I'm in no shape mentally to post my own thoughts about the administration's latest tiff with Amnesty International, so I'll just copy Greg Saunders's:

A Single Word

Geez. The Bush folks sure are pissed about Amnesty International's use of the word "gulag", huh? Perhaps Amnesty should just clarify things a bit by eschewing comparisons to the Soviet Union and making it clear that when they say "gulags", they simply meant "secret prisons in which innocent people have been tortured to death".

On a serious note, it's clear what's going on here. The Bushies are focusing in on a single word and are going to hit back at Amnesty International until they say something even vaguely conciliatory. At that point, they'll declare victory. ("Haven't you heard? Our rape rooms aren't 'gulags'.") Nevermind the details of the report. The use of hyperbole^[1] will render the actual charges obsolete. We've seen it happen over and over again.

The fact that this particular AI report was almost dead (in news cycle terms, anyways) until the President decided to abuse the word "absurd" is the biggest irony here. Rumsfeld is giving a press conference right now because the President's poor attempt to make the question go away only made things worse. The obvious quote here is "thou doth protest too much" because it's true. These guys wouldn't be complaining this loudly if it hadn't gotten under their skin.

Amnesty International obviously hit a nerve and the Bush Administration is going to keep hitting back until there's a moment of weakness that they can take advantage of. The key here is not to get tripped up in a semantic debate. Innocent people are being abused right now due to our President's decision that the Geneva Conventions don't apply to our new wars. Don't let a petty argument over word choice allow the President to deflect attention from the fact that he's a human rights abuser.

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^{1 :Which in this case isn't hyperbole at all, but whatever....}

Also, MONEY - there's a post over on AMERICAblog about whether or not the left is afraid of/hates money. There are plenty of things to discuss about that in the more general sense of 'the left' but this post, and the slew of comments responding to it, parallel the personal debate I perpetually have about money. I think it was Sudiptya who first described to me how he dislikes money so much that he intentionally tries to spend it in a somewhat careless manner, especially on his friends, so as to, in a sense, devalue it. I definitely fall into this category too. Although I'm willing to acknowledge, begrudgingly, the fact that money makes the world go round, and I appreciate the many positive things that can be gained through money (both the wise spending of it and wise saving/investing of it) I'd still prefer it not to enter into my relationships. I'd rather barter with friends than actually exchange money (if I pick up the tab this week for lunch, smile, say thank you, and offer to pick up the tab next time. the same, by the way, goes for dates. I get that for many of you paying for a girl's dinner or movie ticket or what have you is a sign of respect, a way of showing that you like her. But occasionally, you should let me return the favor, because like and respect should be a two-way street.). So I can understand how 'we' as a group often come off as uncomfortable around money - uncomfortable asking for it and uncomfortable spending it. I've commented before that even on my student budget, I feel guilty not giving to a charity in which I believe if I know the following weekend I'll blow $20 on beer. So, as pointed out by several posters on AMERICAblog, guilt plays a large role in this queasiness regarding money. But I would hope that this does not carry over into guilt over earning money in the way John points out in his post. Or at the very least, that this applies to a small minority in the left community. Because otherwise I fear that this guilt, and/or begrudging those among us who earn a decent living, is in fact indicative of a devaluing of our beliefs and work that supports those beliefs.