratic pick-up opportunities in a solid-red district that came together because of a) nationwide Democratic momentum and b) excellent candidate recruitment. For Democrats, the MS-01 is really a can’t...

I have to say, I am thrilled that Pennsylvania is finally voting. It seems like an age since the last primary or caucus, and the press has already shown it has the attention span of a three-year old and that without the immediate specter of horse races to analyze or polls to parse, it will mindlessly pursue the first shiny object that catches its attention. So, if only for giving us a temporary respite from questions like “Is Rev. Jeremiah Wright as patriotic as Barack Obama?” (wtf?),...

If Democrats nominate Clinton, young voters will permanently be disenchanted with the Democratic Party and cripple our election prospects for decades (and don’t get me started on the Black vote). But if Democrats nominate Obama, frustrated women may stay home and likewise severely hamper Democratic efforts in the general and subsequent elections. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

Colin Powell’s been saying some awfully nice things about Barack Obama, and making much of his stance as an undecided voter. Some are wondering if an endorsement could be in the works. Much as I like Obama and want to see good things happen to him, that would be a very bad move for Powell’s reputation.

A few days ago, I wrote a post on what I termed “quiet injustices” — things that pretty clearly implicate questions of ethics and morality in our society, but yet rarely seem to bother us. My main example was D.C. disenfranchisement. Another is felon disenfranchisement (after their sentences have been served). Neither, I think, is in any remote way justifiable, and neither are particularly salient political issues. But the more I think about it, the more I question whether even...

FM 3-24 is the Army and Marines’ counter-insurgency manual. It was written in part by one Sarah Sewall, who is now an adviser on the Obama campaign. In the Weekly Standard, Dean Barnett, not seeming to know this, blasts her along with Samantha Power as embodying “dovish idealism” in the course of his critique of the “Obama Doctrine.” It’s a lot of juvenile giggling over “climates of fear” (because serious people know that fear distracts us from the...

The Harvard Law Review has a short, accessible review of Clarence Thomas’ memoir, and how it explains some of the inconsistencies in Thomas’ originalism. I add some brief thoughts here.

Did a Jewish gathering really boo that statement? What does that say about us?

This is Barack Obama’s NCAA bracket. Would it be entirely cruel and irrational of us to pick it apart for political motivations. Yes, obviously. Will that stop us? Hell no! Have at it in the comments. UPDATE: I didn’t realize it was cut off — here’s a link.

Native John Cole: Now I don’t want to throw the state under the bus (since that is so fashionable these days) because I love it here so much, but anyone who is surprised by this simply is not paying attention. Racism is alive and well in central PA, SE Ohio, and much of WV. What Carville said about central PA (it resembles Alabama) can be said about the regions I discussed, and it was why I was able to say, when I was a Republican, that most of the racists I have met in my lifetime were Democrats....