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"is_authenticated": false, "timestamp": "2009-12-01_22:58:47", "remote_domain": "", "page": 1, "is_moderator": false, "display_username": "", "points": null, "subscribe_on_post": 2, "moderator_can_edit": false, "is_remote": false, "is_verified": false, "missing_perm": null}, "realtime_paused": false, "posts": {"1790771": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "escobar says:<br>\"The former chief of the CIA", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-07-23_14:44:52", "killed": false, "user_key": "9c8ab9013b3ac189678c626393a80fb3", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "2331036": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Spencer if you as well as the Bush Cheney regime continue to ignore some of the core issues that has continually been aggravating the situation in the middle east...U.S. military bases on Muslims holy land and what many Muslims see as the seepage of the dark side of U.S.'s culture on their populations, the lop sided policies of many U.S. administrations in the Israeli Palestinian conflict, the unwillingness of Israel to sign onto the IAEA non proliferation treaty while demanding that their neighbors abide by this treaty...then you obviously are unable to look at this issue clearly due to your own biases.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-09-13_14:21:33", "killed": false, "user_key": "463f5d350bcf25f30a25be2628b73a53", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790759": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "You really have to jump through some hoops with multiple spins to come to some of the conclusions many of you have managed in these comments. Throughout our history, there have been leaders who have committed 'un-American' acts in order to secure the future from chaos. Abraham Lincoln is the most egregious example. Roosevelt is a close second. Bush is a minor example.  At times, they endured ridicule, approbation and outright hatred because they did what had to be done, and often those things made us squirm as we express the outrage appropriate to the clueless. Those leaders accepted that burden.  In the light of history, we condemn their 'failures' to live up to the American ideals, but we honor them for the courage and steadfastness in the face of<br> that which would destroy us.<br><br>Why did the victims on the boats have the luxury of deciding by taking no action? Because they lived in a society where others made those decisions for them, and this instance was no different. Had they all been killed, they would not have been celebrated as noble martyrs for 'good', they would have been seen as victims of the failures of those they had become reliant upon for protection. It was Batman's fault, or Bush's.<br><br>You seem to miss your part in the play as you assign identities to the characters.  You are the judgmental, ungrateful, accusatory, clueless public who use the freedoms secured for you by leaders  whom you bitterly denounce.  Until you feel safe again, at which time you will build monuments to the memory of their service and say you were for them all along, but wish they hadn't done some of those awful things along the way.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-08-17_17:30:35", "killed": false, "user_key": "ea142b81fdb0909586b9312797476259", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790760": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "...Kenneth R. Miller). And just because you don't like what you're reading right now, don't hide your head in the sand. Bush supporters--stop with the cognitive dissonance, please. If you don't know what a signing statement is, or gerrymandering, or are unfamiliar with Richard Clarke's memo, Google is your friend", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-08-16_13:12:41", "killed": false, "user_key": "b2a32efa2ea92f09ae3e52daa620710a", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790761": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "The framers, in all their wisdom, did their best to form a system that would safeguard democracy. To do this, they created various checks and balances. Many in America want to destroy this; some without realizing it, others with full intent.<br><br><br><br>Our founding fathers first goal was to prevent tyranny. With reference to the executive branch, they wanted to ensure transparency, accountability, and prevent a president from being above the rule of law. In this regard, the Bush/Cheney administration has had the worst record.<br><br><br><br>Aside from the will of the people as expressed through elections, there is separation of powers. Within congress there is the house and the senate as a check and balance, and combined, congress is supposed to provide oversight for the executive and judicial branches. Congress has failed to oversee the executive branch, initially due to being a", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-08-16_13:09:50", "killed": false, "user_key": "b2a32efa2ea92f09ae3e52daa620710a", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790762": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Is John McCain in the pocket of oil companies?<br><br>Is John McCain in the pocket of insurance companies?<br><br>Is john McCain in the pocket of pharmaceutical companies?<br><br>Is John McCain in the pocket of other nations?<br><br>Here is a list of lobbyists and employees of major companies working in major positions in the McCain campaign. It will answer any questions you might have about the people who are advising and influencing him.<br><br><a href=\"http://mccainsource.com/corruption?id=0006\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://mccainsource.com/corruption?id=0006</a>", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-08-12_08:15:36", "killed": false, "user_key": "7b8c571103dd3a4093b474ee7af29fea", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790763": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "George Bush, Dick Chaney, Condoleezza Rice and John McCain are responsible for the murder of 94,330 innocent people while they looked for nonexistent weapons of mass destruction.<br><br>Of that total 4,134 were Americans.<br><br>They are also responsible for the wounding of 30,464 people.<br><br>As of 8 - 07 - 2008.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-08-12_07:22:11", "killed": false, "user_key": "be1c2be19f6bd63370c0886276f07705", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790764": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Here's how I've just responded to a friend's blog post in which he asks us to comment on Mr. Ackerman's views:<br><br>I'm not familiar with the Washington Independent, so I can't really qualify my opinion with any information about its editorial bias, if it has one.<br><br>In any event, I find that their language trivializes, over and over again, the issues they are discussing.  Batman having a strict inhibition against taking life is merely \"moral hand-wringing.\"  While they are happy to dissect the Batman's motives, they take the Joker at face value.  The entire point of the Joker, whatever his metaphorical relationship with any real-world figure, is that he is the opposite of one's conscience: insane, nihilistic, exploiting any and every vulnerability and turning decency into a weakness.  Bob Kane did perhaps his only piece of compelling writing the first time he described the rictus forming on the dead face of one of the Joker's victims in 1939 or so.  Making the victims of murder smile was the Joker's joke.<br><br>The Joker says that the key to beating him is to become as nihilistic as he  is?  So what?  When does he say anything but to manipulate others?<br><br>Moreover, the writer seems to be trying to make a point that his own evidence doesn't back up: Batman's would-be love is disenchanted and chooses the symbol of upstanding law and order.  Alfred nearly loses patience with his obsessive and relentless methods.  Commissioner Gordon only reluctantly accepts his help. And furthermore, except for the cell-phone spying helping to catch the Joker (and neutralise the bumbling cops), it never does any good when Batman crosses a moral line.  Doing so is just playing the Joker's game.<br><br>The writer really betrays his bias with this:<br><br>\"That, in the final analysis, is what the Joker is really interested in: to deprive Gotham of its hero, its hope, and its soul. Batman, in other words, must \"work, though, sort of the dark side, if you will. We've got to spend time in the shadows.\"\"<br><br>Applying Dick Cheney's words to the Batman is a cheap trick, commonly known as putting words in someone's mouth.  Those words are revelatory about Cheney and no one else.<br><br>The cell-phone spying thing as a metaphor for war-on-terror policies is obviously true.  It's equally a metaphor for Lincoln suspending the writ of habeas corpus or Roosevelt interning suspected enemy sympathizers (thousands of whom were actually of European descent).  The fact that the power was laid down afterwards - something the Bush Administration has no intention of doing - is also telling, and is a metaphor for Roman dictators through Sulla among other historical antecedents.  I seem to recall that the film actually referred to Cincinattus.<br><br>Also, the writer makes the mistake of assuming that because any one questionable Bush war-on-terror policy is evil, they all must be.  Why?  Because they're associated with Bush and Cheney.  Further, the writer just doesn't understand that the screenwriters knew they were writing fiction.  Torture is, by any sane moral calculus, excusable in a ticking-bomb scenario when one has the actual perpetrator in custody.  However, that scenario has never happened and probably never will.  Finally, the writer absolutely misses or misinterprets the abundance of material in the film that counters his position.<br><br>Anyhow, my take on the film is that it encourages the audience to think about those issues and draw its own conclusions.  If Spencer Ackerman thinks that the film sided with Bush, it's because he admits the superiority of that side's argument (one I would not concede).  I note he doesn't spend any time proposing an alternative take on the story, one which would support the other side.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-08-05_11:05:19", "killed": false, "user_key": "0009858cc9a24ecb8af8407e93c6653d", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790765": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Yes, Cheney and his pals would like us to see the world in stark comic book terms of good and evil. But any rational analysis of what has happened over the past nearly eight years would lead an honest observer to conclude that Cheney and his gang of pin-striped gangsters are morally inferior to the people they seek to destroy. They have a) invaded a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children -- ripping them to pieces with cluster bombs, immolating them with white phosphorous, vaporizing them in their homes using 2,000 pound bombs; b) destroyed the Iraqi health care system, which might have tended to the hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians they maimed and dismembered with weapons we've been forced to pay for; c) doomed countless children to miserable lives of blindness, paralysis, and grotesque disfigurement; d) terrorized millions of others by exposing them to the  danger that their entire families might at any moment be murdered by US forces; e) threatened non-nuclear nations with preventive nuclear strikes, an act that would make the Joker wet his pants with glee; f) created a global gulag into which men, women and children have disappeared to be tortured by contractors working for private for-profit corporations; g) attempted to plunder Iraq's enormous resources and place them at the disposal of US-based multi-national corporations with which they have continuing business and personal ties; h) violated and undermined the the Constitution of the United States, which they are sworn to uphold, placing the freedom of the American people in great jeopardy.  And, of course, when it comes to the Treasury of the United States, that's just money to burn.  On top of all their other crimes, they're bankrupting us through the transfer of public money into private pockets through no-bid contracts to scum like the Dark Prince of Blackwater, a mercenary organization that casually murders civilians knowing that enjoy an impunity that the Joker might relish. Fortunately for the rest of the world, the United States is rapidly going broke. But the wisdom and goodness and righteousness of Cheney and his fellow murderous clowns is pure fantasy: relying on them to save us from the occasional psychopathic scum bag would be like begging the Gestapo to protect us from pickpockets.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-08-01_10:04:50", "killed": false, "user_key": "a5d3a4fa6173c58023e7500a20570554", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790766": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "I can't read the mind of the writers, but I prefer to interpret the movie in a very different way. I think the Joker is a better symbol of Dick Cheney than he is a symbol of al-Qaeda. After all, al-Qaeda is not really a threat to the United States, and if it is, it is a tenth or a hundredth of the threat represented by Bush, Cheney, the military-industrial-intelligence complex (check out Naomi Klein's recent piece entitled \"China's All-Seeing Eye\" for more on the reality of surveillance in the post-9/11 world and how it ties into intelligence operations that have little to do, if anything, with fighting terrorism but have everything to do with profiteering and keeping the local population in a state of confusion and fear). The Joker brought Gotham to its knees. Al-Qaeda has never been capable of such a feat. The Bush administration has been. It went from a do-nothing administration to securing wide popular support through inciting fear and phony patriotism. It used its popularity to hijack the country, with the help of the media (which strangely enough, the Joker was adept at manipulating for his evil schemes), it pushed through some of the worst pieces of legislation in U.S. history, namely the Patriot Act. It secured record profits for Bush's chief campaign contributers, specifically the oil industry, and it began an endless war of terrorism against a faceless opponent that will not end in our lifetime and will not be regulated by international law, U.S. law, or basic human decency.<br><br>And the extent to which al-Qaeda is a threat, it is a manufactured threat: both physically and psychologically. The CIA and its allies created al-Qaeda is an instrument of Cold War policy to force the Soviets out of Afghanistan. Later, when the Islamic extremists focused their attention on American hegemony as the source of their brand of Islam's declining support in the Arab world, the Neocons decided to make them into the new Soviets (the buzzword switched from \"communism\" to \"terrorism\") as an excuse for launching yet another crusade, with the United States playing the role of the good Christians. The Neocons eventually won the support of U.S. regimes, secured jobs in their respective cabinets, and came to dominate the current Bush administration's foreign policy strategy.<br><br>This is a long explanation, but the point is that Bush/Cheney Inc. has never been interested in maintaining order. They are interested in the total opposite. They want the chaos that the Joker spoke so fawningly of. They don't like laws or regulations. They hate the Constitution. They hate human freedom and would replace it in a second with total corporate elite rule if they could just get Congress, the Supreme Court, and a few other key establishments on board - or eliminate them altogether, as they have plans to do with something on the books called \"Continuity of Government.\" Just look at their response to Hurricane Katrina. Look at deregulation of industry. Look at the chaos in Iraq. Is Blackwater there to establish law and order? Maybe, if that includes killing Iraqi civilians for leisure and getting away with it because of the total LACK of law and order in Iraq as IMPOSED by Paul Bremer and other administration lackeys. These men RELY ON chaos to extract profits from unsuspecting people. Read Naomi Klein's \"The Shock Doctrine.\" They only care about law and order so long as it keeps the masses away from asserting their right to true political and economic freedom.<br><br>To even insinuate that Cheney ever had the American people's interests in mind is to be naive. He has no idea what the typical American experience is and doesn't care.<br><br>Therefore, the Dark Knight is certainly NOT Cheney because he has the people's interests in mind (despite being super-rich). He reminds me of some of the Left in this country. Some of us are so misguided we choose to participate in the devil's game rather than accepting that the whole game is fixed and we need to quit and draw up a completely new game. The Joker was going to do whatever he wanted regardless of the response. This is the key. Torturing or killing him doesn't solve the problem because he is only the symptom and not the disease, and we can't defeat him by becoming him. If Cheney/Bush Inc. were assassinated tomorrow, it would not eliminate the graft and greed that plagues this country. The same goes for the Joker. The goal should be to fix the systems that give rise to this graft. Capitalism, namely, which encourages self-interest above everything else, and representative government that only represents the people who can afford to fund the election campaigns of its representatives.<br><br>My view of the film was that Batman was able to keep most of his principles. He refused to let the Joker die, stopped himself from \"playing the hero,\" and allowed the controversial surveillance system to phase itself out when it was no longer needed. In the end, he selflessly walked into persecution in favor of restoring order, even though it could be argued that this was unprincipled because it served to hide the truth from the people, which to me was that there was no way for the system as it was to stop crime, under Harvey Dent or anyone else. It was also fallacious in suggesting that one knight in shining armor, whether suited in a tie or a cape, could somehow protect the people of a sprawling metropolis. Whatever happened to all of those principled people on the ships who refused to kill in order to survive? They were the heroes Gotham needed. Why weren't they glorified in the press? Why do we in the West rely on one man to save us, whether it be George Bush, Barack Obama, or Jesus Christ? Can't we empower ourselves?<br><br>No, we'd rather leave all the grunt work to a handful of activists and two or three super-activists, like the caped crusader himself, to save the day. When you put all that pressure on a few people, is it any wonder that they might abuse their power, as Batman did? Power is abusive when it is concentrated. This is fundamental.<br><br>So in following my existing framework, the plot is much different. We see Joker trying to root out the last real revolutionary leader, the Dark Knight, and his few good men. He fails to kill Batman, but he largely succeeds in killing the spirit of Gotham. He has made people to be something worse than militant - indifferent, cynical, powerless. This is where the American people are now. This is the ultimate weapon of the elite, and they have used it well.<br><br>But if I learned anything from the one hopeful scene of the movie, the dilemma of the passengers on board those two ships in the harbor, it's that maybe the same will happen here, given another catastrophe. Maybe people will wake up the day after a second 9/11 and realize what this system really is and how it is more dangerous than 100 al-Qaedas, how it gives rise to men like Cheney (the Joker), who can easily subvert the modest regulations it possesses, and how it also gives rise to men like Batman who take it upon themselves to defend the millions of faceless people they claim to represent from overwhelming odds while attempting to keep their principles. A better society would give rise to neither.<br><br>So the choice belongs to the people. We can continue playing this old, tired game of good vs. evil where lower-class people from around the world are pitted against each other while the indifferent corporations make their profits. We can go on thinking that some \"people out there\" are just downright evil and want to kill us without any rationale, or we can accept that imposed poverty, itself a form of violence, illegal occupation, and injustice fuel terror. That terror fuels more terror in response, and the resultant chaos and cynicism creates a situation where bystanders decide to kick back and watch the profits roll in while the world burns (which Cheney, like Joker, would love to see). After all, war is so much more profitable than peace.<br><br>We can play this game and watch characters mimic it on the big screen at over-priced movie theaters, or we can reject it for something better. That something better is based on love, environmental stewardship, and the understanding that all people are worthy of dignity and respect - and that any system that strays from these principles is not worth keeping. It is also based on the understanding that if we continue to let chaos rule, it will consume the entire human race, rich and poor alike. This planet will not be able to sustain us if we continue to rape it in mad pursuit of profit and expansion. The time to change course isn't now. It was yesterday.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-07-27_12:41:35", "killed": false, "user_key": "27a9a6e67376bcf4df3f60d00872bc78", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790767": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "The makers of this film used a Bush/Batman allegory to promote the idea that all of Bush'd unlawful and deceitful policies were a necessary evil to fight the war on terror. Some people have come to believe the propaganda that Bush sacrificed his reputation for the good of the country, just as Batman does in the film. I think that America needs to realize that Bush lied about the threat of Iraq to start a war, he set up secret off-shore prisons to torture people, and he conducted unlawful wiretaps on American citizens. This movie tries to justify these actions by painting them as necessary evils. In reality, these actions were not necessary, they have only been made to seem necessary through propaganda such as \"The Dark Knight\". I would urge others to consider what I've said and post their thoughts on it so we can engage in a reasonable dialogue.