Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy

Response to SteveAudio

2008-05-10T11:14:00.005-04:00

I tried posting this on Steve's site, but Haloscan apparently thought I'd typed too many words. It's not alone in that opinion.

Sez Mr. Audio:

...I really can't understand the hate speech directed at both by their partisans in the bloggersphere (y!pctp!). Corrente was the first high-profile blog that added me (back when it was just me) to their blogroll, and then gave me front-page posting privileges, and I have never forgotten that. I have personal relationships with several of the front-pagers, and while I hadn't checked in there lately, I was shocked to find this...

Following that statement comes the first of two excerpts from my blog posts.

Steve, thanks for the attention. As I've hung up my political-blogging shoes, it's nice to be remembered, albeit ambivalently.

You start from the perspective that the two candidates aren't all that different. On several dimensions, such as voting records, I agree with you. On framing -- on which I place a premium, given the president's role as an opinion-shaper, especially with the urgent need and (now, sadly, lost) opportunity to repudiate the Reagan Revolution -- and campaign tactics, not so much.

Seems to me that you're so convinced that the candidates couldn't possibly be importantly different that you don't consider the underlying issues -- generously linked and documented -- behind my passion. Further, it's so beyond the pale for me to consider/criticize such things that you've labeled my writing "hate speech."

Do me a favor, if you would. Get out a magnifying glass and a fine-tooth comb and show me the "hate speech" in that excerpt.

Oh, God, I just re-read it, and I see that toward the end, I wax ironic about the Obama camp's destruction of two fellow Democrats by framing them as racists. My shame will be my undoing! Is there a program somewhere I can check myself into to cure me of my benighted aversion to slander and the trivializing of racial issues? Stop me before I hate again!

Bien, c'est la vie, for reasons I describe below.

I, too, was an Edwards supporter who was cut loose when JRE folded his tent... one week before I went to the polls.

As I looked back on what I'd learned from the campaign, it was evident that Obama was incredibly far from "asking for my vote," as I noted in the post that singed your eyebrows. And Hillary was arcing leftward, reinvigorating her "It Takes a Village" populism. Thus, it wasn't that hard for me to re-affiliate, even though Gore or Edwards would have been my clear preference.

Regardless of how it played out, I wasn't going to waver on my pledge to vote for the Democratic presidential candidate in November. I never have before, and I certainly wasn't going to start now, in the wake of the ruin the Repubs have wrought upon our country these many years and decades.

I will say, however, that no Democratic nominee (or presumptive nominee) has made me search my soul about that pledge like Obama has, not even close. I would never in 100 years in Iraq vote for John McCain or any of these GOP shitheels, but for the first time, I found it hard to hang up the phone on my inner Nader. But I did, but I did.

Throughout the campaign, beginning in 2006, I found myself increasingly alarmed at things Obama said that disempowered Democrats and denied the political realities that made me blog to begin with -- namely the ruthlessness, corruption, valuelessness, and incompetence of today's Republican Party. Even as the Obama camp successfully propagated the meme of Hillary as a stop-at-nothing party destroyer, I've seen a very different picture, with Obama destroying the Clintons with trumped up charges of racism, one of the most shocking things I've seen a Democrat do in my lifetime.

Alas, IMHO, the last good alternative to Obama seems to be falling just short of enough superdelegate votes to give me a better than hold-your-nose (and firmly!) option this November, and so I've stopped making it my business to point out his flaws.

On my way out the door, I saw one more dose of how fucked up things have gotten in my party and the leftysphere, and it made my decision to cash(less) out all the easier.

The good news is that, if my assessment is correct, the Democratic Party is about to achieve unity, the kind of unity that Alice Palmer and Blair Hull could tell us a thing or two about.

I don't know how to love him

2008-02-14T20:25:00.020-05:00

Here is a round-up of some of the meatier Obama-skeptic posts I've written at Correntewire in recent months.

