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• “You are not supporting the troops.” Balderdash, basta! What a silly shibboleth of the wrong-thinking rightees! They use it as a punishing shillelagh upon the heads of those who happen not to share their bellicose bantering. The Constitution exhorts us to express ourselves with regard to the manner in which we are governed. Disagreement with a policy taken by the administration has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the “troops.” The military is under civilian control and MUST carry out its legal orders, regardless of the political climate. Ergo, criticism of an inept policy carried out by the military is divorced from the respect and admiration all of us citizens have for those who care enough to put their lives and limbs at stake for the sake of the civic participation of all of us. The pity of this clarification is that it need be stated at all.

• If bombs fall in a Middle Eastern desert and the fact goes unreported, did it happen at all? Apparently, something of that nature did occur recently, but no one will acknowledge it officially. The reliable, unofficial rumor is that Israel, within the past week, carried out an air attack upon a remote site within Syria. The open secret maintains that Israel has put the kibosh on any mention of such an attack. You see, if she says it did not happen, then, it did not—following along with thinking with regard to her non-existent nuclear stockpile. Apparently official Washington is going along with this farce, also. It is reported that certain members of congress have been briefed; they remain mum. The question was put to the president in a recent press conference; he declined to discuss the matter in any way. The curious part of all of this is the silence of Syria. A logical supposition is that she is embarrassed, either for not being able to defend against an attack on her soil, or because of a breach of confidentiality with one or more of her Arab neighbors. Of course, all of this dancing about without music ultimately will prove futile; eventually, the music will be heard.