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-07-26_21:25:09", "killed": false, "user_key": "ebabb3f84587cc90bb30cf26703e5593", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790768": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "drvictordavishj, I would argue that the Joker was reacting not to Batman's flamboyancy but to Batman's threat to his means of survival. Without Batman around to reel in the harshest criminals, the Joker was free to thrive in an environment where crime was rampant and criminals needing to hire a madman like the Joker were many.<br><br>oogiedoogie, nice response.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-07-26_18:15:43", "killed": false, "user_key": "a66748a0f007509f50edd420c6770d70", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790769": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "I saw the movie last night, and read your response this morning.  It's hard not to see the similarities between Batman and Bush et al.  But in my view the Joker is also a reflection of the administration's dark tactics in Iraq and in the GWOT more generally.  The Joker is a force of radical destabilization who does his utmost to generate fear-driven class conflicts of all kinds (criminals v. law-abiding citizens; citizens v. politicians; police grunts v. police officials) while providing cover for the mob.  Sounds like Bremer in Iraq, and Rove at home.  The difference of course is that the Joker does not  represent the interests of the mob whereas the Bush administration does.  But even that discrepancy might bring us closer to an understanding of how Bush and Cheney operate in creating a global instability which both promotes exploitation and endangers capital at one and the same time.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-07-25_05:05:38", "killed": false, "user_key": "a81b5aacf45611a401dc4e5bcd98aa2f", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790770": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "I saw the film in a converse light. I saw it as a repudiation of Bush, Cheney, et al.<br>Yes, it is about the choices we make and the deceptions and fantasies we succumb to.<br>Morgan Freeman helps Batman as he says \"only once and followed by my resignation.\"<br>He's told to type his name in at the end and that act evaporates Batman's FISA network.<br>The principled act by a sub=ordinate leads to rectitude. Similarly, the boat scene was profound.<br>When the huge, black criminal stood up and demanded the detonator, as representative of a<br>man of action, who in the audience did not believe he would blow up the other boat, whether<br>based on our own prejudice or personal identification. But he didn't; he led the way to a higher moral principal: \"Give me liberty or give me death!\" The Joker has no answer to that truth; and neither does Osama nor his enablers, Dick and Bush. Even the criminals on that boat understood the choice and made the noble one; the mainstream folks on the second boat backed into that<br>same decision, perhaps as you say out of cowardice but I believe out of a sense of guilt if not conscience, as in \"What profit a man to gain the world [his life] and lose his very soul?\"<br><br>No! I totally disagree with your take that this movie supports the views of Addington and  Cheney; on the contrary I was deeply moved to tears, first for the loss of such an incandescent talent as Heath Ledger, and second, for the denigration of the Constitution of the United States of America by this administartion and its minions. While in the throes of the movie, I thought of all those complicit Democrats and Republicans, who along with GWB and DC abrogated their oath of office and, for that alone, have committed acts of treason, far beyond those of Ethel and Julius, or of Sacco and Vinzetti.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-07-24_02:14:54", "killed": false, "user_key": "822f0b56acfe6068eb56a44f87c95ba5", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "4665267": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Well equipped, willing, brutal yet tied down by rules of engagement. Underappreciated unless we feel they are needed. Selfless. The US Soldier- the Real Dark Knight. Love or Hate them, they are always watching.", "is_last_child": true, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-12-27_09:32:01", "killed": false, "user_key": "81d12f4d06c72155fc754e7e4dac41f3", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "11 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": true, "email": "", "parent_post_id": 4663422, "depth": 1, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790772": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "One thing you're overlooking, oogiedoogie, is that the film strongly implies that the Joker is a reaction to Batman. That Batman's flamboyant, melodramatic symbolism creates an equally flmaboyant, evil one. We most definitely do not \"need such heros\" if they just wind up creating more problems than they solve.<br><br><br><br>And make no mistake, oogiedoogie, Batman doesn't win at the end of this movie. It's at best a draw.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-07-23_11:25:42", "killed": false, "user_key": "154e7970410a3b4d5375a46adb4eca50", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790773": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "I found enjoyment in this essay and write with thanks. I was most impressed with your invocation of Walzer's argument and look to seeing you explore it in more depth.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-07-23_10:50:56", "killed": false, "user_key": "b23038118bd23b9f116fe75474ed85be", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790774": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "I agree that the Dark Knight is a surprisingly deep film.  While many authors have drawn similarities between the Bush administration and Batman, none few really delve the depths of Batman's dilemma: there is a cruel, ruthless, and sinister villian on the loose who has promised to kill the innocent.<br><br><br><br>While many criticize Batman for abuses of power, they almost never offer alternatives.  What alternatives are there when faced with such madness?  To do nothing leaves leaders culpable since they had the power to intervene, but did not.<br><br><br><br>This may be why both Scheuer and Walzer advocated for action followed by accountability.  While abuses of power almost always lead to collateral damage, some refuse to accept the reality that the alternative is greater carnage, but on the enemy's terms.<br><br><br><br>Suppose Batman had refused to utilize his surveilance system on moral grounds.  Would he have been a hero?  The Joker would surely have progressed unhindered to greater atrocities.  Society, if knowledgable of Batman's capablity, would rightly accuse him of holding his own morality in higher regard than the lives of others - clearly not the choice expected of a hero.<br><br><br><br>In the film, Batman has the strength of character to accept societal rejection in order to accomplish the greater good.  This quality is almost totally absent in today's leaders who look continually to popularity polls for guidance.<br><br><br><br>Nowadays, rare is the leader who will sacrifice personal reputation for the good of the nation.  Like Gotham, we need such heros, but instead we elect \"weathervane politicians\" who give us short-term fixes in exchange for long-term consequences.  Leaders who cannot withstand popular opinion will never be able to defeat the challenges that threaten our country.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-07-23_08:27:28", "killed": false, "user_key": "87b28a351bd9278c7ee1651b491d03b7", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790775": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "I think the biggest problem with this analysis is that it's pushing too hard to constrain a moral allegory to real world characters who to put it mildly are an extremely shaky fit to the fictional 'counterparts'. I didn't see the ferry scene as 'why we need a utilitarian strong-man' I saw it as an obvious way of saying 'survival is not always compatible with morality'. That's not justification per se, it's food for thought, ultimately both boats chose to die rather than kill the other to ensure their survival, they decided it was more important to 'be good' than to survive, even though they were as the ballots showed, afraid of dying.<br>But more to the point a very central theme of the movie is actions and consequences, Batman breaks the hold of the mobsters on Gotham with his theatrical brand of vigilante justice. The reaction is the emergence of the Joker, an equally theatrical, equally intelligent enemy who sees batman's 'I want to give people a symbol to give them hope against ceaseless corruption and violence' and responds with 'I want to give people a symbol that kills the goodness in them and shows they don't deserve anything or any protection'. More to the point THE JOKER WINS. Harvey Dent is destroyed and Batman resorts to unreasonable means in his attempt to defeat the Joker. The people on the boats are the only ones who at all 'win' against the Joker, who doesn't really care if he is captured or killed, the people on the boats choose to die rather than murder each other to survive.<br>If one of the boats had destroyed the other, it would have been understandable, but it wouldn't have been the 'right' decision. Sometimes there is no right decision that allows you to survive. We live in a complex world, diverse enough for us to wonder if Gandhi was more 'good' than George Washington, wonder if that question is stupid or wonder what meaning morality really has when you detach it from reality. Harvey Dent did what was understandable and went out for revenge, we can all understand that, but it didn't exactly seem like the best decision ever, did it?<br>You can take the Dark Knight as an endorsement of Cheney, though I feel that's kind of a stretch, given the prevalence of moral ambiguity in the film, compared to the Bush Administration's black and white view of the world. However, you can also take it as a suggestion as to why we can't turn to the simple and violent solutions, because we might create a bigger dragon. When you punish people for pickpocketing with the death penalty, you don't eliminate pickpocketing, you make the stakes so high the criminals become murderers, rather than petty thieves. Likewise when you stop using law and instead turn to brutal, unreasoning force, you will find in response, brutal unreasoning force.<br>I'm interested in seeing where the third film goes, but I think this article is oversimplifying things rather profoundly.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-07-22_12:34:24", "killed": false, "user_key": "3fdbcc3700d134a1818e8390af9c9974", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790776": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "There's one basic fallacy in your premise. Batman's motive in the film is to bring order to Gotham and to eventually relinquish his role as \"savior\". Cheney has no such motivation. His motives are demonstrably more sinister. Profit, and control (hegemony) are Cheney's goals, not order.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-07-22_01:07:30", "killed": false, "user_key": "b7730cb57e7bb2c71746244ea5f3bdb3", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790777": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "Excellent article by Spencer Ackerman.<br>And a great response by drvictordavishj.<br><br>My concern would be the implied comparison of the nihilistic Joker to a rational movement called Al-Queda.<br><br>The danger of this comparison is that it underestimates the threat Al-Queda presents.<br><br>The former chief of the CIA's Bin Ladin Unit, Michael Scheuer, has written extensively of the sound tactical logic behind Al-Queda. These are patient men with a rational mission. Not the Joker running around blowing up things for kicks.<br><br>Instead of recognizing it as a philosophical movement of liberation capable of inspiring millions of young Arab men...We're assuming that only the poor, dumb, and child-abused would be attracted to such a force.<br><br>Michael Scheuer proposes the \"heavy handed\" approach though.<br>He would see quick and heavy strike as more merciful and effective than the slow and ineffective posturing of the Bush administration.<br><br>The real joke here is believing that our foreign enemies fear Cheney.<br>I'd suggest folks read the works of Michael Scheuer at the JamesTown foundation:<br><a href=\"http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/analysts.php?authorid=251\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/analysts.php...</a>", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-07-21_18:00:07", "killed": false, "user_key": "a1e5c32a128b72d041444024b546a42c", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "1790778": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "I agree with you but I would argue that the film is not necessarily all that pro-Batman. After all, Alfred", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-07-21_16:32:38", "killed": false, "user_key": "154e7970410a3b4d5375a46adb4eca50", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "3697607": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "bewillderd, you are, whats that word.....................fu#$@*# retarded!!! Man, people are so brain washed in this country! PLEASE wake up people, please!", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-11-11_23:55:10", "killed": false, "user_key": "5064b8dd17ed9780edc8497fbb498f5e", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "4662475": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "The problem is that 10000 years from now, none of this will exist.  So, the Satanic philosophy says nothing matters and to do what you want.  The God philosophy says obey me and you will be rewarded with liberation from the chaos of time, eternal peace.  So, is it real or isn't it?  Is it a lie or isn't it?  Is it just a game played by higher beings the same as we play chess?  If it is then choice is an illusion.  Maybe understanding why we do the things we do is why we go on.  Maybe it's just preprogramed habit.  Maybe wanting change is watching the world burn.  Maybe having your parent tell you not to touch the flame because it will burn you is not the same as experiencing a burn itself.  To want power you must desire control over your life.  For the long haul, to control your life you must be willing to control others lives.  Eventually others will want control to counteract your control and one thing will lead to another.  A rock or a mountain can sit for a very long time which seems almost eternal.  The facts show that given enough time even the pyramids will turn to dust and constant rain fall, freezes and heat can shatter any stone given enough time.  If all life is just one prodigious gag real, perhaps what it means to be in the image of Him is to laugh right along with him and fear not and hate not knowing that all that exists will one day cease to exist.  The promise of being taken into the realm of a timeless existence all hinges on your belief.  In one way or another, eventually, all will be taken.  Perhaps I'm just praddling on but lastly I will share something personal.  Many years ago I had a dream.  For years I have tried to decipher it, but I have not been able until recently, I think.  I dreamed of a god like figure like something Michaelangelo carved himself.  He was striking with a fury that I had never seen swinging a black smith's hammer in his left hand upon an object in his right which he was squeezing intensely upon an anvil.  As I approached closer I saw blood every where from his chest to the floor to the anvil.  This being had ripped his own heart out of his chest and was striking it into a shiny metal, silver perhaps.  As I got closer he turned and looked me in the eyes and to my own horror... hmmmm, well let's leave something to the imagination.  You guess.  I've been at a loss for years, but recent events I think have given me some insight.  I don't see the point in telling or else you'll miss the point.  I will say I believe this... the cost of power is too great, often you become what you despise.  I think it's impossible for the Batman to do what he does without (whether it be accidental or intentional) becoming what he despises.  Can he live with that?  Could you?", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-12-27_01:49:42", "killed": false, "user_key": "356b3554f68b2d9b1795ab4ec3fa4362", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "11 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "2508282": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": false, "message": "WOW! Give me a break on the far-left communist crap.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-09-21_12:01:18", "killed": false, "user_key": "799f9814e3e69e98821d4b30a52e5ab9", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "1 year ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 0, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}, "4663422": {"up_voted": false, "ip": "", "has_replies": true, "message": "I've read all the coments and people fail to mention the important clues.  The Joker (Satan) uses wants and fears (especially money and who makes and controls the money?) to recruit everybody and anybody (he doesn't work alone although it seems so).  He recruits the mafia, street thugs, police men and women, people in the justice system and pulls the strings of children with masks and pistols which the police are ready to gun down.  He puts men in position in medical garb to assasinate.  Who he can't buy he manipulates with fear.  He does this with the people on the boats.  It was when they could not be bought or motivated by fear that they did the right things.  You have to be willing to die to do the right thing especially in extreme conditions.  Harvey was a symbol of this path.  Although his flesh was ravaged and he did die he still became a martyr,  but not one for violence, but for justice and purity of heart.  Like Christ his memory will live on.  Batman caught the Joker, but did not kill him, but instead jailed him.  Michael the Archangel captures Satan, chains him and cast him into the pit.  Commissioner Gordon is just a man who has picked the side of justice (rightiousness) to act on and though confused still works with Batman to continue this good, but difficult work.  In all the chaos, do we not often blame God for the problems of the world in effect blaming his angels?  And also do not people have personal problems and cast judgement on people and things saying it is the devil?  If God's ways are mysterious then I believe so is the devil's.  And people often, just as Job, are confused between the two to the point where everything is grey.  Doesn't the joker wear purple and didn't often kings and religious leaders wear purple?  Didn't they manipulate on a mass scale beyond most peoples understanding and not often know who works for them?  Isn't the Angel of Death often portrayed as a skeletal figure cloaked in black?  Aren't demons portrayed often as having bat wings?  So there you have it.  The machinations of the devil and the mysteries of God often become blurred to the human eye.   Didn't the sight of Angels and Satan and his demons strike fear at times, but at times they appeared beautiful apparently changing costumes at will? The Bible tells us what each one stands for and that even though in reality our lives (for the long haul) are not really in our hands, it's the choice to do good that matters in the end and whether you are a so called law abiding citizen or a convicted criminal we are all in the same boat and it's never to late to make the right choice.  And even if we do make the right choice and death is at your front door step, yes some malevolent force can push a button and exterminate us.  But, evil will not have our obedience.  If the eventuality of all things is death does it matter?  You might ask.  It claims your life, but not your spirit (not your heart).  That is the message of the film.  And when we all make that choice, maybe, just maybe, there will be a Dark Knight hidden from us in the shadows fist deep in blood yet wings flying in the heavens to stop Historys Worst Joker from pushing the button.  If we fail that test, we will have noone to blame but ourselves.  Star Wars, The Matrix,  Doctor Who (who has two hearts by the way) use many tricks to fight evil, but in the end it is the heart, it is with love that finally won the day.  Vader's love for his son.  Smith touched Neo's heart and was vanquished.  Doctor Who's love for humanity and a little help from assistants helped him win battle after battle.  The war is on going.  Like positive and negative, matter and antimatter they are always drawn to one another and only through contact do you find either cancellation or cooperation.  The out come is impossible for man to predict most of the time.  Man is too small to understand all the things, but from what we can see, life is constantly growing, making, spreading, consuming destroying and rebuilding.  It is the way of the universe.  Perhaps that is the way of God and his reflection of it is seen here on earth.  If government and world government has become a wild beast, ask yourself who is the harlot that is riding it?  Remember Sin City?  Who controled the assassin?  Who is drunk off the blood of martyrs and holy ones?  Rev. 17.  I think a major world wide battle is about to occur and noone will be safe.  Let us all pray that the Ultimate Dark Knight comes to the rescue.", "is_last_child": false, "can_reply": true, "down_voted": false, "real_date": "2008-12-27_04:04:50", "killed": false, "user_key": "356b3554f68b2d9b1795ab4ec3fa4362", "has_been_anonymized": false, "edited": false, "author_is_moderator": false, "from_request_user": null, "votable": true, "date": "11 months ago", "approved": true, "num_replies": 1, "is_first_child": false, "email": "", "parent_post_id": null, "depth": 0, "points": 0, "author_is_creator": false, "is_realtime": false}}, "integration": {"receiver_url": "", "theme": 1, "reply_position": false, "disqus_logo": false}, "timer": {"timer_url": "http://localhost:8005", "thread_id": "3621805", "user_id": "anonymous", "forum_id": "34441", "hash": 854280403663467248}, "thread": {"days_alive": 0, "slug": "batman8217s_8216dark_knight8217_reflects_cheney_policy", "paginate": true, "num_pages": 1, "num_posts": 26, "per_page": 50, "total_posts": 26, "realtime_paused": true, "id": 3621805, "queued": false}, "reactions_limit": 10, "context": {"show_reply": true, "use_fb_connect": false, "forum_facebook_key": "", "use_yahoo": false, "subscribed": false, "use_twitter_signin": false, "use_openid": false, "realtime_speed": 5000}, "reactions_start": 0, "settings": {"debug": false, "disqus_url": "http://disqus.com", "media_url": "http://media.disqus.com"}, "media_url": "http://media.disqus.com"};
	/* */ this.jsonData.cookie_messages = {"user_created": null, "post_has_profile": null, "post_twitter": null, "post_not_approved": null}; this.jsonData.session = {"url": null, "name": null, "email": null}; /* */

