"Today's decision affirms that the Constitution does not stand in the way of the people's representatives enacting laws reflecting the compassion and humanity of America." - President Bush

Dunno whether to laugh or cry at the total ridiculousness of that statement. Dunno whether to find statistics about how often partial birth abortions are actually performed (not often) or how often, of those performed, they're performed to save the woman's life (pretty often). Of course, two weeks ago I watched a fetus clutch at House's hand and freaked out about people seeing that and thinking it could actually happen.

But, hey. Babies danced in Ally McBeal and the dead talk to what's-her-name from Kids Incorporated (no Fergie jokes, please). So clearly my world view is messed up. Yeah yeah, life isn't like TV. But millions and millions and lots of people watch TV, and I don't trust them to get the difference.

I digress.

I'm always more annoyed by people (conservatives and liberals both) who love love love the Courts when the Courts do what they want, but scream about judicial activism when they don't, than I am about a particular ruling. I think the justice system is more important than politics. Remember when they used to be two different things? Me neither.

I don't really care that a bunch of non-doctors wrote the decision. Duh. They're also non-criminals (sort of) and non-business owners (generally) and non-corporations and most of them don't even know how to use a computer. They're old and out of date. Justice isn't just blind, you know, she's also senile and incontinent and waiting on her Social Security check.

Oh, Ruth. I hope you never retire. She thinks the decision "tolerates, indeed applauds, federal intervention to ban nationwide a procedure found necessary and proper in certain cases by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists."

I'm pro-choice, man, and I'm also not short sighted. This decision was Bad. I think partial birth abortions are scary, but I think a government that makes choices for its citizens is scarier. People can talk about the fetus being life all they want to, but I'll just wave my arms at all the government perpetuated violence that takes place on a day to day basis.

I realize that a lot of the way this debate is framed isn't about freedom vs. non-freedom, but rather what constitutes a life. We ain't never gonna agree on that one, and in the mean time there's nothing that says freedom more than a person's right to choose. Even if you don't agree.

Well, that and your right to disagree. But it's a tie.

At the onset of the Lebanese crisis, Arab governments, starting with Saudi Arabia, slammed Hezbollah for recklessly provoking a war, providing what the United States and Israel took as a wink and a nod to continue the fight.

Now, with hundreds of Lebanese dead and Hezbollah holding out against the vaunted Israeli military for more than two weeks, the tide of public opinion across the Arab world is surging behind the organization, transforming the Shiite group’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, into a folk hero and forcing a change in official statements.From the NY Times article.

Okay. First: why isn't this a war yet? Why's it still a crisis? I know I've sort of been gone for a little while (I didn't know anything was happening until a couple days after it started), but... um. And Aljazeera is reporting that Israeli troops killed 4 UN Peacekeapers. Then again, that's Aljazeera (and I'm probably in some sort of file for opening the website).

Also: sigh. Couldn't Israel have waited a couple of days to see if, oh, diplomacy worked before bombing the crap out of Lebanon?

My mom and her friends, all middle-aged liberal Jewish-American Zionists have been sending emails back and forth. My mom forwarded me some. I think this is interesting and sort of sums up my thoughts:

Most of the world recognized the cross border incursion was patently illegal and Israel had a right to respond. The question for Israel was--what was the best response possible in her political and military interest. I don't think this bombing campaign was a good idea. It is too indiscriminate and isn't effective re:Hezbollah. And, it missed encouraging the opportunity for political re-alignment in the middle east.

People are just so angry. Nations are angry (bombings) and individuals are angry (shootings at Jewish centers) and other people die.

Anger and pride and death. Awesome. The situation in the Middle East has always been bad. The idealist in me says eventually it'll die out (and I mean in hundreds of years) if we can get over our culturual dividing lines and inter-marry. The realist in me says the only way that's ever getting solved is if we turn the entire region to glass with a nuclear bomb. Meanwhile I'll chill out in the United States, 'cause I don't know what else to do.

Anyone who really thinks God's down with all this stuff is stupid, not holy.