This letter home from a Marine in Iraq was originally intended for friends and family. Since being sent last month, it has circulated through military inboxes and beyond. Forget politics on either side and television analysis. This is, at least from one guy’s perspective, the truth. A few excerpts:

“Biggest Hassle – High-ranking visitors. More disruptive to work than a rocket attack … Their trips allow them to say that they’ve been to Fallujah, which gives them an unfortunate degree of credibility in perpetuating their fantasies about the insurgency here.

Most Profound Man in Iraq – an unidentified farmer in a fairly remote area who, after being asked by Reconnaissance Marines if he had seen any foreign fighters in the area replied “Yes, you.”

Bravest Guy in al-Anbar Province – Any Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician … Every day. Sanitation workers in New York City get paid more than these guys. Talk about courage and commitment.

Biggest Outrage – Practically anything said by talking heads on TV about the war in Iraq, not that I get to watch much TV. Their thoughts are consistently both grossly simplistic and politically slanted. Biggest Offender: Bill O’Reilly.

Most Surreal Moment – Watching Marines arrive at my detention facility and unload a truck load of flex-cuffed midgets. 26 to be exact.

I hope you all are doing well. If you want to do something for me, kiss a cop, flush a toilet, and drink a beer. I’ll try to write again before too long – I promise.” Read on …

William’s Choices

Author William Styron has died at the age of 81. Styron gave us many great novels, my favorite of which was Sophie’s Choice, and is one of the most respected novelists of a generation. Beyond fiction, Styron did a great service to readers by sharing the intimate details of his deep depression that nearly ended in suicide in the book Darkness Visible. Few people know that Styron also became someone that other depression sufferers leaned on for support during their darkest moments and probably talked a few of them off of the emotional ledge.

Kerrymandering

Think about it for a second. When John Kerry was running for president, everyone in his party (except, inexplicably, those actually running the campaign) were begging for him to get tough and fire back at his critics. Cut to this week when everyone in his party is irritated because he didn’t apologize quickly enough. This is just one more reason that when it comes to what parents hope for in terms of their child’s career path, politician has dropped one notch below cast member on Real World Denver.

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A big majority of people think the Dems will come up with a good way out of Iraq while W argues that the Dems have no plan when it comes to the war. (Maybe that’s the trick. Create a problem so intractable that the other side can’t come up with a solution and then nail them on that…).

and…

You Betty, You Betty, You Bet

According to ABC’s site, the series Ugly Betty asks the following: “In the superficial world of high fashion, image is everything. Styles come and go, and the only constants are the superthin beauties who wear them. How can an ordinary girl – a slightly plump plain-Jane from Queens – possibly fit in?”

Tonight executive producer Salma Hayek will help answer that question (and ring in November sweeps) by parading across the screen in her bra

Did you know that Criminal Minds is close to beating the show Lost during Wednesday night primetime?

Flavanetics

Is Flava Flav’s never ending reality show a racist nightmare or just a campy comedy? Well, there are likely plenty of opinions because this season, the show’s season finale drew a cool 7.5 million viewers. Meanwhile, Flava has just welcomed his seventh child into the world. One more and we can drop the current show and get ready to enjoy The Flava Bunch.

The O.C. is back tonight which resurfaces one of art’s great mysteries. Why did they kill Marissa and let Seth live?

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For scientists, next Tuesday is like Superbowl Sunday … Books sales are down, but it’s not for a lack of channels … Willie Nelson stands up for horses in an op-ed piece (did you know that 100,000 horses a year are killed in foreign-owned slaughterhouses in America?) … Can people keep up the pace when it comes to maintaining an online social life? … Ken Lay’s will … “What Ingram remembers is waking up in Denver on Sept. 10 and feeling alone and terrified. He had no idea who or where he was … Cingular opens lines to subscription music services … Relaxing in Tokyo with oxygen, sleep and cats … Want a piece of a small unsigned band that you love? Introducing Sellaband.com … It’s like regular Dance Dance Revolution, but if you screw up a dance step, you get broiled with 3,595 degrees of flaming propane (that’s basically how I felt about going to Cotillion) …

Thanks for the kind shout out from Zem over at Ecofabulous, a must read blog for everything green. And thanks too to Chris at Spot-On, where a bunch of smart folks cover politics and issues (with a nice focus on the latter).