	
	this.curPageId = 'dsq-comments';

	this.frames = {};
};

var disqus_popup_reference = null;

if(typeof DsqLocal == 'undefined') {
	DsqLocal = {};
}



/**
 * Dsq.Strings: UI strings
 */
Dsq.Strings = new function() {
	this.ADD_NEW_COMMENT = "Add New Comment";
	this.LOG_INTO_DISQUS = "Log into DISQUS";
	this.USE_MEDIA = "Use Media";
	this.LOGOUT = "Logout";
	this.SHARING_OPTIONS = "Sharing options";
	this.SHARE_ON = "Share on";
	this.TWEET_THIS_COMMENT = "Tweet this comment";
	this.SHARE_ON_NEWSFEED = "Share on news feed";
	this.SEND_UPDATE_TO_YAHOO = "Send update to Yahoo!";
	this.REBLOG_ON = "Reblog on";
	this.CONFIGURE_OPTIONS = "Configure options";
	this.POST_AS = "Post as";
	this.SORT_BY = "Sort by";
	this.SUBSCRIBE_BY_EMAIL = "Subscribe by email";
	this.SUBSCRIBE_BY_RSS = "Subscribe by RSS";
	this.POPULAR_NOW = "Popular now";
	this.BEST_RATING = "Best Rating";
	this.NEWEST_FIRST = "Newest first";
	this.OLDEST_FIRST = "Oldest first";
	this.HIGHLIGHTED = "Highlighted";
	this.UNSUBSCRIBE = "Unsubscribe";
	this.REQUIRED = "Required";
	this.OPTIONAL = "Optional";
	this.YOU_ARE_COMMENTING_AS_A = "You are commenting as a";
	this.LOGIN_BELOW = "Login below";
	this.PLEASE_LOGIN_BELOW_TO_COMMENT = "Please login below to comment.";
	this.SUBSCRIBE_TO_ALL_COMMENTS_BY_EMAIL = "Subscribe to all comments by email";
	this.DO_NOT_SUBSCRIBE_TO_COMMENTS = "Do not subscribe to comments";
	this.REALTIME_UPDATING_IS = "Real-time updating is";
	this.ENABLED = "enabled";
	this.PAUSED = "paused";
	this.PAUSE = "Pause";
	this.RESUME = "Resume";
	this.SHOW = "Show";
	this.JUST_NOW = "Just now";
	this.REPLY = "Reply";
	this.EDIT = "Edit";
	this.FLAG = "Flag";
	this.MODERATE = "Moderate";
	this.CANCEL = "Cancel";
	this.REPLYING_TO = "Replying to";
	this.REPORT_MISSING_REACTIONS = "Report missing reactions";
	this.POST_A_COMMENT = "Post a comment";
	this.FLAG_INAPPROPRIATE_COMMENT = "Flag inappropriate comment";
	this.FLAGGED = "Flagged";
	this.NO = "No";
	this.YES = "Yes";
	this.NEVER_MIND = "Never mind";
	this.ARE_YOU_SURE_YOU_WOULD_LIKE_TO_REPORT_THIS_COMMENT_TO_A_MODERATOR = "Are you sure you would like to report this comment to a moderator";
	this.THIS_WILL_FLAG_COMMENTS_FOR_MODERATORS_TO_TAKE_ACTION = "This will flag comments for moderators to take action";
	this.TO_RATE_PLEASE_LOG_IN = "To rate, please log in";
	this.JUST_A_MOMENT = "Just a moment...";
	this.GUEST = "Guest";
	this.NAME = "Name";
	this.EMAIL = "Email";
  this.WEBSITE = "Website";
  this.SETTINGS = "Settings";
  this.MODERATOR_OPTIONS = "Moderator options: ";
};
// Dsq.Strings

/**
 * Dsq.FmtStrings: functions that return interpolated UI strings
 */
Dsq.FmtStrings = new function() {
	// Seems we have to use named interpolation for Django to translate. Investigate more.
	this.LOGGED_IN_AS = function(username) {
		return Dsq.Utils.interpolate('Logged in as %(username)s', {username:username});
	};

	this.LOGOUT_FROM = function(disqus) {
		return Dsq.Utils.interpolate('Logout from %(disqus)s', {disqus:disqus});
	};

	this.SHOWING_COMMENTS_FULL = function(total, num) {
		if (num === 1) {
			return Dsq.Utils.interpolate("Showing <span id='dsq-num-posts'>%(num)s</span> of <span id='dsq-total-posts'>%(total)s</span> comment", {num:num, total:total});
		} else {
			return Dsq.Utils.interpolate("Showing <span id='dsq-num-posts'>%(num)s</span> of <span id='dsq-total-posts'>%(total)s</span> comments", {num:num, total:total});
		}
	};

	this.SHOWING_COMMENTS_WITHOUT_PAGINATION = function(num) {
		if (num === 1) {
			return Dsq.Utils.interpolate("Showing <span id='dsq-num-posts'>%(num)s</span> comment", {num:num});
		} else {
			return Dsq.Utils.interpolate("Showing <span id='dsq-num-posts'>%(num)s</span> comments", {num:num});
		}
	};

	this.NUMBER_OF_COMMENTS = function(num) {
		return Dsq.Utils.interpolate(
			(num == 1
				? '%(num)s comment'
				: '%(num)s comments'
			), {num:num});
	};

	this.NUMBER_OF_LIKES = function(num) {
		return Dsq.Utils.interpolate(
			(num == 1
				? '%(num)s like'
				: '%(num)s likes'
			), {num:num});
	};

	this.NUMBER_OF_POINTS = function(num) {
		return Dsq.Utils.interpolate(
			(num == 1
				? '%(num)s point'
				: '%(num)s points'
			), {num:num});
	};
};
// Dsq.FmtStrings





Dsq.CSRF_TOKEN = '21bc467119200cb06806902fa8e2f5b0';
Dsq.COMMENTS_RE = /(<li.*?id="?dsq-comment-(\d+)"?.*?>)((?:.|\s)*?)(<\/li>)/gim;
Dsq.POST_RE = /(<div.*?id="?dsq-comment-header-(\d+)"?.*?>)((?:.|\s)*?)(<\/div>)\s*(<div.*?class="?dsq-comment-body"?.*?>)((?:.|\s)*)(<\/div>)/gim;
Dsq.POST_BODY_RE = /\s*(<div.*?id="?dsq-comment-message-(\d+)"?.*?>)((?:.|\s)*)(<\/div>)/gim;
// HACK: Safari ends with "-->" while other browsers end with "--&gt;" as expected.
Dsq.MEDIA_POST_RE = /&lt;!--\[(.*?)\]--(?:>|&gt;)/gim;



// TODO: It might be faster to use string methods to find all <li (...) </li> blocks and pass to Dsq.PostHandler manually.
Dsq.CommentsHandler = function(str, head, post_id, content, tail, offset, s) {
	var prepend_post = Dsq.Templates.prependPost(post_id);
	var append_post = Dsq.Templates.appendPost(post_id);

	content = content.replace(Dsq.POST_RE, Dsq.PostHandler);
	Dsq.Templates.postLoopCounter++;
	head = Dsq.Templates.Filters.commentContainer(post_id, head);
	return prepend_post + head + content + tail + append_post;
};

Dsq.PostHandler = function(str, h_head, post_id, h_content, h_tail, b_head, b_content, b_tail, offset, s) {
	var prepend_header = Dsq.Templates.postPrependHeader(post_id);
	var append_header = Dsq.Templates.postAppendHeader(post_id);
	var prepend_body = Dsq.Templates.preBody(post_id);
	var append_body = Dsq.Templates.postBody(post_id);
	var append_footer = Dsq.Templates.postFooter(post_id);

	b_content = b_content.replace(Dsq.POST_BODY_RE, Dsq.PostBodyHandler);
	return h_head + prepend_header + h_content + append_header + h_tail + b_head + prepend_body + b_content + append_body + b_tail + append_footer;
};

Dsq.PostBodyHandler = function(str, head, post_id, content, tail, offset, s) {
	content = Dsq.Templates.Filters.commentContent(post_id, content);
	return head + content + tail;
};

Dsq.MediaPostHandler = function(str, args, offset, s) {
	args = args.split(' ');
	if(args[0] == 'seesmic') {
		return '<br />' + Dsq.Templates.mediaSeesmic(args[1], args[2]);
	}
	return '';
};


/**
 * Shorcuts
 */
Dsq.$ = function(element) { return document.getElementById(element); };
Dsq.$b = document.body || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0];


/**
 * Dsq.Debug: Logging functions.
 */

Dsq.Debug = new function() {this.log=function(s){};this.profile=function(f){if(typeof f == 'function')return f();else return eval(f);};};


/**
 * Dsq.Urls: URL paths
 */
Dsq.Urls = new function() {
	this.LOGIN = '/profile/login/';
	this.LOGOUT = '/logout/';
	this.REPLY = 'http://disqus.com/forums/washingtonindependent/batman8217s_8216dark_knight8217_reflects_cheney_policy/reply.html';
	this.REQUEST_USER_PROFILE = '/AnonymousUser/';
	this.REQUEST_USER_AVATAR = 'http://media.disqus.com/images/noavatar92.png';
};
// Dsq.Urls

/**
 * Dsq.Validators: Validation for form fields
 */
Dsq.Validators = new function() {
	this.VALID_EMAIL_RE = /^[a-z0-9\-\_\+]+(\.[a-z0-9\-\_\+]+)*\@(([a-z0-9\-\_\+]+(\.[a-z0-9\-\_\+]+)*)+\.[a-z]{2,}|([0-9]+\.){3}[0-9]+)$/i;
	this.name = function(name) {
		var error = false;

		if(typeof Dsq.Templates.placeholder !== 'undefined' &&
		   name == Dsq.Templates.placeholder.name) {
			error = true;
		}
		if(name.length <= 1) {
			error = true;
		}

		if(error) {
			return "Please enter a name to comment.";
		} else {
			return true;
		}
	};
	this.email = function(addr) {
		if(Dsq.Validators.VALID_EMAIL_RE.test(addr)) {
			return true;
		} else {
			return "Please enter a valid email to comment.";
		}
	};
	this.url = function(addr) {
		if(!addr || addr.indexOf('.') != -1) {
			return true;
		} else {
			return "Please check your website URL (this field is optional).";
		}
	};

	this.validate = function(bulk_validation, failure_callback) {
		failure_callback = failure_callback || function(e){ alert(e); };

		for(var i = 0; i < bulk_validation.length; i++) {
			v = bulk_validation[i];
			ret = v.validator(v.value);
			if(ret !== true) {
				failure_callback(ret);
				return false;
			}
		}
		return true;
	};
};

/**
 * Dsq.Utils: Generic utility functions.
 */
Dsq.Utils = new function() {
	this.ie = /msie/i.test(navigator.userAgent) && !/opera/i.test(navigator.userAgent);
	this.ie7 = (document.all && !window.opera && window.XMLHttpRequest) ? true : false;
	this.ie6 = (!window.XMLHttpRequest) ? true: false;
	this.webkit = navigator.userAgent.indexOf('AppleWebKit/') >= 0;
	this.gebiFromElementCollectionCache = {};
	this._styleSheet = null;

	this.gebiFromElement = function(el, id, tag) {
		// This only method only helps IE.
		if(!this.ie) {
			return Dsq.$(id);
		} else {
			var cacheKey = el.id + '-' + tag;
			tag = tag || 'div';
			if(typeof this.gebiFromElementCollectionCache[cacheKey] != 'undefined') {
				collection = this.gebiFromElementCollectionCache[cacheKey];
			} else {
				collection = el.getElementsByTagName(tag);
				this.gebiFromElementCollectionCache[cacheKey] = collection;
			}

			for(var i = 0; i < collection.length; i++) {
				if(collection[i].id == id) {
					return collection[i];
				}
			}
			return null;
		}
	};

	this.execOnReady = function(func) {
		var node = document.createElement('document:ready');
		try {
			node.doScroll('left');
			func();
			node = null;
		} catch(err) {
			setTimeout(function() { Dsq.Utils.execOnReady(func); }, 10);
		}
	};


	// Courtesy of http://www.quirksmode.org/js/cookies.html
	this.createCookie = function(name,value,days) {
		if (days) {
			var date = new Date();
			date.setTime(date.getTime()+(days*24*60*60*1000));
			var expires = "; expires="+date.toGMTString();
		}
		else var expires = "";
		document.cookie = name+"="+value+expires+"; path=/";
	};

	this.readCookie = function(name) {
		var nameEQ = name + "=";
		var ca = document.cookie.split(';');
		for(var i=0;i < ca.length;i++) {
			var c = ca[i];
			while (c.charAt(0)==' ') c = c.substring(1,c.length);
			if (c.indexOf(nameEQ) == 0) return c.substring(nameEQ.length,c.length);
		}
		return null;
	};

	this.eraseCookie = function(name) {
		Dsq.Utils.createCookie(name,"",-1);
	};

	this.deleteNode = function(node) {
		if(node) {
			this.deleteChildren(node);
			if(typeof node.outerHTML != 'undefined') { node.outerHTML = ''; }
			else if(node.parentNode) { node.parentNode.removeChild(node); }
			delete node;
		}
	};

	this.deleteChildren = function(node) {
		if(node) {
			for(var x = node.childNodes.length-1; x >= 0; x--) {
				var childNode = node.childNodes[x];
				if(childNode.hasChildNodes()) { this.deleteChildren(childNode); }
				if(typeof childNode.outerHTML != 'undefined') { childNode.outerHTML = ''; }
				else node.removeChild(childNode);
				delete childNode;
			}
		}
	};

	this.findPos = function(obj) {
		var curleft = 0;
		var curtop = 0;
		if (obj.offsetParent) {
			do {
				curleft += obj.offsetLeft;
				curtop += obj.offsetTop;
			} while (obj = obj.offsetParent);
		}
		return [curleft,curtop];
	};

	this.getWindowSize = function() {
		var windowWidth = -1;
		var windowHeight = -1;

		if(typeof(window.innerWidth) == 'number') { //Non-IE
			windowWidth = window.innerWidth;
			windowHeight = window.innerHeight;
		} else if(document.documentElement) { // IE 6+ in 'standards compliant mode'
			windowWidth = document.documentElement.clientWidth || document.body.clientWidth;
			windowHeight = document.documentElement.clientHeight || document.body.clientHeight;
		}

		return [windowWidth, windowHeight];
	}

	this.getScrollPos = function() {
		var scrollWidth, scrollTop;

		if(document.documentElement && (document.documentElement.scrollTop || document.documentElement.scrollWidth)) {
			scrollWidth = document.documentElement.scrollWidth;
			// IE is weird here.  If no doctype is provided, document.body.scrollTop is 0,
			// otherwise document.documentElement.scrollTop is 0.
			scrollTop = document.documentElement.scrollTop || document.body.scrollTop;
		} else if(document.body.scrollTop && document.body.scrollWidth) {
			scrollWidth = document.body.scrollWidth;
			scrollTop = document.body.scrollTop;
		}