He may be your candidate in November (or even now) and your President as of January. As I've said many times, he will be — in truly important ways — better at both if he heeds the legitimate concerns of loyal Democrats.

If you would, please take a scan through here and see if any of these topics look of interest to you.

(Note: new links added on 6/1/08)

* * *

What Obama Really Meant (W.O.R.M.) — the game sensation that's sweeping the nation

I Know Why the Caged Snuffleupagus Sings — denying reality is both crazy and crazy-making

Triangulation: The Next Generation — Obama is Bill Clinton II

No Ponies for Holden — a Salingeresque take on phony heroes, from Reagan to present

"... he challenged many of those ideas" — how (and why) not to reinforce Reagan's frames

Barack Still Putting the U.S. into Jesus — Obama continues to put church and state on the same plate

Cult Sure Club — Obama fans debunk the "Cult" theory by invoking the time-honored rhetorical method of Argument By Angry, Defensive Pack Wolves

OK, Obama Fans, Sell Me -- I'm Serious — is there any there there?

Building a Better Obama (or Why Spielberg's Movies Aren't So Good Anymore) — who will tell the New Jesus when he's wrong?

The Best Article I've Read About the Campaign to Date — geek love for Hillary

Why I Hate Hillary Clinton — a satire of Hillary hate that, outrageous as I tried to make it, was widely mistaken as the real thing

I'd Rather Have a Frontal Lobotomy Than an Obama in Front of Me — my work is done... for now

* * *

Update I — here are a few newer posts on this theme:

Confessions of an Obama Skeptic, Part I — Obama voted against the war... didn't he?

Divine Wright? — Is, religion, not race, the proper frame through which to view the Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy?

Don't Get Mad. Get Documentation — who's really throwing the low blows in this campaign

Obama Camp Demands Another HRC Campaign Resignation — not that the media and the blogs haven't beaten them to the punch

Called to Serve... But What, Exactly Are the Obama Rules? — I know I'm evil for supporting Hillary. But how was I supposed to have known?

"Kos Gets It Right" — healing the party by stealing votes

Whose STFU Is It Anyway? — the entire world tells Hillary supporters to "get over it"

Women! Can't Live with 'em, Can't Vote for 'em — Bill Maher's sexist shtick

No Women in Site — what the candidate's websites say about their commitment to women's issues

Pick Up That Knife, Barack! — Obama's campaign and the death of hope

UPDATE II:

Again, I tried to extricate myself from writing about the Nomination Race from Hell, but again Hillary kept fighting the good fight, and the Obama camp kept pissing me off too much for me to keep silent. So, here are some posts from my latest postmodern phase...

Donkeyville, We Have a Problem — what is the Obama campaign going to do about its amazing ability to make lifelong Democrats not want to vote for him... or to consider joining People Who Fucking Despise McCain for McCain?

Are You Fucked in the Head? — if you bought into that RFK-assassination twistunderstanding you are. And did you spot Hillary Clinton's Disturbing Pattern? Truly, This Is The End of the Innocence.

The Candidate on the Edge of Forever — rising star Obama boldly goes on a wrongheaded trek

Everything Old Is New Again — what can you add to Keith Olbermann's McCarthy-not-Murrow rant, which the Obama campaign fueled... and then sent the transcript to the whole media pool?

It's Time for Obama to Make the Second-Best Speech About Race, Evah! — even though, of course, false charges of racism are no more damaging than legitimate charges of elitism, as seen by the healthy advice of a NY assemblyman: "It’s not wise for them to challenge a black Democrat for governor."

Tainted Love: How *Not* To Make Clinton Supporters Your Sweeties — Thom Hartmann masters the Obama campaign's art of backhanded unity

Audio Is Cleaning Up the Nation — not that it's news at this point, but a liberal blogger baselessly paints a Hillary supporter / Obama skeptic as a racist. This time, the racist is me.