The botched joke heard around the country is topping the news at many outlets today. It could be the single political moment of the season that best illustrates why so many people hate politics, the media and have an incredible urge to take a nap for the next week or so.

Let’s review. During a rally for California’s Phil Angelides (who, alas, is running a campaign even more boring than Kerry’s), John Kerry let slip the following statement:

“You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

According to team Kerry, he meant to say:

“It’s great to be here with college students. I can’t overstress the importance of a great education. Do you know where you end up if you don’t study, if you aren’t smart, if you’re intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush.”

Now, let the ultimate fighting cage match begin!

Needless to say, the GOP (longing for something to sink their teeth into) were all over the unpatriotic, military hating, liberal-elitist Kerry. Does it matter that folks with a serious case of personal combat intolerance are pointing this finger at a vet? It didn’t matter two years ago, why would it matter now?

If you’re a thinking American, you’re left with two possible reactions (and having both simultaneously is entirely possible – and when mixed with vodka and Percocet makes a delightful cocktail). One reaction would be to knock yourself on the head in disbelief that Kerry again (in his words) botched a line and then followed that botched remark up with an unsatisfying retreat (ah the memories). The other reaction is to be disgusted with a Bush administration that would try to capitalize on this gaffe even though the real story on the ground is a whole lot more offensive to members of the military than any combination of words could ever be.

But let’s not forget that the list of villians here includes the 24 hour news networks. Not only did they give this ultimately meaningless verbal slip wall to wall coverage, CNN even gave it Breaking News banner treatment. Quick, Madonna, adopt someone.

So where does this leave us? Probably at about the same place (sans Kerry) we were before the Kerry speech – with the addition of a sour stomach and few less clumps of hair on our heads. As mentioned, most military families have a lot more important things to worry about than political fingerpointing (and things are trending worse, not better. And the Bush team attacks bring the broader issue of Iraq to the front of voters’ minds and the focus on Kerry might backfire in the absence of any positive selling of the Bush record.

Ultimately, the electoral flashback featuring two dudes not on any ballot this year makes it even more clear that Bush is the central issue in this campaign. But that might be as close as we get to the word issue for the next week.

and…

To Life, To Life Lechaim

While yesterday’s science related news gave us a real bummer (less calories equals better health and a longer life), today’s health headlines keep hope alive. It turns out that red wine contains a natural substance called resveratrol that can reverse the effects of a high calorie diet and extend longevity. As if we needed more good news, coffee may cut the risk of diabetes. Looks like I’m having another liquid lunch.

Don’t Pour Me Any Bubbly

The NYT features a story on Valley venture firm that launched a new program to provide big loans to internet start-ups to help them get off the ground quickly. The inside-baseball details aside (I am an early stage investor in internet start-ups), the general idea that we need to make it even easier for start-ups to get dough and that an old school VC would be so heavily marketing itself to young companies is giving me a real 1999 feeling. Remember, the key element of Web 2.0 is that companies can more cheaply build and prove concepts. Let’s keep the big money out of it until big money is needed. Last time that trend took hold, it ended real ugly (and I’ve got the sock puppets to prove it).

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Maybe public opinion is to blame for bad policy … Why are major chain stores trading windows for walls? … Bechtel is pulling out of Iraq (54 of their contractors have been killed) and a security team called Kroll is also leaving after losing 4 employees … A detailed examination of America’s slowing growth … Is really, really needing the money (in this case for gambling) an excuse for embezzlement? … Barry Diller’s $20 billion web empire … The are now 100 million sites on the web (I like to think mine is solidly in the top 99.9 million or so) … Duct tape as babysitter? … Donald Trump has violated zoning laws by, um, erecting an 80 foot flag pole in Palm Beach (insert compensation package joke here) …

Back at you manana …