		return [scrollWidth, scrollTop];
	}

	this.addEventListener = function(instance, eventName, listener) {
		var listenerFn = listener;
		if (instance.addEventListener) {
			instance.addEventListener(eventName, listenerFn, false);
		} else if (instance.attachEvent) {
			listenerFn = function() {
				listener(window.event);
			};
			instance.attachEvent("on" + eventName, listenerFn);
		} else {
			throw new Error("Event registration not supported");
		}
		return {
			instance: instance,
			name: eventName,
			listener: listenerFn
		};
	};

	this.removeEventListener = function(event) {
		var instance = event.instance;
		if (instance.removeEventListener) {
			instance.removeEventListener(event.name, event.listener, false);
		} else if (instance.detachEvent) {
			instance.detachEvent("on" + event.name, event.listener);
		}
	};

	this.fixIframesIE = function(id) {
		var disqusThread = Dsq.$(disqus_container_id);
		var iframes = disqusThread.getElementsByTagName('iframe');

		if(id) {
			var container = Dsq.$(id);
		} else {
			var container = Dsq.$('dsq-content');
		}

		for(i = 0; i < iframes.length; i++) {
			if (container) {
				iframes[i].style.width = container.offsetWidth;
			}
		}
	};

	this.getElementsByClassName = function(oElm, strTagName, strClassName) {
	/* Credit: Jonathan Snook [http://www.snook.ca/jonathan], Robert Nyman [http://www.robertnyman.com] */
		var arrElements = (strTagName == "*" && oElm.all)? oElm.all : oElm.getElementsByTagName(strTagName);
		var arrReturnElements = new Array();
		strClassName = strClassName.replace(/\-/g, "\\-");
		var oRegExp = new RegExp("(^|\\s)" + strClassName + "(\\s|$)");
		var oElement;
		for(var i = 0; i < arrElements.length; i++) {
			oElement = arrElements[i];
			if(oRegExp.test(oElement.className)) {
				arrReturnElements.push(oElement);
			}
		}
		return (arrReturnElements);
	};

	this.postToUrl = function(url, post_data, opt_redirect) {
		var form = document.createElement('form');
		var iframe_container = document.createElement('div');
		var id = 'dsq-temp-iframe-' + (new Date()).getTime();

		form.method = 'POST';
		form.action = url;
		if (!opt_redirect) {
			form.target = id;
		}
		iframe_container.innerHTML = '<iframe style="display:none" name="' + id + '" id="' + id + '"></iframe>';

		for(var key in post_data) {
			if(post_data.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
				var input = document.createElement('input');
				input.name = key;
				input.type = 'hidden';
				input.value = post_data[key];

				form.appendChild(input);
			}
		}

		Dsq.$b.appendChild(iframe_container);
		Dsq.$b.appendChild(form);
		form.submit();
	};

	// Strips integer id from id of element in the form ('some-id-###')
	this.extractId = function(e) {
		var chunks = e.id.split('-');
		if(chunks.length <= 1) {
			return 0;
		} else {
			return parseInt(chunks[chunks.length-1]);
		}
	};

	this.getStyle = function(el, styleProp) {
		if(el.currentStyle) {
			var y = el.currentStyle[styleProp];
		} else if(window.getComputedStyle) {
			var y = document.defaultView.getComputedStyle(el, null).getPropertyValue(styleProp);
		}

		if(y == 'transparent' || y == '') {
			this.getStyle(el.parentNode, styleProp);
		} else {
			return y;
		}
	};

	this.execScript = function(url, append_qs, container) {
		var script = document.createElement('script');
		append_qs = typeof append_qs == 'undefined' ? true : append_qs;
		container = container || Dsq.container;

		if(append_qs) {
			var j = (url.indexOf('?') >= 0) ? '&' : '?';
			url += j + (new Date()).getTime();
		}
		script.type = 'text/javascript';
		script.charset = 'UTF-8';
		script.src = url;
		container.appendChild(script);
		return script;
	};

	this.pluralize = function(num, singular, plural) {
		return (num != 1) ? plural || 's' : singular || '';
	};

	this.getRequestParams = function(queryString /* optional */) {
		var pairs, tuple;
		var params = {};

		queryString = queryString || window.location.search.substring(1);
		pairs = queryString.split('&');

		for (var i = 0, pair; pair = pairs[i]; i++) {
			tuple = pair.split('=');
			params[tuple[0]] = (tuple[1] || true);
		}

		return params;
	};

	this.addCssRule = function(selector, styleText, index) {
		var stylesheet;
		index = index || 0;

		if(!this._styleSheet) {
			var styleEl = document.createElement('style');
			document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(styleEl);
			this._styleSheet = styleEl.sheet;
			if(!this._styleSheet) {
				// IE does not like our newly created stylesheet.
				this._styleSheet = document.styleSheets[document.styleSheets.length-1];
			}
		}
		stylesheet = this._styleSheet;

		if(stylesheet.insertRule) {
			var ruleText = selector + ' { ' + styleText + ' }';
			if(index == -1) {
				index = stylesheet.cssRules.length;
			}
			stylesheet.insertRule(ruleText, index);
		} else if(stylesheet.addRule) {
			stylesheet.addRule(selector, styleText, index);
		}
	};

	this.forEachIn = function(obj, callback) {
		for(var key in obj) {
			if(obj.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
				callback(key, obj[key]);
			}
		}
	};

	this._interpolateGlobalContext = {
		// values that get used a lot and are global to the request
		'profile_url': Dsq.Urls.REQUEST_USER_PROFILE,

		'disqus_url': Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url,
		'media_url': Dsq.jsonData.settings.media_url,
		'request_username': Dsq.jsonData.request.username,
		'request_display_username': Dsq.jsonData.request.display_username,
		'forum_name': Dsq.jsonData.forum.name
	};

	this.renderFromContextStack = function(key, contexts) {
		// Returns the first instance of `key` in the array of objects `contexts` or else ''
		for (var i=0; i<contexts.length; i++) {
			if (contexts[i][key] !== undefined) {
				return String(contexts[i][key]);
			}
		}
		throw new Error('key ' + key + ' not found in context');
	};

	var that = this;
	this.interpolate = function(fmt, opt_localContext) {
		// Interpolate `fmt` named-format string with an assumed global context.
		// Based on `interpolate` in django.views.i18n
		var contextStack = [opt_localContext || {}, that._interpolateGlobalContext];
		return fmt.replace(/%\(\w+\)s/g, function(match){
			return that.renderFromContextStack(match.slice(2,-2), contextStack);
		});
	};

	this.stripTags = function(s) {
		// Removes HTML tags from `s`
		return s.replace(/(<([^>]+)>)/g,"");

	};

	this.assert = function(b) {
		if (!b) {
			throw new Error('Assertion error.');
		}
	};

};
// Dsq.Utils

/**
 * Dsq.Popup: Popup helper functions.
 */
Dsq.Popup = new function() {
	this.timeHide = new Array();
	this.timeShow = new Array();
	this.activePopup = {};
	this.profileCache = {};
	this.statusCache = {};

	this.showTimer = function(post_id) {
		// clear the hide timer
		clearTimeout(this.timeHide[post_id]);

		// start the timer
		if(!Dsq.Popup.profileIsOn && !Dsq.Thread.adminIsOn) {
			this.timeShow[post_id] = setTimeout("Dsq.Popup.popProfile(\"" + post_id + "\")", 400);
		}
	};

	this.hideTimer = function(post_id) {
		// clear the show timer
		clearTimeout(this.timeShow[post_id]);
	};

	this.updateProfile = function(username) {
		// Callback from /embed/profile.js
		if (this.statusCache[username]) {
			var statusEl = Dsq.$('dsq-profile-status-' + username);
			statusEl.innerHTML = this.statusCache[username];
			statusEl.style.display = 'block';
		}

		if (this.profileCache[username]) {
			var _cache = this.profileCache[username];

			var _genhtml = function(text) { return '<span><big>' + text + '</big></span>'; };
			var _no_comments = _genhtml(Dsq.FmtStrings.NUMBER_OF_COMMENTS(_cache.comments_count));
			var _no_likes = _genhtml(Dsq.FmtStrings.NUMBER_OF_LIKES(_cache.likes_count));
			var _no_points = _genhtml(Dsq.FmtStrings.NUMBER_OF_POINTS(_cache.points));

			var statsEl = Dsq.$('dsq-popup-profile-user-stats-' + username);
			statsEl.innerHTML = '';

			if (Dsq.jsonData.users[username].registered) {
				statsEl.innerHTML = _no_comments + _no_likes;
			}
			statsEl.innerHTML += _no_points;

			var activeSites = '';
			for (var i = 0; i < _cache.active_sites.length; i++) {
				var site = _cache.active_sites[i];
				activeSites += '<li><a href="' + site.url + '"> \
					<img src="' + site.favicon + '"/ width="16" height="16"/></a>\
					<a href="' + site.url + '">' + site.name + '</a></li>';
			}
			if (activeSites !== '') {
				Dsq.$('dsq-popup-profile-active-sites-' + username).innerHTML = activeSites;
			} else {
				Dsq.$('dsq-popup-profile-active-sites-' + username).innerHTML = 'This site.';
			}

			var moderatedSites = '';
			for (var i = 0; i < _cache.moderated_sites.length; i++) {
				var site = _cache.moderated_sites[i];
				moderatedSites += '<li><a href="' + site.url + '"> \
					<img src="' + site.favicon + '"/ width="16" height="16"/></a>\
					<a href="' + site.url + '">' + site.name + '</a></li>';
			}
			if (moderatedSites !== '') {
				Dsq.$('dsq-popup-profile-moderated-' + username).innerHTML = moderatedSites;
			} else {
				Dsq.$('dsq-popup-profile-moderated-wrapper-' + username).innerHTML = '';
			}
		}

		// Reposition popup after full HTML is rendered
		if(Dsq.Popup.activePopup && Dsq.Popup.activePopup.el) {
			Dsq.Popup.initPopup(Dsq.Popup.activePopup.el, Dsq.Popup.activePopup.id, Dsq.Popup.activePopup.type);
		}

	};

	this.showCookieMsgs = function() {
		var title = '';
		var message = '';
		var numAlerts = 0;

		Dsq.Utils.forEachIn(Dsq.jsonData.cookie_messages, function(k, v) {
			if (!v) return;

			switch(k) {
				// Cookie: Twitter
				case 'post_twitter':
					if (v === 'error') {
						title = 'Twitter Error!';
						message += '<li id="dsq-msg-twitter-error">Oops, we couldn\'t tweet this comment. Please check your <a href="http://disqus.com/account/services">account settings</a>.</li>';
					} else {
						var _msg = v.split(':');
						title = 'Tweeted!';
						message += '<li id="dsq-msg-twitter-success">Your comment was successfully tweeted. <a href="http://twitter.com/' + _msg[0] + '/status/' + _msg[1] + '">Click here to view the tweet</a>.</li>';
					}
					break;
				// Cookie: Unapproved Post
				case 'post_not_approved':
					title = 'Comment awaiting approval by a moderator';
					message += '<li id="dsq-msg-post-not-approved">Your comment must be approved by a moderator before appearing here.</li>';
					break;
				// Cookie: Profile Found
				case 'post_has_profile':
					title = 'Use your existing commenter profile';
					message += '<li id="dsq-msg-post-has-profile">You have just posted your commment as a <span class="dsq-badge-guest">Guest</span>, but you may already have a <span class="logo-disqus">Disqus</span> Profile.<br /><br /><a href="http://disqus.com/claim">Log in and claim this comment!</a></li>';
					break;
				case 'user_created':
					var _data = v.split(':');
					title = 'Profile created!';
					message += '<li id="dsq-msg-user-created">You have just created a <span class="logo-disqus">Disqus</span> Profile, the best way to claim, manage, and track your comments all over the web. \
					<br /><br />A confirmation is being sent to <strong>' + _data[1] + '</strong>. Please check for this email in order to verify your profile. \
					<ul class="dsq-list-tick"> \
						<li>Your username is <strong>' + _data[0] +'</strong>. <a href="http://disqus.com/people/' + _data[0] + '/" target="_blank">Click here to view your public profile</a>.</li> \
						<li>Be sure to set your profile picture, as well as connect your <span class="dsq-badge-facebook">Facebook</span> and <span class="dsq-badge-twitter">Twitter</span> accounts. <a href="http://disqus.com/account/" target="_blank">Click here for account settings</a>.</li> \
					</ul> \
					</li>'
					break;
				default:
					break;
			}
			numAlerts++;
		});

		if(numAlerts > 1) {
			message = '<ul class="dsq-list-bluebullet">' + message;
			message += '</ul>';
			title = 'Thanks for posting!';
		}
		if(numAlerts > 0) {
			if(typeof(disqus_cookie_msgs) == 'function') {
				disqus_cookie_msgs(message, title);
			} else {
				Dsq.Popup.popModal(message, title);
			}
		}
	};

	this.helpBadges = function(post_id) {
		var html = ' \
			<ul class="dsq-popup-help"> \
				<li><span class="dsq-badge dsq-badge-verified">Verified</span> has a <span class="logo-disqus">Disqus</span> Profile with a confirmed email address.</li> \
				<li><span class="dsq-badge dsq-badge-registered">Registered</span> has a <span class="logo-disqus">Disqus</span> Profile, but has not yet confirmed his or her email address.</li> \
				<li><span class="dsq-badge dsq-badge-guest">Guest</span> is not logged in with any account and has not claimed his or her comments.</li> \
				<li class="dsq-help-otheraccts">Other accounts</li> \
				<li><span class="dsq-badge dsq-badge-facebook">Facebook</span> is using his or her Facebook profile via Facebook Connect.</li> \
				<li><span class="dsq-badge dsq-badge-twitter">Twitter</span> is using his or her Twitter profile via Twitter Sign-in.</li> \
				<li><span class="dsq-badge dsq-badge-openid">OpenID</span> is using his or her OpenID.</li> \
			</ul> \
		';

		this.popModal(html, 'Help: Types of Commenters', post_id);
		return;
	};

	this.permalink = function(post_id) {
		var header = 'Link to this comment';
		var body = '<strong>You are anchored to</strong>:<br />' + document.location.protocol + '//' + document.location.host + document.location.pathname + document.location.search + '#comment-' + post_id;

		this.popModal(body, header, post_id);
	};

	this.login = function(header, body) {
		var h = header || 'Login or Register';
		var b = body || '';
		b += Dsq.Templates.frameLogin({id: 'dsq-popup-login'});
		b += '</iframe>'; // HACK: Sometimes there is something funky with the IFRAME SRC that causes no end tag
		this.popModal(b, h, null, true, 'dsq-popup-login');
	};

	this.blacklist = function(id) {
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[id];
		var userData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][_meta.user_key];
		var title = 'Add to Blacklist';
		var message = ' \
		Adding this person to the blacklist will block him or her from commenting on this site. Check the following types that you would like to add to the blacklist:'
		+ (userData['registered'] ?
			'<div class="dsq-blacklist-option"> \
				<input id="dsq-blacklist-username" type="checkbox" checked> \
				<label for="dsq-blacklist-username"><strong>Username</strong>: ' + userData['username'] + '</label> \
			</div>'
			: '')
		+ (_meta.email ?
			'<div class="dsq-blacklist-option"> \
				<input id="dsq-blacklist-email" type="checkbox" checked> \
				<label for="dsq-blacklist-email"><strong>Email address</strong>: ' + _meta.email + '</label> \
			</div>'
			: '')
		+ '<div class="dsq-blacklist-option"> \
			<input id="dsq-blacklist-ip" type="checkbox" onclick="Dsq.$(\'dsq-blacklist-ip-warning\').style.display=\'block\'"> \
			<label for="dsq-blacklist-ip"><strong>IP address</strong>: ' + _meta.ip + '</label> \
		</div> \
		';

		message += ' \
			<p id="dsq-blacklist-ip-warning" style="display:none">	\
				Note: Blocking this person\'s IP address may also unintentionally prevent others, who share his/her IP address, from commenting on this site. \
				This may include people who are sharing the same computer, living in the same house, or using the same Internet provider. Only block an IP address as a last resort. \
			</p> \
		';

		message += ' \
			<p style="text-align:center"><button onclick="Dsq.Post.blockUser(' + id + '); this.disabled=true; this.innerHTML=\'Just one moment...\'">Add to Blacklist</button></p> \
		';

		Dsq.Popup.popModal(message, title);
	};

	this.remoteAccountSettings = function() {
		var body = '';
		// Set up IFrame.
		var params = {};
		var base_url = 'http://disqus.com/forums/washingtonindependent/_auth/embed/remote_settings/';
		var attributes = {id: 'dsq-popup-account-settings'};
		if (typeof disqus_frame_theme != 'undefined') {
			params['theme'] = disqus_frame_theme;
		}

		body = Dsq.Templates._frameGeneric(base_url, params, attributes);
		this.popModal(body, 'Account Settings', null, true, 'dsq-popup-account-settings');
	};

	this.popModal = function(message, title, post_id, use_listener, extra_classes) {
		var container = document.createElement('div');
		var header, body;

