The Big Picture and the Closeup

AS the play shows, even if the personal is political, personal trajectories and political ones can diverge. The sundering of Mattachine’s founders from the Society, and then from each other, is deftly rendered, along with the disagreements, persisting to this day, between those who embrace queer culture and wish to stay somewhat aloof from the straight world and assimilationists who view homosexuals as another marginalized minority that must strive for acceptance and integration. In short, this is a big play, with big themes.

We should attend to what other countries do and think – just as they should be looking at us. Nobody’s too dumb to teach or too smart to learn, whatever Justices Thomas and Scalia may say. As antidotes to “exceptionalism,” consider the burqa — and consider Roman Polanski.

The Boumediene case was another “win” for the Guantanamo detainees. But with nobody leaving Guantanamo without permission on Bush and Cheney’s watch, the Administration is the real winner.

Laws lots of people support and lots of people disagree with. How you do or do not comply helps determine how legitimate these laws are.