Ideally, We're All a Little Like Tammy Wynette After All — justified and ancient and standing by my woman

What's Your Pitch? — why Hillary is my homegirl

Clothes Make the Non-Man: what's the media's "pant suit" fixation all about?

After The Fox: when Obama visits Fox News, are there any Democrats left whom he hasn't thrown under the bus?

You're a Racist! — perhaps it's time to coin a new word: truthilessness, the propagation of ruthless lies.

* * *

My latest posts on Correntewire are found here:
http://www.correntewire.com/blog/vastleft

And the whole collection of Corrente posts on such topics, including many memorable posts by the incomparable Lambert Strether, is found here:
http://www.correntewire.com/tags/barack_obama

About vastleft.com (AKA vastleft.blogspot.com)

2007-11-16T09:57:00.000-05:00

This is the archive site for the Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy blog, which has since been ordinarily rendered into the sub-basement of the Mighty Corrente Building, where it lives to cavil another day. Please do visit over there for the new stuff.

Also, please stop by Bible Study for Atheists and place a hedge bet on Pascal's Wager.

In February, celebrate the anniversary of Colin Powell's U.N. fibtacular at Day of Shame.

And, wait, there's more! Starting next week, a new feature will emerge from the heathen heart of the VLWC: "The Sorry News."

Now, here in these parts, you'll find the shock of the old, including:

The "Wish You Were Gore" song
The "Colbert" song
Equivalation: how the GOP & MSM turn foul into fair
Why you can't reason with a Republican
WTFAWII?
The Religious People Are the Best People series
On Libertarianism and Ron Paul
A voluntary religious inquisition
The defining challenge of our age
And our bi-monthly collections of VLWC's Greatest Hits

I hope you enjoy picking through our foul rags and bones, the best we could come up with before beating town in the middle of the night like so many Baltimore Colts jockstraps.

The blogs they are a-changin'

2007-07-28T11:56:00.000-04:00

As of today, I'll be posting primarily at my favorite group blog in the whole Web world, Correntewire, so there won't be much new content coming here at the VLWC site.

I will post occasional items that interest me but which may not be relevant to the Correntewire community. But as now, I'll feel free to break the covenant I made on March 1, 2006 to post every day.

I'll continue to post one or more times a week at Bible Study for Atheists, and I'll definitely do something to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Day of Shame. Also, I'll continue to box with God at GIFS.

Thanks much to everyone who's come here frequently or once-in-a-while, and I sure hope to see you around at my various homes around the blogosphere.

Your friend in progressive protest and blasphemy,
VL

With friends like these

2007-07-27T11:08:00.000-04:00

The dark tale of Pat Tillman's death, and the coverup thereof, just keeps getting worse.

Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman's forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player's death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

"The medical evidence did not match up with the, with the scenario as described," a doctor who examined Tillman's body after he was killed on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2004 told investigators.

This sounds like a job for Single-bullet Specter.

On libertarianism

2007-07-26T13:47:00.001-04:00

With the trendiness of the Ron Paul candidacy, I'm moved to share my thoughts about libertarianism.

"Libertarian" is an impressionistic term like "emo," for which no two people agree on a definition. It can mean:

I'm an independent thinker who cherry-picks the best parts of right- and left-wing politics
I hate any sort of government or governance (see also: "fair-weather anarchist")
I'm a Republican in sheep's clothing (see also: "I'm an Independent" and "Reynolds, Glenn")
I'm a disgruntled Democrat
At my high school, the cool kids read Ayn Rand
I'm attracted to fringe candidates

When one dons the term "libertarian," one selects the meaning that suits him or her, but conveys no clear identity to the beholder. Definitional arguments are nearly certain to ensue.

Though there are, to be sure, left-leaning libertarians, the commonality between libertarian aspirations and GOP rhetoric (grunts of "government bad, taxes ugh!") makes the "L-word" a gateway drug for support of the corrupt, valueless Republican Party.

Riding a wave of supposed populist iconoclasm, Mr. Paul may yet choose to run as a Libertarian candidate (upper-case, or as a libertarian independent).