		Dsq.Popup._closePopup(null, true);

		if(typeof(title) == 'undefined') { title = ''; }
		if(typeof(use_listener) == 'undefined') { use_listener = true; }

		if(post_id) {
			container.id = 'dsq-popup-message-' + post_id;
		} else {
			container.id = 'dsq-popup-message';
		}

		header = title;
		body = message;

		container.innerHTML = Dsq.Templates.popupModal(header, body);
		Dsq.Popup.initPopup(container, post_id, 'message', extra_classes);
		if(use_listener) {
			Dsq.Popup.popupListener = Dsq.Utils.addEventListener(document, 'mouseup', Dsq.Popup._closePopup);
		}
	};

	this.popAlert = this.popModal;

	this.loading = function(post_id) {
		var title = Dsq.Strings.JUST_A_MOMENT;
		var body = '<div style="text-align:center; padding: 5px 0 10px 0"><img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/loading.gif" alt="" /></div>'
		Dsq.Popup.lightbox(body, title, post_id);
	};

	this.lightbox = function(message, title, post_id) {
		// Wraps Dsq.Popup.popModal

		var overlay = document.createElement('div');
		overlay.id = 'dsq-overlay';
		overlay.className = 'dsq-overlay';
		Dsq.$b.appendChild(overlay);
		
		Dsq.Popup.popModal(message, title, post_id, false, 'dsq-lightbox');
	};

	this.popProfile = function(post_id, userKey) {
		var post = Dsq.jsonData['posts'][post_id];
		if (post && post.has_been_anonymized) {
			Dsq.Popup.popModal('This message was anonymized by its previous owner.', 'Anonymized', post_id);
			return;
		}

		if(post_id) {
			userKey = Dsq.jsonData['posts'][post_id].user_key;	
		}
		var userData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][userKey];
		var elId = 'dsq-popup-profile-' + userKey;
		var container = document.createElement('div');

		if(this.activePopup.el) {
			this._closePopup(null, true);
			if(this.activePopup.linkClicked) {
				this.activePopup.linkClicked = false;
				return;
			}
		}

		container.id = elId;
		container.innerHTML = Dsq.Templates.popupProfile(userKey);

		this.initPopup(container, post_id, 'profile');
		this.popupListener = Dsq.Utils.addEventListener(document, 'mouseup', this._closePopup);

		if(!this.profileCache[userKey]) {
			Dsq.Utils.execScript('http://disqus.com/embed/profile.js'
				+ '?username=' + userKey
				+ '&anon=' + (userData['registered'] ? 0 : 1)
				+ '&f=' + Dsq.jsonData['request'].forum);
		} else {
			this.updateProfile(userKey);
		}
	};

	this._closePopup = function(e, force) {
		var activePopup = Dsq.Popup.activePopup.el;
		var id = Dsq.Popup.activePopup.id;
		var link = 'dsq-avatar-' + id; // HACK: Specific to profile toggle target

		// HACK: This event should be gone if there is no active popup.
		if(!activePopup) {
			return;
		}
		if(force || !Dsq.Popup.isClicked(e, activePopup.id)) {
			// TODO: This is breaking iE?
			if(Dsq.Popup.popupListener) {
				Dsq.Utils.removeEventListener(Dsq.Popup.popupListener);
			}
			
			// Kill overlay
			var overlay = Dsq.$('dsq-overlay');
			if(overlay) { Dsq.Utils.deleteNode(overlay); }
			
			try {
				Dsq.Utils.deleteNode(activePopup);
			} catch(e) {
				// HACK: IE6 throws an error when using deleteNode() with a node containing a <table> in the html.
				activePopup.parentNode.removeChild(activePopup);
			}
			Dsq.Popup.activePopup = {};
		}

		if(!force && Dsq.Popup.isClicked(e, link)) {
 			Dsq.Popup.activePopup.linkClicked = true;
		}

	};

	this.initPopup = function(popup, post_id, type, extra_classes) {
		popup.className = 'dsq-popup dsq-popup-' + type + ' ' + (extra_classes ? extra_classes : '');
		if(Dsq.Utils.ie6 || Dsq.Utils.ie7) {
			// HACK: We can't modify the body before it's ready, so we need
			//       to use an IE-safe "DOMReady" workaround before loading
			//       our popup.
			Dsq.Utils.execOnReady(function() {Dsq.$b.appendChild(popup); });
		} else {
			Dsq.$b.appendChild(popup);
		}

		popup.style.display = 'block';

		var xPos = (Dsq.Utils.getWindowSize()[0] - popup.offsetWidth) / 2;
		var yPos = (Dsq.Utils.getWindowSize()[1] - popup.offsetHeight) / 2;

		if(Dsq.Utils.ie6) {
			yPos += Dsq.Utils.getScrollPos()[1];
		}

		popup.style.left = xPos + 'px';
		popup.style.top = yPos + 'px';

		Dsq.Popup.activePopup = {
			'el' : popup,
			'id' : post_id,
			'type': type,
			'linkClicked' : false
		};
	};

	this.isClicked = function(e, id) {
		var t = e.target || e.srcElement;
		while(t && t.parentNode) {
			if(t.id == id) {
				return true;
			}

			t = t.parentNode;
		}
		return false;
	};
};
// Dsq.Popup

/**
 * Dsq.Templates
 */
Dsq.Templates = new function() {
	/*
	 * Counter keeping track of the number of posts iterated over.
	 */
	this.postLoopCounter = 0;
	this.filters = {};
	this.addPostContainer = 'dsq-post-add';
	this.textareaContainer = 'dsq-post-add';

	this.registerTemplate = function(name, func) {
		this['$$_' + name] = func;

		if(typeof DsqLocal.Filters != 'undefined'
		&& typeof DsqLocal.Filters[name] == 'function') {
			// Push filters to this.filters to unify code.
			this.filters[name] = this.filters[name] || [];
			this.filters[name].push(DsqLocal.Filters[name]);
		}

		this[name] = function() {
			var ret;

			if(typeof DsqLocal.Templates != 'undefined'
			&& typeof DsqLocal.Templates[name] == 'function') {
				ret = DsqLocal.Templates[name].apply(this, arguments);
			}

			if(ret === undefined) {
				ret = this['$$_' + name].apply(this, arguments);
			}

			if(this.filters[name]) {
				var args = [ret];

				args.push.apply(args, arguments);
				for(var i = 0; i < this.filters[name].length; i++) {
					ret = this.filters[name][i].apply(this, args);
				}
			}

			return ret;
		};
	};

	this.registerFilter = function(name, func) {
		this.filters[name] = this.filters[name] || [];
		this.filters[name].push(func);
	};

	/**
	 * Dsq.Templates.Filters
	 */
	this.Filters = new function() {
		this.commentContainer = function(post_id, s) {
			var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
			var classes = [];
			if(Dsq.jsonData.request.page > 1) {
				classes.push('dsq-append');
			}

			//
			// Extra classes used for custom themes
			//

			if(_meta.depth) {
				classes.push('dsq-comment-child', 'dsq-depth-' + _meta.depth, 'dsq-parent-is-' + _meta.parent_post_id);
			}


			//

			if(_meta.author_is_creator) {
				// TODO: We need to deprecate the "special" class since it is not properly prefixed.
				classes.push('special', 'dsq-special');
			}
			if(_meta.author_is_moderator) {
				classes.push('dsq-moderator');
			}
			classes.push(['dsq-odd', 'dsq-even'][Dsq.Templates.postLoopCounter % 2]);

			s = s.substring(0, s.lastIndexOf('>'));
			return s + ' class="dsq-comment ' + classes.join(' ') + '" style="margin-left:' + _meta.depth*30 + 'px">';
		};

		this.commentContent = function(post_id, s) {
			var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
			if (_meta.killed) {
				return '<em>Comment removed.</em>';
			} else if (!_meta.approved) {
				return '<em>This comment was flagged for review.</em>';
			}

			s = s.replace(Dsq.MEDIA_POST_RE, Dsq.MediaPostHandler);
			return s;
		};
	};

	//
	// Thread
	//
	// TODO: These need to be stripped of all Django template tags.

	this.authPost = function() {
		if (!Dsq.jsonData.context.show_reply) {
			return '';
		}
		var result = [];
		result = result.concat([
				'<div id="dsq-auth"',
						Dsq.jsonData.integration.reply_position ? 'class="dsq-auth-bottom"' : '',
						'>',
					'<div class="dsq-by">',
						'<a href="http://disqus.com" target="_blank">',
							(Dsq.jsonData.integration.disqus_logo ?
								Dsq.Utils.interpolate('<img src="%(media_url)s/images/embed/by-disqus.png" alt="discussion by DISQUS">') :
								Dsq.Utils.interpolate('<img src="%(media_url)s/images/embed/dsq-button-120x19.png" alt="discussion by DISQUS">')
							),
						'</a>',
					'</div>',
					'<div class="dsq-auth-header">',
						'<h3 id="dsq-add-new-comment" class="dsq-h3-addcomment">',
								Dsq.Strings.ADD_NEW_COMMENT,
						'</h3>',
						'<div id="dsq-login">',
						(!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated && Dsq.jsonData.forum.allow_anon_post
								? '<p class="dsq-login-message" id="dsq-login-message">You are commenting as a <a class="dsq-help" title="Click for more information" href="#" onclick="Dsq.Popup.helpBadges(); return false">Guest</a>. You may log into:</p>'
								: '')
		]);
		if (!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated) {
			result = result.concat([
							Dsq.Utils.interpolate(
								'<a id="dsq-login-toggle" href="%(disqus_url)s%(login_url)s?next=article:%(thread_id)s" onclick="Dsq.Popup.login(); return false"><img class="dsq-login-icon" src="%(media_url)s/images/dsq-profile-btn.png" title="%(log_into)s" alt="%(log_into)s"/></a>',
								{login_url: Dsq.Urls.LOGIN, thread_id: Dsq.jsonData.thread.id, log_into: Dsq.Strings.LOG_INTO_DISQUS}
								),
							'&nbsp; ',
							(Dsq.jsonData.context.use_fb_connect ?
								'<div id="dsq-fbc-login" onlogin="DisqusFbcParentController.onLogin()" size="medium" background="light" length="short" style="display:inline; margin-right:7px"></div>' :
								''
							),
							(Dsq.jsonData.context.use_twitter_signin ?
								Dsq.Utils.interpolate(
									'<div id="dsq-twitter-login" class="dsq-twitter-login" onclick="Dsq.Twitter.startTwitterConnect();" style="display:inline; cursor: pointer"><img src="%(media_url)s/images/twitter-signin-short.png" style="margin-right:7px" /></div>', {}) : ''),
							(Dsq.jsonData.context.use_openid ?
								Dsq.Utils.interpolate(
									'<div id="dsq-openid-login" class="dsq-openid-login" onclick="Dsq.OpenID.requestURL();" style="display:inline; cursor:pointer;"><img src="%(media_url)s/images/openid-login-button.png"/></div>', {}
								) : '')
			]);
		}
		result = result.concat([
						'</div>', // dsq-login
					'</div>', // dsq-auth-header
					'<div id="dsq-authenticated" class="dsq-authenticated" ',
						Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated ? 'style="display:block"' : '',
						'>',
						'<div class="dsq-authenticated-pic">',
								Dsq.Utils.interpolate('<a href="%(url)s" title="%(request_display_username)s">' +
																			'<img class="dsq-post-avatar" src="%(avatar_url)s" alt="" /></a>',
																			{avatar_url: Dsq.Urls.REQUEST_USER_AVATAR,
																			url: (Dsq.jsonData.request.is_remote
																					 ? Dsq.jsonData.request.url
																					 : Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + Dsq.Urls.REQUEST_USER_PROFILE) }),
						'</div>',
						'<div class="dsq-authenticated-info">',
							'<ul>',
								'<li>',
									(Dsq.jsonData.request.is_remote
										? Dsq.FmtStrings.LOGGED_IN_AS(
												Dsq.Utils.interpolate('<a href="%(url)s" title="%(request_display_username)s">%(request_display_username)s</a>', {url:Dsq.jsonData.request.url})
										  )
										: Dsq.FmtStrings.LOGGED_IN_AS(
												Dsq.Utils.interpolate('<a href="%(disqus_url)s%(profile_url)s" title="%(request_display_username)s">%(request_display_username)s</a>')
											)
									),
								'</li>',
								'<li class="logout">',
									(!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_remote
										? Dsq.Utils.interpolate('<img class="dsq-login-icon" src="%(media_url)s/images/dsqicon12.png" alt="%(logged_in_as)s"/>&nbsp',
											{logged_in_as: Dsq.FmtStrings.LOGGED_IN_AS(Dsq.jsonData.request.display_username)})
										: ''),

									(!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_remote
										? Dsq.Utils.interpolate('<a href="%(disqus_url)s%(logout_url)s?ctkn=%(csrf_token)s" title="%(logout_from_disqus)s">',
											{logout_url: Dsq.Urls.LOGOUT, csrf_token: Dsq.CSRF_TOKEN, logout_from_disqus: Dsq.FmtStrings.LOGOUT_FROM('DISQUS')})
										: ((Dsq.jsonData.request.remote_domain == 'twitter')
												? Dsq.Utils.interpolate('using Twitter (<a href="%(disqus_url)s%(logout_url)s?ctkn=%(csrf_token)s" title="Logout">Logout</a>)',
												 {logout_url: Dsq.Urls.LOGOUT, csrf_token: Dsq.CSRF_TOKEN})
												: ((Dsq.jsonData.request.remote_domain == 'openid')
													 ? Dsq.Utils.interpolate('using OpenID (<a href="%(disqus_url)s%(logout_url)s?ctkn=%(csrf_token)s" title="Logout">Logout</a>)',
													 {logout_url: Dsq.Urls.LOGOUT, csrf_token: Dsq.CSRF_TOKEN})
													 : ''
													)
											)
									),

									(!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_remote ? Dsq.FmtStrings.LOGOUT_FROM('<span class="logo-disqus">DISQUS</span>') : ''),
									'</a>',
								'</li>',
							'</ul>',
						'</div>',
					'</div>'
		]);
		if (Dsq.jsonData.context.use_fb_connect) {
			result = result.concat([
					'<div id="dsq-fbc-authenticated" class="dsq-authenticated">',
						'<div id="dsq-fbc-profilepic" class="dsq-authenticated-pic" uid="loggedinuser" type="FB.XFBML.ProfilePic" size="square" facebook-logo="true"></div>',
						'<div class="dsq-authenticated-info">',
							'<ul>',
								'<li>',
									'Logged in as <span id="dsq-fbc-name" uid="loggedinuser" type="FB.XFBML.Name" linked="true" useyou="false"></span>',
								'</li>',
								'<li class="logout">using Facebook Connect <a href="#" onclick="javascript:DisqusFbcParentController.logout();return false;">(Logout)</a></li>',
							'</ul>',
						'</div>',
					'</div>'
			]);
		}
		result = result.concat([
				'</div>', // dsq-auth
				'<div id="dsq-toolbar-items">',
				'</div>'
		]);
		result = result.concat([
					//
					//
					//
				((!Dsq.jsonData.forum.allow_anon_post && !Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated) ?
					// Needs to be translated:
					('<p id="dsq-no-anon-msg">Required: Please log into <span class="logo-disqus">Disqus</span> ' +
					(Dsq.jsonData.context.use_fb_connect ? 'or connect with Facebook ' : '') +
					(Dsq.jsonData.context.use_twitter_signin ? 'or sign in with Twitter ' : '') +
					(Dsq.jsonData.context.use_openid ? 'or sign in using OpenID ' : '') +
					Dsq.Utils.interpolate('to comment on <strong>%(forum_name)s</strong>.</p>')) :
					''
				),
				'<div id="dsq-post-add"></div>',
				'<div style="margin:10px 0">',
				((Dsq.jsonData.forum.use_media) ?
						'<a href="#" id="dsq-media-link" onclick="Dsq.Post.showMenu(this, false, \'media\'); return false">' + Dsq.Strings.USE_MEDIA + ' <small>&#9660;</small></a>' :
						''),
				'</div>'
		]);
		return result.join('');
	};


	this.header = function() {

		var html = '\<h3 id="dsq-comments-count" class="dsq-h3-commentcount">\
	 Showing <span id="dsq-num-posts">26</span> of <span id="dsq-total-posts">26</span> Comments\
	 &nbsp;\
	 <span class="dsq-item-feed">\
	 <a href="http://disqus.com/forums/washingtonindependent/batman8217s_8216dark_knight8217_reflects_cheney_policy/latest.rss"><img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/embed/bullet-feed.png"></a>\
	 </span>\
	 </h3>\
	 <div id="dsq-options" style="margin:15px 0">\
	 <span class="dsq-item-sort">\
	 Sort by\
	 <select id="dsq-sort-select" onchange="Dsq.Thread.sortBy(this.value);">\
	 <option value="hot" >Popular now</option>\
	 <option value="best" >Best Rating</option>\
	 <option value="newest" selected="selected">Newest first</option>\
	 <option value="oldest" >Oldest first</option>\
	 </select>\
	 &nbsp;\
	 </span>\
	 <span class="dsq-item-cp"><a href="http://disqus.com/forums/washingtonindependent/batman8217s_8216dark_knight8217_reflects_cheney_policy/">Community Page</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>\
	 <span class="dsq-item-subscribe">\
	 <img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/embed/email.png" style="width:12px;height:12px;vertical-align:middle">\
	 <span id="dsq-subscribe">\
	 <a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Thread.subscribe(1); return false">Subscribe by email</a>\
	 </span>\
	 </span>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-alerts">\
	 </div>\
		';

		
			html = Dsq.Templates.authPost() + html;
		

		
		if (Dsq.jsonData.request.is_moderator) { 
			html = ' \
			<div class="dsq-alert-message dsq-upgrade-message"> \
				<strong>Disqus upgrade available.</strong> Hi ' + Dsq.jsonData.request.display_username + ', this message is being displayed to you because you are a moderator of this site. <a href="#" onclick="Dsq.$(\'dsq-upgrade-message\').style.display=\'block\';this.style.display=\'none\';return false">Click here for details.</a> \
				<div style="display:none; margin-top:10px;" id="dsq-upgrade-message"> \
					A new theme is available with added features. <a href="http://disqus.com/comments/settings/' + Dsq.jsonData.forum.url + '/?p=customize">To change your theme, click here</a> and choose the theme Narcissus. \
					If you do not upgrade, you are missing out on features such as: real-time commenting, new sign-in integrations, and an upgrade interface. \
					<strong>This message will automatically go away in one week.</strong> \
				</div> \
			</div> \
			' + html; 
		}
		return html;
	};

	this.footer = function() {
		var html = Dsq.Templates.pagination();

