By your optimism I mean you're overlooking a lot of well known stuff which contradicts the rosy outlook you've painted of US government.

That Obama claimed to have the authority to assassinate anyone anywhere on the planet is not a "maybe". He has made this assertion more than once. Here a good reference to an…

I think you have an unreasonably optimistic view of accountability regarding drone strikes and the like. Last I'd heard, a certain US president had asserted that he had the power and authority to order the death of anyone anywhere in the world. That power has been exercised several thousand times, if you're willing…

I believe there are a number of interpreters of US law who fervently believe it holds larger sway than merely within the US borders. The whole extrajudicial execution of foreigners by drone seems to be firmly predicated on the notion that US law extends further than other sort. NSA and CIA seem to have both proven…

If you acknowledge a right to privacy, then it's a right and applies to all, automatically. If it only applies to citizens and/or only applies at certain times, then it's a privilege, which is a favor granted by those in power.

Comes under the heading of privacy. Most folks see it right away, unless they're the sort who thinks the government has a right to monitor all people at all times. The surprising thing about the latter group is they seldom see how such surveillance could possibly happen to or have any effect on themselves. Rather…

There's more competition that one might think in the "largest municipal bankruptcy" space. Jefferson county, Alabama was the previous record holder at $4.2 billion, not Stockton, Ca.

Next year, no one will beat my Popeye cos-play!

Someone needs to improve their viewing choices.

Business Insider also does the occasional fluffing for Denton and Gawker.

Come on! Disney has already given us the Angry Pigs Death Star. Obviously there's no viable content left in the Star Wars universe. All that remains is for Disney to partner with Paramount and begin Star Wars versus Star Trek reality TV competition show to fulfill the end of days.

In the mean ol', good ol' days of Gawker gone by, you'd have never graduated from pink without proper capitalization. The lack there of usually seems to communicate that the typer's time is far to precious to spend on such nominal conveniences for the reader.

Cry me a river. That's not a keying, or the truck was keyed by someone with serious OCD problems.

Gonna style a '57 Chevy out of teak? This Old Mobile Home? How much do you think your net worth has declined as a result of making a guest appearance on Deadspin?

When you're a kid in school, there's scant difference between whether someone is officially promoting a school's theoretical policies and whether someone is just going through the motions based on previous examples, i.e. makes little difference as to whether it's policy or just accepted culture. While an "official"…

Probably a better plan that the thrust of the article which is to be as intolerant as others as the author perceives others' intolerance of herself.

I tend to think all kids feel alienated and as if they were the other and the outsider at some point in life. I was alienated and singled out for being the new kid at eight schools in twelve years, the kid who wore glasses, the fat kid, the kid who liked to read, and the Methodist preacher's kid. I also doubt…

Oops. My bad for slotting you into atheism. (Though I could hem and haw around whether you were referring to ethic Judaism or religious Judaism.) Doesn't change the thrust of the reply though. You're uncomfortable with this, they're uncomfortable with that. How will you ever manage to live together in the same…

What about the poor, poor people made uncomfortable by your lack of comfort with the basic Christmas story? Should they have the same option to be protected from your no-religion religious beliefs?

Winning the Culture Wars (and Other Fantasies.)

Farm-to-Table Chef Accused of Criminal Freshness.