FU - FairAndUNbalanced.com

I like and admire Clint Eastwood for his many films and for his choices of roles in recent decades. So this week's performance was a sad surprise. Vixen Strangely at Rumproast rejects the obvious, and looks for a deeper meaning. My own view is that the empty chair is cautionary. We tend to regard our heroes and villains as one dimensional. The occasional missteps of an icon, even his mistaken ideology, do not need to diminish our admiration.

Manifesto Joe of Texas Blues traces this past week's GOP convention to a prophetic novel from 1873. My family tells me Joe is about the best writer on the internet, and I try to forgive him for that. Et tu, familia?

Max's Dad likes Clint Eastwood but is less sympathetic to his performance than some (read "me").

Tim McGaha at Tim's Thoughtful Spot goes from Clint Eastwood to the convention itself and ends up with market based election speculation.

Boy, is James Wigderson ever excited about the Republican convention. He pulls out the stops. And don't forget, "these leaders all understand that the fiscal problems that confronted our state and still confront our country have to be addressed now.". He ends, noting that Democrats believe that any criticism of the President is racist. I dunno. Seems to me that racist criticism is racist. That may strike the casual observer as a tautology, but the idea does surprise some.

PZ Myers, writing for Pharyngula, is a little upset at a GOP speaker for regarding atheists as non-Americans.

Two minority women, employees of CNN, were pelted with peanuts by jeering GOP delegates who shouted about feeding the animals. Lee Bahir Golden III, citizen of Mad Mike's America, comments on the incident but does not submit it a proof of much of anything. Instead, he employs the peanut incident as a jumping off point, an illustration of how far the GOP has strayed from a better history of supporting civil rights.

Tommy Christopher of Mediaite fame covers the hilariously awkward euphemisms employed by CNN as they struggle to keep from referring to Republican Republican untruths as lies.

Jack Jodell, friend of the working blogger at THE SATURDAY AFTERNOON POST, outlines the more breathtaking departures from truthfulness that, regretfully, form the core of the GOP campaign this election season.

News Corpse is merciful toward the GOP this week, instead rightfully lambasting the GOP network, Fox News, for printing and broadcasting reports that were documented untruths. Come on, News Corpse. Nobody's perfect.

The Heathen Republican debates another empty chair this week, in a manner of speaking, offering a timeline leading to the election along with what he anticipates will be Democratic talking points and debating strategies because of ... you know ... his long history of successfully defeating the liberals that exist in his fertile mind. I have to admit, his piece is well written. But then, so is pretty much everything The Heathen Republican writes and publishes.

Dave Dubya finds a lesson about today's GOP in a recent bit of hilarity from the Presidential nominee.

Nancy Hanks at The Hankster brings us more news of a growing percentage of voters who decline to identify with any political party, this time in Arizona.

T. Paine, at Saving Common Sense, notices that there are differences between men and women, an observation that, I suppose is impervious to challenge. He ignores one dominant political fact, that of pay discrimination, and misses another, that of health decisions being made by those who are, in other areas, against regulation. Instead, he laments that boys and girls are not allowed to play separate boy and girl games. They're not? I didn't realize. This all leads to his familiar derangement, as T. Paine manages to challenge the manhood of our President. To be fair, he does use a bit of manly wordplay, not directly calling Barack Obama "boy." Have to be careful these days, you know, these radical liberals are so-o-o overly sensitive to the slightest little thing.

Infidel 753 asks us to sign a petition in the case of a mentally disabled child in Pakistan facing mob violence and a potential death sentence in Pakistan for the crime of blasphemy.

Vincent of A wayfarer's notes goes semi-camping in West Wales. Thing is, his writing wanders about in strange and wonderful ways that often have little directly to do with his ostensible topic. For example, he leads off with "Don’t complain when the fruit is rotten: it’s preparing to launch its seeds." And that's just the beginning. It's like talking with Umberto Eco without the accent.