		

		html += Dsq.Templates.reactions();

		

		return html;
	};

	this.pagination = function() {
		var html = '';
		
		if (Dsq.$('dsq-pagination')) { Dsq.$('dsq-pagination').innerHTML = ''; }
		if (!Dsq.jsonData.thread.paginate) { return ''; }

		//
		// TODO: num_paginator still uses the template tag for pagination, 
		// 		while append_paginator does it all in JavaScript.
		//		This should all be in JavaScript.
		//

		if (Dsq.jsonData.thread.num_pages > 1 && Dsq.jsonData.request.page < Dsq.jsonData.thread.num_pages) {
			html = ' \<a class="dsq-paginate-append-text" href="#" onclick="Dsq.Thread.paginate(Dsq.jsonData.request.page + 1, this); return false">Show more comments...</a>\
	 <button class="dsq-button-small dsq-paginate-append-button" onclick="Dsq.Thread.paginate(Dsq.jsonData.request.page + 1, this);">Load more comments</button>\
			';
		}
		
		if (Dsq.$('dsq-pagination')) {
			Dsq.$('dsq-pagination').innerHTML = html;
			return '';
		} else {
			return '<div id="dsq-pagination" class="dsq-pagination">' + html + '</div>';
		}
	};

	this.trackbacks = function() {
		var html = '';

		if(typeof DsqLocal != 'undefined' && DsqLocal.trackback_url && DsqLocal.trackbacks) {
			var trackbacks = DsqLocal.trackbacks;
			var trackback_url = DsqLocal.trackback_url;
		} else {
			var trackbacks = [
			
			
			];
			var trackback_url = 'http://disqus.com/forums/washingtonindependent/batman8217s_8216dark_knight8217_reflects_cheney_policy/trackback/';
		}

		html += '<div class="dsq-item-trackback">Trackback URL&nbsp;&nbsp;<input class="dsq-trackback-url" onclick="this.select()" readonly="true" value="' + trackback_url + '"></div>';

		if(trackbacks.length) {
			html += '<ul id="dsq-references">'
			for(var i = 0; i < trackbacks.length; i++) {
				var trackback = trackbacks[i];
				html += '<li><cite><a href="' + trackback.author_url + '" rel="nofollow">' + trackback.author_name + '</a></cite> \
						<p class="dsq-meta">' + trackback.date + '</p> \
						<p class="dsq-content">' + trackback.excerpt + '</p></li>';
			}
			html += '</ul>';
			html = '<h3 class="dsq-h3-trackbacks">Trackbacks</h3>' + html;
		}

		return html;
	}

	this.showRetweets = function(id, limit, element_id /* Optional */) {
		var source, html = '';

		for (var i = 0, reaction; reaction = Dsq.jsonData.reactions[i]; i++) {
			if (reaction.id === id) {
				source = reaction.retweets;
			}
		}

		if (source) {
			if (limit === 0) {
				limit = source.length;
			}

			for (var j = 0; j < limit; j++) {
				var rt = source[j];
				html += '<a href="' + rt.url + '">' + rt.author_name + '</a>'	+ ((j === (limit - 1)) ? '.' : ', ');
			}
		}

		if (element_id === undefined) {
			return html;
		}

		var element = document.getElementById(element_id);
		element.innerHTML = html;
		return element;
	};

	this.showMoreReactions = function(reactions, has_more, start, limit) {
		var link = document.getElementById('dsq-show-more-reactions');
		var container = link.parentNode;
		container.removeChild(link);

		for (var i = 0, reaction; reaction = reactions[i]; i++) {
			var el = Dsq.Templates.generateReactionHTML(reaction);
			if (el) {
				container.innerHTML += el;
			}
		}

		if (has_more) {
			var d = Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url;
			var f = Dsq.jsonData.forum.url;
			var t = Dsq.jsonData.thread.id;
			var s = start;
			var l = limit;

			var handler = 'Dsq.Utils.execScript(\'' + d + '/forums/' + f + '/more_reactions.js?t=' + t + '&s=' + s + '&l=' + l + '\', true); return false;';
			container.innerHTML += '<li id="dsq-show-more-reactions"><a href="#" onclick="' + handler + '">Show more reactions</a></li>';
		}
	};

	this.generateReactionHTML = function(reaction) {
		if (reaction.body === null || reaction.body == '') {
			return;
		}

		if (reaction.author_name === '') {
			reaction.author_name = '&nbsp;';
		}

		if (reaction.url === '') {
			reaction.url = reaction.get_service_url;
		}

		/* Reaction HTML begins */
		var item = '<li class="dsq-reaction" id="dsq-reaction-' + reaction.id + '">'
			+ '<div class="dsq-reaction-header">'
			+ '<div class="dsq-header-avatar">';

		if (reaction.author_url && reaction.author_url !== '') {
			item += '<a target="_blank" href="' + reaction.author_url +'">';
		} else {
			item += '<a target="_blank" href="#" onclick="return false;">';
		}

		if (reaction.avatar_url && reaction.avatar_url !== '') {
			item += '<img src="' + reaction.avatar_url + '"/>';
		} else {
			item += '<img src="' + Dsq.jsonData.media_url + '/images/noavatar32.png"/>';
		}

		var service_icon = (reaction.get_service_name == 'trackback' || reaction.get_service_name == 'pingback' ? 'rss' : reaction.get_service_name.replace(' ', ''));
		item += '<img class="dsq-service-icon" src="' + Dsq.jsonData.media_url + '/images/reactions/services/' + service_icon + '.png"/>'
			+ '</a></div>'
			+ '<cite><span>' + reaction.author_name + '</span></cite>'
			+ '<span class="dsq-header-meta"><a class="dsq-header-time">' + reaction.date_created + '</a></span>'
			+ '</div><div class="dsq-reaction-body">'
			+ '<div class="dsq-reaction-message">' + reaction.body + '</div>'
			+ '<div class="dsq-reaction-footer">From <a class="dsq-service-name" target="_blank" href="' + reaction.url + '">' + reaction.get_service_name + '</a> '
			+ 'via ' + (reaction.source == 'backtype' ? '<a href="http://backtype.com/">BackType</a>' : '<a href="' + reaction.source_url + '">UberVU</a>')
			+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.is_moderator || Dsq.jsonData.request.is_global_moderator ? '&nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;<a class="dsq-hide-reaction" href="#" onclick="Dsq.Reaction.hide(' + reaction.id + '); return false;">Hide</a>' : '') + '</div></div>';

		if(reaction.retweets) {
			var num_retweets = reaction.retweets.length;
			if (num_retweets > 0) {
				item += '<div class="dsq-reaction-retweets">';
				if (num_retweets == 1) {
					item += 'One more retweet from <a href="' + reaction.retweets[0].url + '">'  + reaction.retweets[0].author_name + '</a>';
				} else {
					item += (num_retweets + ' more retweets from ');

					item += '<span id="dsq-reaction-retweets-' + reaction.id + '">';
					var n_tweets = (num_retweets > 15) ? 15 : num_retweets;
					item += Dsq.Templates.showRetweets(reaction.id, n_tweets);

					if (n_tweets != num_retweets) {
						item += '</span> <a onclick="Dsq.Templates.showRetweets(' + reaction.id + ', 0, \'dsq-reaction-retweets-' + reaction.id + '\');'
							+ 'this.parentNode.removeChild(this); return false;" href="#">Show all</a>';
					}
				}
				item += '</div>';
			}
		}

		item += '</li>'; /* Reaction HTML ends */
		return item;
	};

	this.reactions = function() {
		var html, reaction;

		if (Dsq.jsonData.reactions === undefined || Dsq.jsonData.reactions.length === 0) {
			return '';
		}

		html = '';
		for (var i = 0; reaction = Dsq.jsonData.reactions[i]; i++) {
			var item = Dsq.Templates.generateReactionHTML(reaction);
			if (item) {
				html += item;
			}
		}

		if (Dsq.jsonData.has_more_reactions) {
			var d = Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url;
			var f = Dsq.jsonData.forum.url;
			var t = Dsq.jsonData.thread.id;
			var s = Dsq.jsonData.reactions_start;
			var l = Dsq.jsonData.reactions_limit;

			var handler = 'Dsq.Utils.execScript(\'' + d + '/forums/' + f + '/more_reactions.js?t=' + t + '&s=' + s + '&l=' + l + '\', true); return false;';
			html += '<li id="dsq-show-more-reactions"><a href="#" onclick="' + handler + '">Show more reactions</a></li>';
		}

		return '<h3 class="dsq-h3-reactions">Reactions</h3><ul id="dsq-reactions" class="dsq-reactions">' + html + '</ul>';
	};
	
	this.missingPermissions = function() {
		return '';
	};

	//
	// Post
	//

	this.prependPost = function(post_id) {
		var html = '<div id="comment-' + post_id + '"></div>';
		return html;
	};

	this.appendPost = function(post_id) {
		var html = '<div id="dsq-comment-reply-' + post_id + '"></div>';
		return html;
	};

	this.postPrependHeader = function(post_id) {
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
		var userData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][_meta.user_key];

		var _includeServices = function() {
			var userServices = Dsq.Post.getUserServices(null, post_id);
			var html = '';
			var hiddenThreshold = 3; // Define # of services to show before stuffing them in hidden div

			for(var i = 0; i < userServices.length; i++) {
				html +=
				(i == hiddenThreshold
					? '<li id="dsq-drop-hidden-' + post_id +'" class="dsq-drop-hidden"><ul>'
					: '')
				+ '<li class="dsq-drop-services"> \
					<a class="dsq-service-' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '" href="' + userServices[i].url + '" target="_blank"> \
						<img src="' + Dsq.jsonData.media_url + '/images/embed/services/' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '.png" alt="' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '">'
					+ userServices[i].name
					+ '</a> \
				</li>';
			}

			if(i >= hiddenThreshold) {
				html += '</ul></li> \
				<li id="dsq-drop-more-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-drop-more"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.dropProfileMore(this, '+ post_id + '); return false"><small>&#9660;</small></a></li> \
				';
			}
			return html;
		};

		return ' \
			<div class="dsq-header-avatar" id="dsq-header-avatar-' + post_id + '" onmouseover="Dsq.Post.dropProfile(' + post_id + ')"> \
				<a id="dsq-avatar-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-avatar" href="' + userData.url + '" onclick="Dsq.Popup.popProfile(' + post_id + '); return false;">'
			+ (Dsq.jsonData.forum.show_avatar
				? '<img src="' + Dsq.jsonData.users[_meta.user_key].avatar + '" alt="" />'
				: '')
			+ '</a>'
			+ '</div> \
		';
	};

	this.postAppendHeader = function(post_id) {
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];

		return ''
			+ (_meta.author_is_moderator
				? '<img class="dsq-mod-star" src="http://media.disqus.com/images/bullet-star.png" title="Moderator" alt="" />'
				: '')
			+ '<span class="dsq-header-meta"> \
				<a id="dsq-time-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-header-time" href="#comment-' + post_id + '" title="Permalink">' + _meta.date + '</a> \
			</span>';
	};

	this.preBody = function(post_id) {
		return '';
	}

	this.postBody = function(post_id) {
		// TODO: Deprecate flagging conditional
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
		return ''
			+ (_meta.edited
				? '<p class="dsq-editedtxt">(Edited by a moderator)</p>'
				: '')
			;
	};

	this.postFooter = function(post_id) {
		// TODO: Use media should be conditional
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
		if(_meta.killed) { return ''; }

		return ' \
			<div class="dsq-comment-footer" id="dsq-comment-footer-' + post_id + '"> \
				<div id="dsq-points-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-likedtxt">'
				+ (_meta.points
					? _meta.points + Dsq.Utils.pluralize(_meta.points, ' person', ' people') + ' liked this comment.'
					: '')
				+ '</div>'
				+ '<ul class="dsq-comment-options dsq-list-style">'
				+ (_meta.votable
					? '<li class="dsq-list-first dsq-rate" id="dsq-rate-cont-' + post_id + '">'
					+ (!_meta.up_voted
						? '<a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.rate(this, ' + post_id + ', 1); return false;">Like</a>'
						: 'You liked this.') + '</li>'
					: '')
				+ '<li class="dsq-report' + (!_meta.votable ? ' dsq-list-first' : '') + '" id="dsq-post-report-' + post_id + '"><a href="#" class="dsq-post-report" onclick="Dsq.Post.report(' + post_id + ', false); return false;">Report</a></li> \
				</ul> \
				<ul class="dsq-list-style">'
				+ (_meta.can_reply
					? '<li class="dsq-list-first"><a href="#" id="dsq-reply-link-' + post_id +'" onclick="Dsq.Post.toggleReply(this, ' + post_id +'); return false;">Reply</a></li>'
					: '')
				+ (_meta.can_reply && !_meta.has_replies && _meta.from_request_user
					? '<li id="dsq-edit-el-' + post_id + '"><a id="dsq-edit-link-' + post_id + '" href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.edit(this, ' + post_id + '); return false;">Edit</a></li>'
					: '')
				+ '<li class="' + (!_meta.can_reply ? 'dsq-list-first' : '') + '" id="dsq-more-el-' + post_id + '"><a id="dsq-more-link-' + post_id + '" href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.showMenu(this, ' + post_id + ', \'more\'); return false">More <small>&#9660;</small></a></li>'
				+ (Dsq.jsonData.forum.use_media
					? '<li id="dsq-media-el-' + post_id +'" style="display:none"><a id="dsq-media-link-' + post_id + '" href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.showMenu(this, ' + post_id + ', \'media\'); return false">Use Media <small>&#9660;</small></a></li>'
					: '')
				+ '</ul>'
				+ '<div id="dsq-reply-bar-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-reply-bar" style="display:none"> \
						<div id="dsq-reply-bar-items-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-reply-bar-items"> \
						</div> \
						<div id="dsq-reply-bar-auth-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-reply-bar-auth"> \
							 \
								 \
								 	<a href="#" class="dsq-help dsq-reply-req-opt" title="You are commenting as a Guest. You may choose to log into an existing DISQUS Profile, your Facebook, Twitter or OpenID account to comment on The Washington Independent" onclick="Dsq.Popup.helpBadges(); return false">Optional:</a> \
								 \
								<img class="dsq-login-icon" src="http://media.disqus.com/images/dsq-favicon-16x16.png" alt="" /> \
								<a id="dsq-reply-login-' + post_id + '" href="http://disqus.com/profile/login/?next=article:3621805" onclick="Dsq.Popup.login(); return false">Login</a> \
								 \
								 \
								 \
							 \
						</div> \
					</div> \
					<div id="dsq-reply-' + post_id + '"></div> \
			</div> \
		';
	};

