We got a huge number of great reader emails in response to my post about "homeland security." One of them came from TPM Reader BD ... And why on earth was the agency not named the Department of National Security, which would have been the most natural formulation in the world and yet still serve to warm the hearts of the Cheney-Krauthammer claque of folks who like to think they're more serious-minded, vigilant, rock-ribbed, etc. than the rest of us? http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/that-names-already-taken
We're All Georgians Now ... And We're Living in Brooklyn
North Carolina Republican House candidate open to war with Mexico over immigration and drugs, with lasers if necessary. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/freak-flag-fly
Unexpected Development
The joker Georgian President who inspired John McCain to tell us "We're All Georgians Now" is now living as a hipster in Brooklyn. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/we-re-all-geogians-now-and-were-living-in-brooklyn
Freak Flag Fly
A week ago I saw this piece in The Nation which picked up on a Chris Matthews rant about how defense and security of the "homeland" has become a commonplace phrase in the year's since 9/11. I was heartened by this because this has been a pet issue of mine going back to the months just after 9/11. As I wrote more than a dozen years ago, the phrase "does have a deep blood and soil tinge to it which is distinctly Germanic, more than a touch un-American, and a little creepy." http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/homeland-defense-is-unamerican
"Homeland" And Other Un-American Words and Ideas
TPM has just confirmed that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has ordered that absentee ballots for overseas military personnel be shipped out immediately without the name of any Democratic candidate on them. This is a seeming reversal from Kobach's earlier stated plan to delay the issuance of those ballots until Democrats submitted a new nominee. If you're new to the story, the previous Democratic nominee withdrew from the race as part of a pretty obvious but still unconfirmed Dem plan to clear the field for independent Greg Orman to take on incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS). Kobach, for his part, has been trying to thwart that plan. His political motives are about as thinly veiled as Dems' were in getting their nominee out of the race in the first place. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/kobach-kansas-senate-overseas-military-ballots
I'll Take Tony, Omar, And Swearengen
Wow, there's actually a TV show where the premise is "doctor stranded at cocktail parties in Hamptons forced to Macgyver his way out of medical emergencies"? http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/royal-pains