This footage was taken from the CofC library by a colleague of mine. This was the view from Coming and Calhoun in downtown Charleston as an amazing number of firetruck from across the continent paid respect to 9 of Charleston's finest and America's bravest.

Just a few couple of things on the events in Gaza.

1) Anyone trying to make light of the circumstances in Palestine by saying that the "good Palestinians" are now isolated in the West Bank while the "evil Palestinians" are in the Gaza Strip is sure going to have a tough time dealing with reality in the coming weeks and months. Hamas has plenty of support in the West Bank. It is true that popular support of both entities is ebbing in the Palestinian body politic; Hamas because they are Hamas and Fatah because they are corrupt and--perhaps more damning--in bed with the US and Israel. If/when Hamas opens up a front in the West Bank against Israel, the Israelis will cease to differentiate between Hamas and Fatah and instead see those feared Palestinians who have frustrated hardcore Zionist for decades. All because they didn't go along quietly with Israeli debarment from their homes and the theft of their land and instead decided to struggle much like those Zionist did against the Crown in the early 20^th century. Anyway, don't believe the idea that Hamas rules Gaza while Fatah dominates the West Bank, it's flawed (but convenient...) logic.

2) Of course the pundits lay all this trouble at the doorstep of Iran and Syria. Those people should prove it. I doubt Damascus has much to do with this, perhaps individual, nongovernmental entities within Syria; Iran is more likely to be involved. In any regard there is probably evidence out there implicating both as supporting Hamas. This is never stated though, just implied as a given and used for arguments. Strangely missing is all the evidence that exists that fingers Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as supporting Hamas. I guess that isn't convenient for DC punditry or the Bush administrations foreign policy (do we really have to refer to this fiasco as policy? Policy usually uses reality as a basis to form probable goals, not dreams), but it's a salient point nonetheless.

I'm calling this one early (pending a better headline)...

LA Times: A Democrat in '08! But not that one

The debate over immigration is just the latest episode of the same old debate, and one that I could care less about. But I have to give Rush a hat tip for his new name for our two-faced Senator here in SC: "Lindsey Grah-amnesty." That's about as funny as Rush's politics.

There's even a website set up -- presumably -- by SC wingnuts archiving Grahams political follies. (h/t McClatchy)