But which party's nomination has he been seeking thus far? Which party has he been only-too-happy to help make a Congressional majority these past several mournful years? The free-spending, theocratic, rights-encroaching Republicans.

His platform is to make good on what the Republicans promise but don't deliver: to completely de-fund America’s safety net. As Shania Twain says, that don’t impress me much.

I salute him for not supporting this disastrous war. But fighting against all social programs is not, methinks, an admirable position.

In the abstract, there is much to like about a libertarian philosophy — live and let live, etc.

Some who call themselves libertarians are staunch defenders of unpopular speech, including the sort practiced on progressive and atheist blogs, and I do not dismiss such folks out of hand.

In practice, though, I'm both concerned about the danger third-party candidates pose to the goal of ousting the corrupt, valueless Republican Party and about a doctrine so focused on not looking out for the other guy.

In a period of liberal primacy like the Johnson years, a libertarian perspective can be a healthy corrective to government lethargy and bloat. But in the Reagan/Fox/Bush/Drudge era, it’s often just a welcome mat for the worst of all worlds: welfare and freedom only for the most powerful, and a monstrous deficit for our children to pay.

Liberal rubbish! Klaus!

2007-07-25T15:15:00.000-04:00

Pope Benedict XVI bashes creationists...

“This clash is an absurdity because on one hand there is much scientific proof in favor of evolution, which appears as a reality that we must see and which enriches our understanding of life and being as such.”

And climate-change doubters...

"Our Earth is talking to us and we must listen to it and decipher its message if we want to survive,” he said.

Does this mean that John Kerry can have his communion wafers back?

Got an hour for a sociology experiment?

2007-07-25T00:44:00.000-04:00

At least judging (but not prejudging) by the first episode, the Game Show Network's Without Prejudice? looks totally addictive.

It's a rather fascinating social experiment where a panel of ordinary people judge other ordinary people — based on first and subsequent impressions.

If you do or did watch it, please answer this: of the judges, whom did you like the least and the most?

BTW, did you wince when I mentioned the Game Show Network? Bigot!

Poll dance

2007-07-24T10:06:00.000-04:00

WaPo poll results:

The president has steadfastly asserted his power as commander in chief to make decisions about the war, but his posture is now viewed by majorities of Democrats, independents and even Republicans as too inflexible. Asked whether Bush is willing enough to change policies on Iraq, nearly eight in 10 Americans said no.

Even among those Americans who said they had served or had a close friend or relative who served in Iraq, 38 percent approve of Bush's handling of the conflict.

If you're media figure like Andrea Mitchell, this can only mean one thing: most Americans support the President.

Disturbing ad of the day

2007-07-23T17:55:00.000-04:00

Received in e-mail from Apple:

I checked my pocket and found that Rex Tillerson was already there.

Romney's merde du jour

2007-07-23T15:57:00.000-04:00

(via)

Mitt Romney will always have Paris — in fact all of France.

Gaul was where his Mormon missionary work earned him a free ticket out of the Vietnam War. It was where l'homme qui voulut être roi crashed two cars, once with a fatality. It's where, in his fantasy world, marriages last only seven years. It's France, quelle surprise, that his internal PowerPoints called a "bogeyman" to exploit.

In the video above, he bleu-blanc-et-rouge-baits Hillary Clinton and company.

He mocks Hillary's goal of a "we're all in it together society" thusly: "I see, out with Adam Smith, in with Karl Marx." And he calls the Democrats' agenda "the very policies that led Europe to their decline."

He apparently means the policies that took the Euro from $1.07 the day of Bush's inauguration to its lowly $1.38 today. Take that, Pierre!

Romney likens the agendas of the Republicans and founding fathers: "we would not rely on the divine right of kings, nor on their whimsical beneficence." Yes, if there's one thing that Republicans stand for, it's challenging the whimsical beneficence of Our Leader.

