There seems to be some confusion out there–even among anthropologist commentators–about the meaning of scapegoat sacrifice in the ancient world (i.e. before the famous scapegoat passage in Leviticus that is read every Yom Kippur, which effectively changed the meaning of the ritual and made the scapegoat an innocent…goat). My understanding of this comes from Stanford [...]

Duncan expatiates. Hmmm. But wait a second, you mean it works like this: Bush vetoes appropriation, then announces troops will stay longer…because the Democrats won’t pay for them? Sorry. Does not scan. What’s actually happening is this: A battle between Petraeus–with the full support of Gates–and those Bushies who think “progress” can–no, has to–be shown, [...]

One of our colleagues is sifting through the latest DOJ document dump as we type and he’s already come across something interesting. In the spreadsheet the DOJ compiled to help decide which USAs to target, there are columns for, among other things, legal experience, educational experience and… Federalist Society membership. I guess “ACLU membership” would [...]

Our prayers and thoughts are with Governor Corzine, and we are rooting for him to pull through this as quickly as possible. This report also provides a reminder that it’s important–and in most places, state law–to take that extra second to strap yourself in when you are going anywhere.

EDITOR’S NOTE: TotT is a daily rundown of significant campaign events, compiled by Katie Rooney. It is late today because its editor is growing senile. If you have ideas or suggestions on how to make “Today on the Trail” better, please let us know in the comments section. Several state and county Republican groups celebrate [...]

I’d like to take a time out from the heated debate over the worst person in the world designation absurdly bestowed on Karen to come to the defense of another Swamplander. Apparently some readers believe Ana made her decision to stop appearing on the Imus show only after MSNBC had dropped him, thereby making it [...]

Because there is not enough love on this blog: Olbermann really should set his sights, uh, lower. Karen’s initial post was a reasonable query and she got a response posted from the campaign within minutes. It wasn’t an accusation left to lie out and fester a la Mary Ann Akers’ Edwards “sympathy card” allegation; one [...]

Solidarity with Karen…Keith Olbermann and I share a beloved high school English teacher–Arthur Naething. We’ve done tributes together for the guy. I love the way Keith writes and thinks. I love his program. But there’s a helium effect going on here–rampant righteousness, leading to some questionable decision-making. Not just with Karen, but what is this [...]

…and Kos is wrong. Clearly, there are no negotiations to be had with Bush. He won’t sign anything with a timeline. And clearly the Democrats are not going to cut off funding for the troops–nor should they: our withdrawal has to be careful and intelligent, not precipitous. As Jim Webb says, we have to leave [...]