David Rees is brilliant.

"When you feel you have right on your side, you can do some pretty horrific things." Imagine a time when The Capital, State Department, Pentagon and other government buildings (both local and federal) are bombed. And imagine a large, albeit young and often acid-dropping, population supporting in principle these actions. Think about getting together an underground group of well-educated "radicals" to bust Timothy Leary out of jail and help him flee the country. The Weather Underground did these things, and while there was a large amount of delusion and then self-regret for their actions, it's odd that what happened both in the US government and the resistance isn't more widely remembered. The 2002 documentary does a great job at making "resistance" seem complicated, human, sometimes egotistical, and the 60's, from all viewpoints, tumultuous.

Of course I want one. They've been built. Yes, I know it was created for impoverished children. It's people like me, you say, you roll your eyes. Yes, I'm not above admitting I want one. It's small, rugged, linux based wifi enabled device able to create wireless networks, has a pull-string power generator and basic software like an editor, browser, etc. It will be sold in blocks to governments, presumably to give to students who wouldn't otherwise have computers. Negroponte, its creator, and founder of MIT's media lab has pissed off big computer makers with something perhaps very useful for $140. Selfish question remains: how do I get one? There was talk of 'official' ebay sales at one point. But I'm suggesting the same thing lots of other geeks are: let us buy one for double the price (or so), and give the second for free to whom they were intended. That way you can build as many as you like, spread linux, and some kid gets a free computer -- this would also discourage the governments you're selling them to from simply trying to resell the whole lot at a profit, because they'd already be readily available from the source.

Ned Lamont winning might have been the feel good moment, but it's being embraced by the New Left as the direction in which the Democratic party should trend. And by trend, I mean trend, a sort of Dean trend -- there's a Dean trap that the Democratic party falls into again and again (roll 5 or 6 to get out of the trap next round). Why can't the Democrats ever project any image that has any smart balls? I don't want Bush, I want FDR in a mech -- point is I want smart strong charismatic defense who has lots of international friends in a dangerous world not some barbeq'ing stump tongued failure yahoo or a trust fund kid named Ned, I want Hunter Thompson with an automatic weapon. You're telling me that 'the greatest nation on earth' and this is all you've got? Ned? Hillary? Mark my words, they're not getting past the mire known as North East Senator. You are dead to me. I'm voting Whig.

I cannot fully explain why I was watching the 700 Club with the sound down. It seemed to make more sense that way. I thought it was Fox News at first. Ann Coulter, split screen with some smug looking jackass whose hair reminded me of Fisher Price toys, overwhelms me with the sheerly obvious insanity radiating from her distressed, racoonish, mascara circled eyes. She's talking about her book "Godless", I guess. And it occurs to me that the fascination with Ann Coulter is 100% valid: she is a freakish display of random American excess. Perhaps the tales of her being a Dead Head are true, and I bet she was that girl at the front dancing like a jerky puppet jacked up on mushrooms and speed, or just high on Jesus and Dad's successful union busting that day.

I can't believe I hadn't seen this, that everyone hasn't seen this. Few things could be so close to the interior of modern American warfare than Errol Morris's interview shot in 2000 of Robert McNamara, "the best and the brightest", former Defense Secretary, talking about the cornerstone moments of the cold war and the foundation of the mire of Vietnam. Most importantly, this is an old man looking back at his part in the fire bombing of Tokyo, working with Curtis LeMey, Kennedy, Johnson -- an interior view of big business war, of MBA war, of algebraic morality (is, in fact, all morality just an assessment of what is a lesser evil). Apparently, very few things have changed.