In contradiction of Joni Mitchell, this isn't amour, mama. But it is cheap display.

Update:

Another touch-o-class from the Mittster, as he holds up a misspelled poster that calls Barack Obama "Osama."

Inquiring minds want to know

2007-07-23T08:40:00.000-04:00

The Uncredible Halq offers up answers to FriendlyAtheist's list of questions.

Here is my two cents' worth:

Why do you not believe in God? I wasn't raised in a particularly religious family, and from a very young age, religious stories sounded phony to me, and the rituals struck me as ominously cultish.
Where do your morals come from? Instinct, society and culture, reasoning about what constitutes fair play and good civics.
What is the meaning of life? On what basis do we assume there's a general "meaning" to life?
Is atheism a religion? As James Randi says, "Atheism is a religion like not collecting stamps is a hobby." In a word, no.
If you don’t pray, what do you do during troubling times? Ruminate, hope, seek answers to problems that may be solvable, seek advice, commiseration, and/or distraction.
Should atheists be trying to convince others to stop believing in God? I don't know if I'd say "should," but it's a goal that's worthy, controversial, and generally unachievable. Lifelong brainwashing dies hard.
Weren’t some of the worst atrocities in the 20th century committed by atheists? Relatively few crimes are committed by atheists. Stalin, who elevated nationalism to a religion, can be cited as an "atheist monster." Hitler, who likewise made a form of Fascism into a sacred creed, was not an atheist, despite frequent claims to the contrary.
How could billions of people be wrong when it comes to belief in God? The mass of people are wrong about things all the time. For millennia, people thought the Sun revolved around the Earth. The majority of Americans were convinced that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11. People think cilantro is edible.
Why does the universe exist? I'll defer to science for the latest theories on "how," a more sensible question than "why," which supposes a sentient creator — something for which there is no evidence (it's also the gateway drug to the paradox of who created the creator).
How did life originate? Ditto on deferring to science. I'm not an expert on the latest theories, which may or may not hold up to additional evidence and scrutiny.
Is all religion harmful? Ultimately, yes, because it keeps us from having a shared, legitimate sense of reality. It forces us to choose between sharing and reality, which is an awful choice. It also, of course, forces us to make arbitrary and often ill-fated decisions about with whom we can and cannot share.
What’s so bad about religious moderates? I can't improve upon what Chris Hallquist wrote: "Because the majority of them believe absurd things about religion that serve to give cover to the dangerously orthodox. Examples: "all religion is good," and "it's wrong to criticize someone's religious beliefs."
Is there anything redeeming about religion? It can serve as a medium for building community and a vehicle for charity and comfort. I think we'd be better off choosing alternatives that don't require us to check reason at the door; also, one man's community is another man's outsiderhood.
What if you’re wrong about God (and He does exist)? I acknowledge that there could be supernatural forces that I don't understand. All evidence suggests that religious humans don't understand him/her/it any more than I do.
Shouldn’t all religious beliefs be respected? Religious (or any) people, yes — unless they do something to earn one's disrespect. Religious beliefs, not particularly, no. Where they approach philosophy, they may worth debating. But carte blanche respect for religion is the road to Hell.
Are atheists smarter than theists? Of the smartest people I know, many are skeptics. Some are not. Atheists don't corner the market on intelligence.
How do you deal with the historical Jesus if you don’t believe in his divinity? As I understand it, the Gospels were written long after Jesus' death, by people who never met him. I'm slowly working my way through the Old Testament before I get to the red pages, so I don't have too much to say yet about the teachings attributed to JC.
Would the world be better off without any religion? I would expect so, as long as it isn't replaced by something similarly misguided, such as fundamentalist nationalism. I don't, however, advocate any sort mandated way to rid the world of religion — that would not only be a crime against freedom, it would surely backfire. Ideally, in the marketplace of ideas, ancient supernatural folly will eventually lose the day.
What happens when we die? My guess is that our mind/personality/soul, whatever you like to call it, ceases to be, just as a lightbulb ceases to give light when the filament burns out.