	//
	// Iframes
	//

	this._makeAttributes = function(attributes) {
		// Makes a tag attributes string out of an object.
		// Caller is responsible for making sure nothing needs to be escaped.
		var result = [];
		for (key in attributes) {
			result.push(' ' + key + '="' + attributes[key] + '"');
		}
		result = result.join('');
		return result;
	};

	this._frameGeneric = function(base_url, params, attributes) {
		if(typeof(disqus_callback_params) == 'undefined') {
			disqus_callback_params = '';
		}

		var default_params = {
			// TODO: These should be moved to Dsq.jsonData.
			'f'				: 'washingtonindependent',
			't'				: 'batman8217s_8216dark_knight8217_reflects_cheney_policy',
			// Do we need encodeURIComponent here?
			'ifrs'			: encodeURIComponent(disqus_iframe_css),
			'to_redirect'	: encodeURIComponent(window.location),
			'cbp'			: disqus_callback_params,
			'ff'			: Dsq.Thread.ff,
			'fc'			: Dsq.Thread.fc,
			'ac'			: Dsq.Thread.ac,
			'default_text'	: disqus_default_text
		};

		base_url += '?' + (new Date()).getTime();
		// Add params to default_params.
		if(params) {
			for(var key in params) {
				if(params.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
					default_params[key] = encodeURIComponent(params[key]);
				}
			}
		}
		// Build querystring.
		for(var key in default_params) {
			if(default_params[key] && default_params.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
				base_url += '&' + key + '=' + default_params[key];
			}
		}

		return [
			'<iframe marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" hspace="0" vspace="0" frameborder="0"',
			(' allowtransparency="true" src="' + base_url + '"'),
			this._makeAttributes(attributes),
			'</iframe>'].join('');
	};

	this.frameLogin = function(opt_attributes) {
		var params = {};
		var base_url = 'http://disqus.com/embed/login.html';
		var attributes = opt_attributes || {};
		attributes['class'] = 'dsq-post-login';

		if(typeof disqus_frame_theme != 'undefined') {
			params['theme'] = disqus_frame_theme;
		}
		return this._frameGeneric(base_url, params, attributes);
	};

	this.frameReply = function(post_id, extra_params, attributes) {
		// Returns the HTML for a reply iframe. Called by Dsq.Iframes.setReplyIframeToContainer
		var _meta = (typeof post_id != 'undefined') ? Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id] : false;
		var base_url = Dsq.Urls.REPLY;
		var params = {
			'def_email'		: disqus_def_email,
			'def_name'		: disqus_def_name
		};
		if(extra_params) {
			for(var key in extra_params) {
				if(extra_params.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
					params[key] = extra_params[key];
				}
			}
		}
		if(_meta) {
			params['parent_post'] = post_id;
		}
		if(typeof disqus_per_page != 'undefined') {
			params['per_page'] = disqus_per_page;
		}
		if(typeof disqus_frame_theme != 'undefined') {
			params['theme'] = disqus_frame_theme;
		}
		if(Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated) {
			attributes['class'] += '-authenticated';
		}
		return this._frameGeneric(base_url, params, attributes);
	};

	this.frameEdit = function(post_id) {
		var _meta = (typeof post_id != 'undefined') ? Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id] : false;
		var base_url = 'http://disqus.com/embed/edit.html';
		var params = {
			'p' : post_id
		};
		return this._frameGeneric(base_url, params, {'class': 'dsq-post-edit', 'name': 'dsq-edit_' + post_id + '-frame'});
	};

	//
	// Menus
	//

	this.menuMore = function(post_id) {
		// TODO: "Remove post" button should hide menu.
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
		var userData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][_meta.user_key];
		return ' \
			<li><a href="#comment-' + post_id + '" onclick="Dsq.Popup.permalink(' + post_id + ')">Link</a></li> \
			<li><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Popup.popProfile(' + post_id + '); return false;">Profile</a></li>'
	+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.is_moderator || Dsq.jsonData.request.is_global_moderator
		? '	<li class="dsq-menu-sep"></li>' + (_meta.email ? '<li class="dsq-admin-email">' + _meta.email + '</li>' : '')
		+ '	<li class="dsq-admin-ip">' + _meta.ip + '</li> \
			<li class="dsq-menu-sep"></li>'
		+ (Dsq.jsonData.request.moderator_can_edit
			? ' <li class="dsq-admin-edit"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.edit(this, ' + post_id + '); return false;">Edit Comment</a></li>'
			: '')
		+ ' <li class="dsq-remove"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.removePost(' + post_id + ', 1); return false;">Remove Comment</a></li> \
			<li class="dsq-report-spam"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.reportSpam(' + post_id + '); return false;">Mark Spam</a></li> \
			<li class="dsq-block-user"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Popup.blacklist(' + post_id + '); return false">Block User</a></li>'
		: '');
	};

	this.menuMedia = function(post_id) {
		return ' \
			<li><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.toggleMediaReply(this, ' + post_id + ', \'seesmic\'); return false;">Record video</a></li> \
		';
	};

	this.dropProfile = function(post_id) {
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id];
		var userData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][_meta.user_key];

		var _includeServices = function() {
			var userServices = Dsq.Post.getUserServices(null, post_id);
			var html = '';
			var hiddenThreshold = 3; // Define # of services to show before stuffing them in hidden div

			for(var i = 0; i < userServices.length; i++) {
				html +=
				(i == hiddenThreshold
					? '<li id="dsq-drop-hidden-' + post_id +'" class="dsq-drop-hidden"><ul>'
					: '')
				+ '<li class="dsq-drop-services"> \
					<a class="dsq-service-' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '" href="' + userServices[i].url + '" target="_blank"> \
						<img src="' + Dsq.jsonData.media_url + '/images/embed/services/' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '.png" alt="' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '">'
					+ userServices[i].name
					+ '</a> \
				</li>';
			}

			if(i >= hiddenThreshold) {
				html += '</ul></li> \
				<li id="dsq-drop-more-' + post_id + '" class="dsq-drop-more"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Post.dropProfileMore(this, '+ post_id + '); return false"><small>&#9660;</small></a></li> \
				';
			}
			return html;
		};


		var menu = '<li class="dsq-drop-showlnk"><a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Popup.popProfile(' + post_id + '); return false;">Expand &#8663;</a></li>';
		var pointsMessage = '';
		if (userData['registered']) {
			pointsMessage = 'with ' + userData['points'] + ' points (more points are better).';
		}

		if (userData['is_remote']) {
			var domain = userData['remote_domain_name'];
			menu += '<li class="dsq-drop-badge" title="' + userData['display_name'] + ' is a ' + domain + ' user ' + pointsMessage + '" onclick="Dsq.Popup.helpBadges()">';
			menu += '<span class="dsq-badge-' + domain.toLowerCase() + '">' + domain + '</span></li>';
		} else if (userData['registered']) {
			if (userData['verified']) {
				menu += '<li class="dsq-drop-badge" title="' + userData['display_name'] + ' has a verified commenter profile ' + pointsMessage + '" onclick="Dsq.Popup.helpBadges()">';
				menu += '<span class="dsq-badge-verified">Verified</span></li>';
			} else {
				menu += '<li class="dsq-drop-badge" title="' + userData['display_name'] + ' has a registered, but unverified, commenter profile ' + pointsMessage + '" onclick="Dsq.Popup.helpBadges()">';
				menu += '<span class="dsq-badge-registered">Registered</span></li>';
			}
		} else {
			menu += '<li class="dsq-drop-badge" title="' + userData['display_name'] + ' has not claimed this commenter profile." onclick="Dsq.Popup.helpBadges()"><span class="dsq-badge-guest">Guest</span></li>';
		}

		menu += _includeServices();
		return menu;
	};

	//
	// Popups
	//

	this._popupGeneric = function(content) {
		return ' \
		<div class="dsq-popup-content"> \
			<div class="dsq-popup-top"></div> \
			<div class="dsq-popup-body" class="clearfix"> \
				<div class="dsq-popup-body-padding"> \
					<div class="dsq-popup-header"> \
						<a class="dsq-close-link" href="#" onclick="Dsq.Popup._closePopup(null, true); return false"><img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/modal-close.png" alt="" /></a>'
						+ content['header']
					+ '</div>'
					+ content['body']
					+ '<div class="powered-by"><a href="http://disqus.com/comments/">Powered by <img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/embed/disqus-logo.png" alt="Disqus Comments" style="margin-bottom:-5px" /></a></div> \
				</div> <!-- padding --> \
			</div> <!-- body --> \
			<div class="dsq-popup-bottom"></div> \
		</div> \
		';
	};

	this.popupProfile = function(user_key) {
		var userServices = Dsq.Post.getUserServices(user_key, null);
		var userData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][user_key];
		var headerHtml = '';
		var bodyHtml = '';
		var content = {};

		var _includeServices = function() {
			var html = '';
			for(var i = 0; i < userServices.length; i++) {
				html +=
				(i == 0
					? '<h4>Connections</h4><ul>'
					: '')
				+ '<li> \
					<img src="' + Dsq.jsonData.media_url + '/images/embed/services/' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '.png" alt="' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '" title="' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '" /> \
					<a class="dsq-service-' + userServices[i].name.toLowerCase() + '" href="' + userServices[i].url + '" target="_blank">'
					+ userServices[i].name
					+ '</a> \
				</li>'
				+ (i+1 == userServices.length ? '</ul>' : '');
			}
			return html;
		};

		headerHtml = ' \
			<table> \
				<tr> \
					<td> \
						<a class="dsq-profile-userurl" href="' + userData.url + '"><img class="dsq-popup-profile-avatar" src="' + userData['avatar'] + '" alt="" /></a> \
					</td> \
					<td> \
						<div class="dsq-popup-profile-user"> \
							<h3>' + userData['display_name'] + '</h3> \
							<div class="dsq-popup-profile-user-stats" id="dsq-popup-profile-user-stats-' + user_key + '">Loading...</div> \
						</div> \
					</td> \
				</tr> \
			</table> \
		';

		bodyHtml = ' \
			<div class="dsq-popup-profile-state"> \
				This is a&nbsp;<span class="'
					+ (userData['registered']
						? (userData['verified']
							? ' dsq-badge-verified'
							: (userData['is_remote']
								? ' dsq-badge-' + userData['remote_domain_name'].toLowerCase()
								: ' dsq-badge-registered')
							)
							: ' dsq-badge-guest') + '">'
			+ (userData['registered']
				? (userData['verified']
					? 'Verified'
					: (userData['is_remote']
						 ? userData['remote_domain_name']
						 : 'Registered')
					)
				: 'Guest')
			+ '</span>&nbsp;commenter profile.'
			+ '&nbsp;<a class="dsq-profile-userurl" href="' + userData.url + '"><strong>View more comments </strong></a>'
			+ (!userData['points']
				? '<p class="dsq-popup-notice">If this is you, <a href="http://disqus.com/profile" target="_blank">claim it now</a> to manage your comments.</p>'
				: '')
			+ ((userData['registered'] && !userData['verified'] && (Dsq.jsonData.request.username && (Dsq.jsonData.request.username == userData['username'])) && !userData['is_remote'])
				? '<p class="dsq-popup-notice"><strong>Alert</strong>: You have not verified this account. <a href="http://disqus.com/verify">Verify it now.</a></p>'
				: '')
			+ '</div> \
			<div id="dsq-profile-status-' + user_key + '" class="dsq-popup-profile-status" style="display:none"></div> \
			<div class="dsq-popup-profile-snapshot"> \
				<table> \
					<tr> \
						<td> \
							<div id="dsq-popup-profile-active-sites-wrapper-' + user_key + '"> \
								<h4>Most active sites</h4> \
								<ul id="dsq-popup-profile-active-sites-' + user_key + '"> \
									<li>Loading...</li> \
								</ul> \
							</div> \
						</td> \
						<td>'
							+ _includeServices()
							+ '<div id="dsq-popup-profile-moderated-wrapper-' + user_key + '"> \
								<h4>Moderator of</h4> \
								<ul id="dsq-popup-profile-moderated-' + user_key + '"> \
									<li>Loading...</li> \
								</ul> \
							</div> \
						</td> \
					</tr> \
				</table> \
			</div> \
			';

		content = {
			'header': headerHtml,
			'body': bodyHtml
		};

		return this._popupGeneric(content);
	};

	this.popupReblog = function() {
		var headerHtml = '';
		var bodyHtml = '';
		var content = {};

		headerHtml = ' \
			<cite><span>Reblog this comment</span></cite> \
		';

		bodyHtml = ' \
			<div id="dsq-reblog-form" class="dsq-reblog-form"> \
			</div> \
		';

		content = {
			'header': headerHtml,
			'body': bodyHtml
		};

		return this._popupGeneric(content);
	};

	this.popupModal = function(title, message) {
		var headerHtml = '';
		var bodyHtml = '';
		var content = {};

		headerHtml = ' \
			<h3>' + title + '</h3> \
		';

		bodyHtml = message;

		content = {
			'header': headerHtml,
			'body': bodyHtml
		};

		return this._popupGeneric(content);
	};

	this.alertContent = function(name, post_id) {
		var alert = {
			'post_not_approved': {
				'title': 'Comment awaiting approval by a moderator',
				'message': 'Thanks for posting. Your comment must be approved by a moderator before appearing here.'
			},
			'post_has_profile': {
				'title': 'Use your existing commenter profile',
				'message': 'You have just posted your commment as a <span class="dsq-badge dsq-badge-guest">Guest</span>, but you may already have a <span class="dsq-badge dsq-badge-registered">Registered</span> commenter profile.<br /><br /><a href="http://disqus.com/claim">Log in and claim this comment!</a>'
			}
		};
		return alert[name] || false;
	};

	//
	// Actions
	//

	this.voted = function(post_id, points, vote) {
		// Update number of points
		Dsq.$('dsq-points-' + post_id).innerHTML = points + Dsq.Utils.pluralize(points, ' person', ' people') + ' liked this comment.';

		// Update link text
		if(vote) {
			Dsq.$('dsq-rate-cont-' + post_id).innerHTML = 'You liked this.';
		}
	};

	this.subscribed = function(status) {
		var title, message;

		if(status) {
			title = 'Subscribed!';
			message = 'You have subscribed to this comment thread. New comments will be sent directly to your email inbox, where you may read and respond by email.';
			Dsq.$('dsq-subscribe').innerHTML = ' \
				<a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Thread.subscribe(0); return false">Unsubscribe</a> \
			';
		} else {
			title = 'Unsubscribed';
			message = 'You have unsubscribed to this comment thread. New comments will no longer be sent to your email inbox.';
			Dsq.$('dsq-subscribe').innerHTML = ' \
				<a href="#" onclick="Dsq.Thread.subscribe(1); return false">Subscribe by email</a> \
			';
		}

		Dsq.Popup.popModal(message, title);

	};
	
	this.highlighted = function() {
		Dsq.Popup.popModal('This comment has been highlighted.', 'Highlighted comment');
	};

	//
	// Media
	//

	this.mediaSeesmic = function(id, thumb) {
		return ' \
			<div id="dsq-seesmic-' + id + '_preview" class="dsq-seesmic-preview"><a href="http://www.seesmic.com/video/' + id + '" target="_blank" class="see_link">&nbsp;</a> \
				<div style="display:block;width:160px; height:120px; border:none; background-image:url(http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/' + thumb + ')"> \
					<div id="dsq-seesmic-' + id + '_hide" class="seePlayOverlay" style="display:none;"><img onclick="see_play_video(\'' + id + '\',false)" src="http://media.disqus.com/images/seesmic/stopOverlay.png" width="50" height="50" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; padding-top: 30px; padding-left: 50px" alt="" /></div> \
					<div id="dsq-seesmic-' + id + '_show" class="seePlayOverlay"><img onclick="see_play_video(\'' + id + '\',true)" src="http://media.disqus.com/images/seesmic/playOverlay.png" width="50" height="50" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand; border:none; padding-top: 30px; padding-left: 50px" alt="" /></div> \
				</div> \
			</div> \
			<div id="' + id + '_content" style="display:block; width:100%; padding-top:5px"></div> \
		';
	};

	//
	// Callbacks
	//

	this.postComment_onSuccess = function(parent_post_id) {
		// Increment post count
		var num_posts = Dsq.$('dsq-num-posts');
		var total_posts = Dsq.$('dsq-total-posts');
		
		if (num_posts) { 
			num_posts.innerHTML = parseInt(num_posts.innerHTML) + 1;
		}
		if (total_posts) { 
			total_posts.innerHTML = parseInt(total_posts.innerHTML) + 1;
		}
	};
};
// Dsq.Templates


/**
 * Dsq.Post
 */
Dsq.Post = new function() {
	this.openedMenu = {};
	this.menuEventListener = null;
	this.stateReplyToggled = {};
	this.stateEditToggled = {};
	this.stateRecordLink = {};

	/**
	 * Inserts a new post into the document.
	 *
	 * @param after_id {Number}	Insert a post before specified id.  If after_id
	 *							evaluates to false, then post in the front.  If
	 *							after_id is -1, post at the end.
	 */
	this.insert = function(after_id, id, message, author) {
		// Skeleton template from thread_posts.html.
		var skeleton = ' \
			<li id="dsq-comment-%(id)s"> \
				<div id="dsq-comment-header-%(id)s" class="dsq-comment-header"> \
					<cite id="dsq-cite-%(id)s" class="dsq-comment-cite"> \
						<a id="dsq-author-user-%(id)s" href="%(author_url)s" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">%(author_name)s</a> \
					</cite> \
				</div> \
				<div id="dsq-comment-body-%(id)s" class="dsq-comment-body"> \
					<div id="dsq-comment-message-%(id)s" class="dsq-comment-message">%(message)s</div> \
				</div> \
			</li> \
		';
		var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[id];
		var _user_meta = Dsq.jsonData.users[_meta.user_key];
		var markup = Dsq.Utils.interpolate(skeleton, {
			id: id,
			message: message,
			author_url: _user_meta.blog,
			author_name: _user_meta.display_name
		});
		var div = document.createElement('div');
		markup = markup.replace(Dsq.COMMENTS_RE, Dsq.CommentsHandler);
		div.innerHTML = markup;

		if (after_id === -1) {
			Dsq.$('dsq-comments').appendChild(div);
		} else if (!after_id) {
			Dsq.$('dsq-comments').insertBefore(div, Dsq.$('dsq-comments').firstChild);
		} else if (Dsq.$('dsq-comment-' + after_id)) {
			// Get next node after "after_id", so we can insert before it.
			// If "after_id" is the last comment, the target node is the
			// last node.
			
