Interesting read and perspective on implications of the recent “immigration reform” legislation …
Thoughts?

I found the following account from a CNN reporter who was in Iraq to be both heartfelt and sad.
Check it out.
I know the Marines that were operating in western al Anbar, from Husayba all the way to Haditha. I went on countless operations in 2005 up and down the Euphrates River Valley. I was pinned [...]

Jonathan Gurwitz of the San Antonio Express-News has written an excellent editorial pointing out that the late, great Texas Senator, Lloyd Bentsen, would likely be unwelcome in today’s Democratic Party. Bentsen, who was partisan enough to earn the 1988 vice-presidential bid, was nonetheless an independent thinker who was unafraid to embrace traditionally conservative ideas (particularly [...]

Jonathan Alter in Newsweek writes about the evolutionary confluence of technology and politics, and announces an intriguing new initative to creatively disrupt the 2008 elections. All you need is a modem and a dream.
Bob Schieffer of CBS News made a good point on “The Charlie Rose Show” last week. He said that successful presidents [...]

Could they be slowing down their enrichment program so the US would be more likely to join them for direct negotiations?
NY Times has more:
In discussions with White House and State Department officials in recent days, Europeans have described the inspectors’ findings, clearly hoping to influence a debate within the Bush administration over whether to change [...]

Apparently some cars that run on natural gas are using refined methane to go, go, go. The kicker? It’s 1/5th the price of regular gasoline.
Oh Bessie!

From Seth Chalmer, also quoting Jared Lefevre of The Split Rail. Jared:
1. A strategy for Iraq, set in clear terms…
2. Securing ports and borders…
3. Initiatives to support the development of green technology. Governmental power (grants, tax breaks, etc.) should be used to support a growing industry that will not only protect us from the [...]

[Warning, some explicit language herein]
Here is someone who rejects the notion that the explosion of digital pornography is a thing to be celebrated, a “glorious Dionysian orgy after two millennia of unnatural Christian repression.”

For every positive effect porn has, there is a Larry Flynt and a slew of victims. I have one friend who describes [...]

Or is it that “the GOP and its media and energy constituencies will do everything they can to discredit attempts to deal with global warming or other issues that undermine their respective agendas. And they do it by playing the normal/weird card”?
Jack Whelan at After the Future has a keen analysis of how [...]

Who’s that breathing down John McCain’s neck?

Memorial Day began not in one place but in many. Hilltop cemeteries across the North, behind old stone churches and meetings, with long views across the farms. On the grass where fathers and mothers — the ones who could find the corpse among the slain — laid their boys.
After the war, everyone wanted to forget. [...]

The private word from the people who are closest to these things is that Iraq is doing slightly better than most Americans think it is, and Afghanistanis in much more danger than most of us realize. Chances are you’ll be seeing more about it in the months to come, and it won’t be purple-fingered “good [...]

It’s hard to report good news in Iraq when senseless violence like this is happening.
The coach of Iraq’s tennis team and two players were shot dead in Baghdad on Thursday, said Iraqi Olympic officials.
[...]
Witnesses said the three were dressed in shorts and were killed days after militants issued a warning forbidding the wearing of shorts.
Other [...]

This administration has to be cussing this one…
BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 26 â€â€? Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari of Iraq today endorsed the right of Iran to pursue the “technological and scientific capabilities” needed to create nuclear power for peaceful purposes, in the first high-level meeting between officials from the new Iraqi government and its eastern neighbor.
But [...]

What? No dog fight?
Hayden confirmed as new CIA director

“We’re shocked. This is not the outcome we expected.”
So said Ken Lay after his conviction on fraud and conspiracy charges relating to the collapse of Enron. Shocked? Really?
My theory is that he really doesn’t believe he did anything wrong because he never intended anyone to get hurt.
If someone breaks into my house and takes everything [...]

Profane, independent, cranky? Or just another mask for another political audience — a mirrored room full of worldly high rollers?
Jason Horowitz writes in the New York Observer:
For all the national attention surrounding John McCain’s two highly anticipated, protest-ridden commencement speeches in New York last week, the Senator actually saved some of his best material [...]

Yehudit sounds the alert for an international effort on behalf of Egyptian dissidents. Their numbers include some bloggers who have a following here in the U.S.

Sandmonkey alerts us to a campaign of worldwide protests in support of jailed Egyptian dissidents, taking place today and tomorrow. The protest in the US are organized by International Campaign [...]

My name is Daniel DiRito and I have been blogging at www.thoughttheater.com since March. While I have been a frequent commenter here at Donklephant, this is my first posting. I want to thank Justin for the invitation and the opportunity. Hopefully, my diverse curiosities will offer you, the readers, some additional perspectives on prior topics [...]