Goose, meet gander

2007-07-22T22:12:00.000-04:00

Bad news:

Good news:

Quote of the Day

2007-07-22T07:18:00.000-04:00

"It's sort of a hobby of mine: the truth."

From Alfred Hitchock's To Catch a Thief, screenplay by John Michael Hayes.

Sleeping with the enemy

2007-07-21T11:20:00.000-04:00

Among 21st century America's most reviled figures from the previous hundred years is Neville Chamberlain, the patron sinner of appeasement.

Imagine if America faced a despot who threatened our very way of life: our freedoms, our treasury, and even our good name. You'd have to be pretty low to appease that, now wouldn't you?

Without comment

2007-07-20T13:00:00.000-04:00

msnbc.com breaking-news headline: "Bush to have colonoscopy; Cheney to take temporary control"

Update:

The revised front page is actually better if you ignore the fine print...

The P.U.

2007-07-20T09:55:00.001-04:00

The Bureau of Weights and Measures has introduced the two-month Petraeus Unit, which can be used to convert, say, a September deadline into a November deadline.

Calling plan

2007-07-20T09:08:00.000-04:00

What Bush's military spokespeople are saying:

Citizens are concerned, and citizens want to take action. A few nights ago, one of our company commanders in the Baghdad district of West Rashid turned off his cell phone for a few hours so he could get some sleep. Upon waking, he had 63 messages awaiting him, all tips from Iraqi citizens.

How we're supposed to hear this:

The surge is working. The Iraqis love us and hate the bad guys. Let's re-surge the surge, and there will be no more bad guys anywhere.

How a concerned American citizen hears this:

Sixty-three warnings of imminent terrorist threats are going unlistened to while some dude catches shut-eye.

Can someone please get our spin doctors some script doctors?

What if

2007-07-19T10:10:00.000-04:00

Imagine that President Bush decided to indefinitely delay the release of the final Harry Potter book.

There would be furious public protest that wouldn't stop. It would be the top story day after day after day, and the pundits would be scratching their heads about why the President of the United States would do something so pointless and so frustrating to the American people.

Imagine that President Bush decided to indefinitely delay the return of our troops.

Torture subjects say the darndest things

2007-07-18T14:56:00.000-04:00

On CNN Radio News, I heard a report about the capture of a supposed key Al-Qaeda in Iraq figure.

I haven't seen this claim online, but the newscaster reported that Khalid al-Mashadani (AKA Abu Shahed) said the surge had had him on the run from Baghdad.

al-Mashadani also said that President Bush is very handsome, "go, Texas Rangers," and "may I please breathe now?"

Kristol balderdash

2007-07-18T12:11:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, WaPo ran an absurd puff piece by Bill Kristol declaring Bush to be "a winner."

In any sane world, that sentence would read "On Sunday, WaPo inexplicably ran an absurd puff piece by Bill Kristol....."

Occasionally when the Post breaks the news, they let someone fix it, and David Corn sets the record straight about president asterisk-L7.

(via)

Just wonderin'

2007-07-17T14:55:00.000-04:00

Why are we supposed to be outraged that steroids may have warped wrestler Chris Benoit's mind, but not concerned what the Bible may have done to same?

An inconveniently rude truth

2007-07-17T12:33:00.000-04:00

Great to see the indispensable Glenn Greenwald tackling the topic of Bush's disturbing faith in his faith.

The Most Powerful Man in the World said this about his global agenda:

It's more of a theological perspective. I do believe there is an Almighty, and I believe a gift of that Almighty to all is freedom. And I will tell you that is a principle that no one can convince me that doesn't exist.

Glenn's response:

This has been the great unexamined issue of the Bush presidency -- the extent to which Bush's unwavering commitment to Middle East militarism is, as Bush himself has made clear, rooted in theological and religious convictions, not in pragmatic or geopolitical concerns.

