I'm somewhat conservative politically, but I've been increasingly disgusted by the Republican Party for the last couple years—a feeling that has escalated dramatically since the election. However, Sasse seems to be a wonderful exception.

Sasse actually had some thoughtful things to say in a series of tweets afterward:

His memoir is worth the read if you get the chance, although he literally only spends about one page on the magazine piece that brought him down. Perhaps it's a facade, but he basically gives a bare-bones description, and says it's not worth dignifying with lengthy exposition. It could be avoidant, I suppose, but I…

Having heard McChrystal speak and read his memoir, he's a genuinely compelling person, but dealing with his story requires being willing to think about Afghanistan the way he did, which was enormously complex and nuanced.

I've met enough red-haired, blue-eyed Afghans that having a Caucasian actor play one is not necessarily a deal-breaker.

This, this is great.

And a jape about "he's on the throne" before the camera cuts to him in the lavatory.

Liked specifically for the last sentence, though I cannot decide if I find it ironic or appropriate.

Mild tangent, but I was up in that area last month, and my wife and I stayed in Mystic, CT, which was how I learned that the movie Mystic Pizza is based on a real restaurant. We went, and the pizza was really quite excellent.

I suppose you could argue Dana Perino is doing okay.

But then who will direct Doon, the mashup of Dune and Brigadoon that I just started composing in my head?

(Don't you mean the other way around?)

Logan 2: Know When to Fold 'Em

Just think: Voyager would have been even worse if they hadn't re-cast Janeway.

Incidentally, if you haven't read it, John Scalzi's Redshirts is a pretty entertaining novel on that theme.

Your purity test observation is particularly good. I would suggest, however, that in addition to alienating some of America's worst people, it also prompts some people (men and women both) to mentally tune out because they're averse to "issue-driven" movies.

I don't know that this is publicist-driven—I could totally see this as a genuine appeal from Moss to approach the movie on its own terms, and not immediately start to deconstruct it.

I heard (anecdotally, I never read it) that the writing was actually pretty decent.

That's a great idea. My recommendation is to embrace the sin/faith ambiguity rather than trying to provide an answer. Even if in writing the story you start to lean one way or the other, don't deny the reader the opportunity to work it out for themselves.

Unless those words are combined, in which case you're in for some hilarity!