[BRIEF NOTE] The Authority: Coup D'Etat

At Grey Region, I came across an interesting graphic novel, the assembled issues of The Authority's Coup d'Etat series.

Brief outline: Using dangerous and not-entirely-understood alien technology, a splinter faction in the United States government engages in some experiments. Unfortunately, the technology in question accidentally brings a vast alien starship crashing down onto Florida, turning the peninsula into an archipelago, killing two million or so people, and incidentally giving a casus belli to a vastly more advanced alien species. The Authority--a team of superheroes--is outraged by this spectacularly reckless behaviour, so much so that they announce that they are suspending constitutional government until such time as they feel satisfied that no one will inadvertantly threaten the existence of the human species.

It's apparently fairly controversial. Certainly it has fairly clear parallels to the common left-wing criticisms of Bush. I wonder if the President was a Republican? Still, it's interesting, in that like The Watchmen, when the allegiance of Dr. Manhattan (who could exercise complete control over matter) to the United States gave the Cold War a particularly explosive quality, superheroes actually have a noticeable impact on the way that the world actually works.

[BRIEF NOTE] On Inconveniently Vocal Offspring

From the Atlanta Constitutional-Journal, via Free Republic:

The lesbian daughter of Georgia Christian Coalition leader Sadie Fields, who has led the campaign to add a same-sex marriage ban to the state constitution, has come out strongly against the measure just days before Tuesday's referendum.

In a highly personal public letter to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's editorial page, Tess Fields also criticized what she called her mother's "bigotry" and "abject hostility toward gay and lesbian people."

Tess Fields, a 35-year-old mother who lives in Oregon, said in an interview that she was speaking out partly to answer an opinion piece her mother wrote in Monday's Journal-Constitution, and partly to offer encouragement to people opposing the amendment.

The letter also illustrates the painful relationship the daughter has with her mother. She writes that the first split with her mother occurred when she was in seventh grade and her mother told her that a Jewish friend "will go to hell" if she did not accept Christ.

Sadie Fields found out when Tess was 24 that her daughter was a lesbian, she wrote. "My mother came over to where I worked, screaming, and told me I was 'dead' to the family. She called me 'sick,' 'crazy,' and 'of the devil,' " Tess Fields wrote.

Sadie Fields was clearly surprised to learn of her daughter's letter from a reporter Thursday night. In an emotional interview, she said her daughter's sexuality and their strained relationship is deeply painful for her. The Christian Coalition leader, who also has two sons, said that she loves her daughter and prays for her daily.

What I said on the 17th.