Of course, in little dens of blasphemy like this, this theme isn't "unexamined," but in the mainstream it certainly is one of the many large elephants in the room.

For your edification and delight, as an old teacher used to say before launching into something people didn't want to hear, here's the comment I posted on Salon:

To these eyes, this is the defining challenge of our age: to break the taboo on criticizing religion.

In this supposedly modern era, ancient superstitions hold a troubling power, as evidenced by...
Bush's "Crusade" (his term) in the Middle East, and the Religious Right machine that installed him in the White House
The intractability of both sides in the Arab/Israeli crisis
Islamist terrorism around the world, including the Iraqi Civil War started by our Christianist president
Domestic Christianist terrorism, such as abortion-clinic bombings
Institutionalized child rape by Catholic priests
The "I'm a believer" kabuki dance every major political candidate is caught up in, at the expense of rallying around once-cherished values like reason and the separation of church and state
Yes, it's gauche to criticize faith. And desperately, desperately necessary.

Criticizing faith and its excesses is not the same as demonizing its practitioners. Superstition and shared myth are pretty much fundamental to humankind. One can hate the sin of religiosity and still love the sinner.

However, in an age of mass communications and weapons of mass destruction, we need to be willing to admit when religion isn't all bake sales and Kumbaya.

Ultimately, the suspension of reason and criticism creates grave risks to society, as does the suspension of checks and balances in a democracy.

As long as there's a blank check for those who let hokum trump logic, we're in for a world of hurt. This is probably the most inconvenient truth of all, and odds are not in favor of our species being willing to accept it.

That went well

2007-07-17T11:02:00.000-04:00

msnbc.com headline:

Report: Al-Qaida eyes Iraq ties for U.S. attack — Top U.S. security agencies highlight 'persistent and evolving threat'

Turns out that Bush really is a prophet, of the self-fulfilling variety.

Mad about Madison

2007-07-16T16:38:00.000-04:00

For the past couple of weeks, I've been holed up in the Badger sett known as Madison, WI.

Of course, I haven't seen — nor felt — the famous winter, but this seems to me a perfectly wonderful little city.

I get stopped on the street when I'm wearing an "Impeach" or "Draft Gore" t-shirt (both by way of the Tennessee Guerilla Women store) by smart, friendly progressives who strike up stimulating conversation.

In my south-of-Boston stomping grounds, congenial though they are in most respects, I don't always feel that welcome as an out-in-the-open progressive heathen.

Yes, there is the People's Republic of Cambridge and the organic food festival that is Brookline, and yes we have gay marriage and Democrat-packed state and federal congressional contingents, but I don't get the overall sense of a progressive paradise that I get here.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is headquartered here, for crissakes.

There are old-school lefties who start sentences with phrases like "the first time I got tear-gassed," and yesterday I had the pleasure of sharing a cup o' Joe with a young skeptic named Chris Hallquist, proprietor of The Uncredible Hallq blog.

His Humanist's Manifesto beautifully sums up why atheism is quite arguably the perspective that most appreciates the beauty, wonder, and complexity of life.

The circumstances that bring me here involve a relative who's getting care at University of Wisconsin Hospital. The charms of the city carry over big-time into this amazing institution. As with progressive politics, Boston's not exactly a slouch for things medical, but this place blows me away with a culture of care like I've never seen before. Patients and their families are in no way looked upon as a burden or an afterthought. Maybe that shouldn't be extraordinary, but it is.

The comfort-seeking capitalists at Money magazine have taken notice of the glow around this little spot, naming neighboring Middletown the #1 best place to live in America.

Should the vicissitudes of the beautiful, wonderful, complex thing we call "life" take you to this lovely little isthmus, be sure to thank Darwin above. Especially if it's in the summer.

But don't cry for me, Madison, as I return home to good ol' Milton, MA (a very respectable #7 on the list), where my life can return to sanity.