Free Republic

Sure, we as a nation have always killed people. A lot of people. But no president has ever waged war by killing enemies one by one, targeting them individually for execution, wherever they are. The Obama administration has taken pains to tell us, over and over again, that they are careful, scrupulous of our laws, and determined to avoid the loss of collateral, innocent lives. They're careful because when it comes to waging war on individuals, the distinction between war and murder becomes a fine one. Especially when, on occasion, the individuals we target are Americans and when, in one...

Tom Junod’s eulogy for Barack Obama’s mystique in Esquire indulges in overwrought excuse-seeking and ultimately misses the obvious conclusion, but it’s notable for recognition of one central fact: Obama as President has been the Incredible Shrinking Man, and in more than one way. Not only does Obama seem incapable of offering soaring rhetoric that engages and inspires millions now –as Junod puts it, he no longer seems born to fill stadiums like a rock star — but the rhetoric Obama does offer makes it seem that Obama can’t even engage himself. As the Anointed Obama vanishes, all that’s left is...

I bring you my boo-freakin'-hoo moment of the day, courtesy of Esquire writer Tom Junod's nauseating profile of John Walker Lindh a/k/a "Suleyman al-Faris" a/k/a "Abdul Hamid a/k/a "Hamza." Junod laments an order forbidding Lindh/al-Faris/Hamid/Hamza from speaking Arabic and describes his typical day in prison: At seven o'clock in the morning he goes to work in the library. It is not a job that most other inmates want, but it suits Hamza, because all Hamza does is read and study. He reads and studies so much that people have to stop him from reading and studying, and sometimes his only...