Internal Monologue

These are the days of miracle and wonder, these are the days when we live in a ridiculous science fiction world: Last year I wrote about how Craig Venter and his colleagues had inscribed a passage from James Joyce into the genome of a synthetic microbe. The line, “To live, to err, to fall, to triumph, to recreate life out of life,” was certainly apropos, but it was also ironic, since it is now being defaced as Venter’s microbes multiply and mutate. Turns out there’s an even weirder twist on this story. Reporting from SXSW, David Ewalt writes about a talk Venter just gave. Venter recounted how, after the news of the synthetic microbe hit, he got a cease-and-desist letter from the Joyce estate. Apparently, the estate claimed he should have asked permission before copying the language. Venter claimed fair use . Man, do I wish this would go to court! Imagine the legal arguments. I wonder what would happen if the court found in the Joyce estate’s favor. Would Venter have to pay

It seems to me that there are two questions that are getting mushed together here: Should outside countries intervene in the Libyan civil war, protect the rebels, and help them topple Qaddafi? Should the United States be one of those countries? It seems to me that there's a better case for European and Arab states to intervene than for the United States to intervene. This is in their sphere of influence, isn't it? If the United States is justifying intervention on humanitarian grounds, then why aren't we in Ivory Coast, Congo, Burma, and other such places?

I'm trying to figure out what is going on with Libya and American intervention there. Here's what I've figured out so far: Here's a nice zoomable map of Libya so you can figure out where these places are. The UN has authorized war on Qaddafi . The rebels are currently not doing well and forces loyal to Qaddafi are pushing towards the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. There was a lot of fighting in the past 24 hours or so around the town of Adjabiya, which is about 90 miles to the south. Loyalist forces have moved onto the road from Adjabiya to Benghazi . A lot of the bloggers I've read think that it is not in the US interest to get into a war in Libya, and that we aren't thinking about the intermediate and long term consequences of military intervention there. These include Abu Muqawama from Center for a New American Security , Information Dissemination , Marc Lynch , and Andrew Sullivan , who has been particularly vehement in his opposition. Thomas E. Ricks blogg

Is the United States going to war in Libya, or are other people? Sullivan thinks we are , but commenters at this Balloon Juice post think the authorization is so that other countries like France, Italy, and Arab League countries can do this. As much as I don't like Qaddafi, I don't know who the rebels are or what kind of government they would install. I hope for the best, but I do not think US military intervention would be a good idea. Given our current global military footprint, I think we should be getting out of places, not getting into places.

Talking Points Memo : "What do I say to the idea that this [the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act] is a wedge issue? I say 'Hallelujah,'" Frank told reporters. "The fact that we've now evolved to the point where the Republicans are complaining about the fact that we introduced this bill because it causes them political problems is a great sign of progress. It used to be the other way around." I think when we look back on this era, we'll be amazed at how quickly opinions changed on this. Now let's get started on ending drug prohibition... Bonus Quote on this topic from DougJ on Balloon Juice : A lot of talk about how marriage equality is now an issue that works in Democrats’ favor. You know what that means. It means Republicans give up on the issue and start looking for some new shiny “cultural issue” to distract people with. The theocons who profess to care deeply about the “sanctity of marriage” will go gentle under that

Best 2012 roundup I've seen is here , just updated. Still pretty wide open, and lots of potential nominees haven't even declared yet. I still think that threading the "right-wing enough to get the nomination, but centrist enough to win the election" is going to be a hard needle to thread for the Republicans. Of course, all that could change depending on the economy and world events.

Ben Smith and others have remarked on the fact the Republican presidential hopeful Haley Barbour is considering reducing American presence in Afghanistan and finding some budget savings in defense. While details are sketchy, he appears to be scouting out a position to Obama's left on these issues. I'd love to have some allies on the right wing for re-evaluating our presence in Afghanistan and casting a skeptical eye on defense spending. And maybe this will prompt Obama to get out faster. More on the GOP and Afghanistan here .