McCain Criticized for Slur - He says he'll keep using term for ex-captors in Vietnam - SFGate.com - 18FEB00

""I hate the gooks," McCain said yesterday in response to a question from reporters aboard his campaign bus. "I will hate them as long as I live."

"I was referring to my prison guards," McCain said, "and I will continue to refer to them in language that might offend some people because of the beating and torture of my friends."

The word "gook" was first used in 1899 by American soldiers fighting Filipino insurgents. During the Korean War, the term was aimed at Koreans and Chinese. It was directed at the Vietnamese when Americans were fighting in Vietnam. It is now used as a slur toward any Asian or Pacific Islander.

"If Sen. McCain had been captured by Nigerians, could he call those people `niggers' and think he wasn't going to offend everyone who is black?" Akoi asked. "We can all feel for what he went through, but if that's his level of sensitivity, I'm very disappointed."

"I will call right now, my interrogator that tortured me, a gook," McCain said. "(I can't believe that) anybody doesn't believe these interrogators and prison guards were cruel and sadistic people who deserve the worst appellations possible."

McCain said he does not consider the comment an epithet.

"Gook," he said, "is the kindest appellation I can give.""

Considering the company that I keep here in Iraq does not leave me immune to using such phrases as "Sand N****er." After all, a number of them have been detained because they in fact were caught constructing or placing IEDs or worse. That said, it's entirely unprofessional and unbecoming of a Soldier.

I wonder if John McCain has changed his mind since then.

Achewood: The Great Outdoor Fight by Chris Onstad

Veronica Mars - The Complete First Season

Stephen King The Stand: Captain Trips #1 (of 5) by Stephen King, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

Oh yes.

This is definitely making the rounds and it's actually pretty darn funny:

If you can't see the video, go here, but beware the idiot YouTube commenters with no sense of humor or are too young to know the original video and song.

I never know how to pray about an election. Praying that my candidate will win seems selfish at best and at worst presumes that God agrees with my choice. But just praying that God will cause the right person to win (not naming any names) is a pretty hollow and spineless way to pray.

Thank heavens for David Dark, who displays a bit of righteous wisdom about how to pray during an election cycle. I wanted to quote the best part, but all of it is the best part. I probably shouldn't quote it all, though, so here's just a piece:

My prayer is that we would all be rightly moved. Righteously moved in the direction of the already-yet-still-to-come kingdom for which many Republicans and Democrats pray, never knowing what we're doing exactly. I pray that we would feel some affection--somehow actually like--the people we can't imagine ourselves voting for and the friends, family, and neighbors we suspect--with fear and trembling--will vote for them. Amid the din of hi-tech carnival barkers, loud televised people who claim to be without spin, and gentle mortals like myself who receive their words into their heads like a shot of espresso every few minutes through e-mails, radio broadcasts, and frantic visits to websites, may our hearts remain open to the possibility of being rightly moved.