If Only We'd Thought of This at the Time ...

Jon Schwarz' articles on the less inspiring part of the National Anthem have gotten a lot of attention, from print media to social media to e-mail.  Like this one:

I have to admit, David has a point.  The pre-Columbian peoples of the Americas quickly learned that a multiracial population was foolish; you let in a few white people, and before you know it, they've given you diseases, looted your treasuries, and stolen your land.

But leave aside such hindsight; as a great American sage reminded us, we must look to the future, not to the past.  Let's stick with the War of 1812 itself.  There was another ready-made fifth column in our infant nation at the time: British immigrants and their children and grandchildren.  During World War II we put such people (of slightly different ancestry, of course), with their presumable -- indeed inevitable -- sympathy for the Enemy into concentration camps.  Deporting British-Americans would probably not have been feasible, given the primitive surveillance and other technology of the day.  But confinement surely would have been.  Luckily, it proved not to be necessary: the United States eked out a fragile victory over the Enemy that time.  I wonder where David's ancestors came from ...

We Are Everywhere!

First Openly Gay Racehorse To Compete Sunday

In the wake of Albus Dumbledore and Clay Aiken, gay pride continues to march, prance, and canter! But is Ship's Captain really a gay racehorse, or is he just a racehorse who happens to be gay?