Words matter [updated]

I was on a plane so I missed Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), but I heard it was brilliant. I caught part of Al Sharpton’s last night, and all of John Edwards. Edwards is probably going to get the most press coverage, so I want to mention part of Sharpton’s. Favorite section of the evening: You [George Bush] said the Republican Party was the party of Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. It is true that Mr. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, after which there was a commitment to give 40 acres and a mule. … We didn’t…

Islamoyankee recently got on my case because of my lack of posting, so I am pretending to work, listening to Dylan, and feeding this up instead. Sadik J. Al-Azm,Emeritus Professor of Modern European Philosophy, University of Damascus, and a recipient of the 2004 Erasmus Prize, has written a thoughtful article straight from the heart of the Arab world. The article entitled, “Time Out of Joint” can be viewed in this months Boston Review. In it, Al-Azm questions his own reactions to 9-11 and Huntington’s theory. It is indeed refreshing to read an article that addresses the issues rationally and approaches…