Note: Some time in 2009 I gradually switched from reading Michelle Malkin on a regular basis to reading Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish on a regular basis. It was a momentous shift, and over time did a great deal to soften my thinking and open me up to new points of view. In particular, Andrew’s writing greatly expanded my understanding of what it means to be gay. I felt in Andrew a genuine likeness of mind, perspective, and temperament, and yet his homosexuality was so clearly simply a part of him, not a pose adopted to justify certain kinds of sexual desires as I had long thought. Moreover, his passionate gentleness in the pursuit of truth, his openness about his own mistakes, and his willingness to front flawed ideas wherever they are found–even in his own thinking–has become a model for me. This site certainly bears his mark in its structure and intent. Over the years, I e-mailed many comments to Andrew and the Dish team. This is the very first; under discussion are the decisions America should make about its continued military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was a very committed Ron Paul follower at this time. (DL, Sept. 18, 2021)

Hi Andrew,

If we’re going to be truly realistic about our options overseas, we need to cast every discussion of those options in the economic context of how much the various choices cost and how much we can sustainably afford.

The plain fact of the matter is that 1) we can’t sustainably afford much more of anything, and 2) a total economic meltdown poses at least as much of a risk to our republic as foreign terrorists–probably much more.