			// var append_post_id = Dsq.Templates.appendPost(after_id).replace('<div id="','').replace('"></div>', '');
			var append_post_id = 'dsq-append-post-' + after_id;
			var node = Dsq.$(append_post_id);
			while (node = node.nextSibling) {
				if (!node || node.nodeType == 1) { // 1 == Node.ELEMENT_NODE
					break;
				}
			}
			if (!node) {
				node = Dsq.$(append_post_id);
			}
			node.parentNode.insertBefore(div, node);
		}
	};

	this.incrementPostCount = function() {
		
		var num_posts = Dsq.$('dsq-num-posts');
		var total_posts = Dsq.$('dsq-total-posts');

		if (num_posts) {
			num_posts.innerHTML = parseInt(num_posts.innerHTML, 10) + 1;
		}
		if (total_posts) {
			total_posts.innerHTML = parseInt(total_posts.innerHTML, 10) + 1;
		}
	}
	
	this.outlineComment = function(post_id) {
		Dsq.$('dsq-comment-' + post_id).className += ' dsq-comment-outline';
		setTimeout("(function () { Dsq.Post.clearOutlineComment(" + post_id + ") })()", 3000);
	};
	
	this.clearOutlineComment = function(post_id) {
		Dsq.$('dsq-comment-' + post_id).className = Dsq.$('dsq-comment-' + post_id).className.replace('dsq-comment-outline', '');
	};

	this.showMenu = function(el, id, name) {
		var anchorPos = Dsq.Utils.findPos(el);
		var menu = document.createElement('ul');

		if(this.openedMenu) {
			if(this.openedMenu.linkClicked) {
				this.openedMenu.linkClicked = false;
				return;
			}
		}

		switch(name) {
			case 'more':
				menu.innerHTML = Dsq.Templates.menuMore(id);
				break;
			case 'media':
				menu.innerHTML = Dsq.Templates.menuMedia(id);
				break;
			default:
				break;
		}

		// Add menu to document body
		menu.id = 'dsq-menu-' + id;
		menu.className = 'dsq-menu';
		Dsq.$b.appendChild(menu);

		// Position and show
		anchorPos[1] += 15;
		menu.style.left = anchorPos[0] + 'px';
		menu.style.top = anchorPos[1] + 'px';
		menu.style.display = 'block';

		// Set global reference
		this.openedMenu = {
			'el' : menu,
			'id' : id,
			'name' : name,
			'linkClicked' : false
		};

		// Set listener
		this.menuEventListener = Dsq.Utils.addEventListener(document, 'mouseup', this._hideMenu);
	};

	this._hideMenu = function(e) {
		var el = e.target || e.srcElement;
		var openedMenu = Dsq.Post.openedMenu.el;
		var id = Dsq.Post.openedMenu.id;

		if(!id) {
			var link = 'dsq-' + Dsq.Post.openedMenu.name + '-link';
		} else {
			var link = 'dsq-' + Dsq.Post.openedMenu.name + '-link-' + id;
		}

		if(!openedMenu) {
			return;
		}

		if(!Dsq.Popup.isClicked(e, openedMenu.id)) {
			openedMenu.style.display = 'none';
			Dsq.Utils.removeEventListener(Dsq.Post.menuEventListener);
			Dsq.Utils.deleteNode(openedMenu);

		} else {
			// Hide the menu if a link was clicked inside the menu.  We can't
			// completely remove the menu until the onclick event on the link
			// fires, but the menuEventListener will prevent multiple menus
			// from polluting the DOM.
			if(el && typeof el.href != 'undefined') {
				openedMenu.style.display = 'none';
				Dsq.Post.openedMenu.el = null;
			}
		}

		if(Dsq.Popup.isClicked(e, link)) {
 			Dsq.Post.openedMenu.linkClicked = true;
		}
	};


	this.getUserServices = function(user_key, id) {
		if(!user_key && id) {
			var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[id];
			user_key = _meta.user_key;
		}
		var userData = Dsq.jsonData['users'][user_key];
		var userServices = [];

		// Keep a full list of supported services. This is the order they will display in the drop-profile.
		// Each service must have a corresponding case in _buildServiceUrl()
		var supportedServices = ['blog', 'twitter', 'facebook', 'tumblr'];

		function _buildServiceUrl(serviceName) {
			var data = userData[serviceName];
			var services = {
				blog:		function(d) { return d; },
				twitter:	function(d) { return d; },
				facebook:	function(d) { return d; },
				tumblr:		function(d) { return 'http://' + d + '.tumblr.com'; }
			};
			return services[serviceName](data);
		}

		for(var i = 0; i < supportedServices.length; i++) {
			if(userData[supportedServices[i]]) {
				var serviceUrl = _buildServiceUrl(supportedServices[i]);
				userServices.push({'name' : supportedServices[i], 'url' : serviceUrl});
			}
		}
		return userServices;
	}

	this.dropProfile = function(id) {
		var dp = Dsq.$('dsq-drop-profile-' + id);

		// IE6 needs JS to display/hide. All other browsers use CSS.
		if(dp) {
			if(Dsq.Utils.ie6) dp.style.display = (dp.style.display == 'inline') ? 'none' : 'inline';
			return false;
		} else {
			dp = document.createElement('ul');
		}

		dp.id = 'dsq-drop-profile-' + id;
		dp.className = 'dsq-drop-profile';

		if(Dsq.Utils.ie6) { dp.style.display = 'inline'; }

		var container = Dsq.$('dsq-header-avatar-' + id);
		dp.innerHTML = Dsq.Templates.dropProfile(id);
		container.appendChild(dp);
	};

	this.dropProfileMore = function(el, id) {
		var hiddenItems = Dsq.$('dsq-drop-hidden-' + id);

		hiddenItems.style.display = 'inline';
		el.parentNode.style.display = 'none';
	};

	this._updateReplyLinks = function(el, id) {
		// Update "reply / cancel" links based on state.
		var displayDict = {};

		if(id) {
			if(this.stateReplyToggled[id]) {
				el.innerHTML = 'Cancel';
				displayDict['media'] = 'inline';
				displayDict['edit'] = 'none';
			} else {
				el.innerHTML = 'Reply';
				displayDict['media'] = 'none';
				displayDict['edit'] = 'inline';
			}
		}

		for(var key in displayDict) {
			if(displayDict.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
				var	linkEl = Dsq.$('dsq-' + key + '-el-' + id),
					spacer = Dsq.$('dsq-' + key + '-spacer-' + id);

				if(linkEl) {
					linkEl.style.display = displayDict[key];
					if(spacer) spacer.style.display = displayDict[key];
				}
			}
		}
	};

	this._updateMediaLinks = function(el, id) {
		// Update "use media / cancel" links based on state.
		var appendId = (id) ? ('-' + id) : '';
		var link = Dsq.$('dsq-media-link' + appendId);

		if(this.stateRecordLink[id]) {
			link.innerHTML = 'Cancel Media';
			link.onclick = function() { Dsq.Post.toggleMediaReply(link, id); return false; };
		} else {
			link.innerHTML = 'Use Media <small>&#9660;</small>';
			link.onclick = function() { Dsq.Post.showMenu(link, id, 'media'); return false; };
		}
	};

	this.toggleReply = function(el, id) {
		// Create reply IFrame
		if (window.disqus_use_postmessage) {
			if (!this.stateReplyToggled[id]) {
				Dsq.$('dsq-reply-' + id).style.display = 'block';
				Dsq.$('dsq-reply-bar-' + id).style.display = 'block';
				// Create IFrame if it doesn't exist.
				if (!Dsq.frames['reply_' + id]) {
					var _meta = Dsq.jsonData.posts[id];
					Dsq.frames['reply_' + id] = new Dsq.ReplyFrame(Dsq.$('dsq-reply-frame-' + id), id);
					Dsq.frames['reply_' + id].init();
					Dsq.frames['reply_' + id].setState(id, _meta.depth);
				}
			} else {
				Dsq.$('dsq-reply-' + id).style.display = 'none';
				Dsq.$('dsq-reply-bar-' + id).style.display = 'none';
			}
		} else {
			// DEPRECATED
			if(!this.stateReplyToggled[id]) {
				// Reply toolbar
				Dsq.$('dsq-reply-bar-' + id).style.display = 'block';
				Dsq.Iframes.showReplyIframeInContainerIfAllowed(Dsq.$('dsq-reply-' + id), id);
			} else {
				Dsq.$('dsq-reply-bar-' + id).style.display = 'none';
				Dsq.Iframes.hideAllInContainer(Dsq.$('dsq-reply-' + id));
				if(this.stateRecordLink[id]) {
					// HACK: Cancel media before canceling self.
					this.toggleMediaReply(Dsq.$('dsq-media-link-' + id), id);
				}
			}
		}

		this.stateReplyToggled[id] = !this.stateReplyToggled[id];
		this._updateReplyLinks(el, id);

		if(Dsq.Utils.ie) { Dsq.Utils.fixIframesIE('dsq-reply-' + id); }

		Dsq.Events.fire(Dsq.Events.REPLY_IFRAME_TOGGLED, {
			postId: id,
			opened: this.stateReplyToggled[id]
		});
	};

	this.toggleMediaReply = function(el, id, xtype) {
		id = id || 0;
		if(id) {
			var container = Dsq.$('dsq-reply-' + id);
		} else {
			var container = Dsq.$('dsq-post-add');
		}

		if(!this.stateRecordLink[id]) {
			Dsq.Iframes.showReplyIframeInContainer(container, id, {xtype:xtype}, 'dsq-post-video');
		} else {
			Dsq.Iframes.showReplyIframeInContainer(container, id);
		}
		this.stateRecordLink[id] = !this.stateRecordLink[id];
		this._updateMediaLinks(el, id);

		if(Dsq.Utils.ie) { Dsq.Utils.fixIframesIE(); }
	};

	this.edit = function(el, id) {
		Dsq.$('dsq-comment-message-' + id).innerHTML = Dsq.Templates.frameEdit(id);
		el.parentNode.style.display = 'none';
		if(Dsq.Utils.ie) { Dsq.Utils.fixIframesIE('dsq-comment-message-' + id); }
	};

    this.rate = function(el, id, vote) {
		if(Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated || Dsq.jsonData.forum.allow_anon_votes) {
			if(vote == 1) {
                Dsq.$('dsq-rate-cont-' + id).innerHTML = '<img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/loading-small.gif">';
            }

            Dsq.Utils.execScript('http://disqus.com/forums/washingtonindependent/vote.js'
                + '?post_id='    + id
                + '&vote='        + vote);

		} else {
			Dsq.Popup.login(Dsq.Strings.TO_RATE_PLEASE_LOG_IN);
		}
    };

	this.report = function(id, confirmed) {
		if(confirmed) {
			Dsq.Utils.postToUrl('http://disqus.com/forums/washingtonindependent/batman8217s_8216dark_knight8217_reflects_cheney_policy/post_report/', {'post_id': id});
			Dsq.Popup.popModal('Thank you. This comment has been flagged for moderator attention.', 'Successfully flagged');
			Dsq.Utils.deleteNode(Dsq.$('dsq-post-report-' + id));
		} else {
			var title = Dsq.Strings.FLAG_INAPPROPRIATE_COMMENT;
			var message = Dsq.Strings.ARE_YOU_SURE_YOU_WOULD_LIKE_TO_REPORT_THIS_COMMENT_TO_A_MODERATOR + '? \
			<br /><br /> \
			<button onclick="Dsq.Popup._closePopup(null, true)"><strong>' + Dsq.Strings.NO + '</strong>, ' + Dsq.Strings.NEVER_MIND + '</button>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<button onclick="Dsq.Post.report(' + id + ', true);"><strong>' + Dsq.Strings.YES + '</strong>, ' + Dsq.Strings.FLAG_INAPPROPRIATE_COMMENT + '</button><br /><br />'
			+ Dsq.Strings.THIS_WILL_FLAG_COMMENTS_FOR_MODERATORS_TO_TAKE_ACTION + '. \
			';

			Dsq.Popup.popModal(message, title, id);
		}
	};



	this.showAlert = function(id, msg) {
		var msgEl = Dsq.$('dsq-comment-message-' + id);
		var alert = '<div class="dsq-comment-alert">' + msg + '</div>';

		msgEl.innerHTML = alert + msgEl.innerHTML;
	};

};
// Dsq.Post


/**
 * Dsq.Thread
 */
Dsq.Thread = new function() {
	this.fc = null;
	this.ff = null;
	this.ac = null;

	
	this.adminIsOn = false;

	
	
	

	this.hlComment = null;
	this.hlCommentClass = null;

	this.getNextComment = function(el) {
		var start_id = el.id;
		while(el = el.nextSibling) {
			if(el.id && el.id.indexOf('dsq-comment-') != -1 && el.id != start_id) {
				return el;
			}
		}
		return null;
	};

	this.getActiveCommentId = function() {
		if (document.URL.indexOf('#comment-') >= 0) {
			var anchor = document.URL.slice(document.URL.indexOf('#') + 1);
			return anchor.replace('comment-', '');
		}
		return null;
	};

	this.highlightAnchor = function() {
		var i = this.getActiveCommentId();
		if (i == null) return false;
		var id = 'dsq-comment-' + i;
		var hash = window.location.hash;

		// Toggle the hash incase the comment isn't available when the page loads
		// for WebKit-based browsers.
		if (Dsq.Utils.webkit) {
			window.location.hash = '';
			window.location.hash = hash;
		}

		this.hlComment = Dsq.$(id);
		// Adding this conditional guard pending #289
		if (!this.hlComment) {
			return;
		}
		this.hlCommentClass = this.hlComment.className;
		this.hlComment.className += ' dsq-hl-anchor';

		setTimeout("Dsq.Thread.highlightClear()", 3000);
	};

	this.highlightClear = function() {
		if (!this.hlComment) {
			return;
		}
		this.hlComment.className = this.hlCommentClass;
	};

	this.login = function(toggle) {
		// toggle id is #dsq-reply-login-[id]
		var postId;
		if(toggle.id.indexOf('dsq-reply-login') != -1) {
			postId = toggle.id.slice(16);
			var container = Dsq.$('dsq-reply-' + postId);
		} else {
			var container = Dsq.$('dsq-post-add');
		}

		if(toggle) {
			if(toggle.className == 'dsq-login-active') {
				Dsq.Iframes.showReplyIframeInContainerIfAllowed(container, postId);
				toggle.className = '';
			} else {
				Dsq.Iframes.showLoginIframeInContainer(container, postId);
				toggle.className = 'dsq-login-active';
			}
		} else {
			Dsq.Iframes.showLoginIframeInContainer(container, postId);
		}

		if(Dsq.Utils.ie) { Dsq.Utils.fixIframesIE(); }
	};


	this.paginate = function(page, el_clicked, per_page) {
		// Use extra_params to pass any override parameters that we need to persist.
		var extra_params = '';

		// "Per page" can either be overriden by providing it as an argument
		// (per-call) or setting the disqus_per_page override variable (global).
		if(typeof per_page == 'undefined') {
			per_page = null;
		}
		if(typeof disqus_per_page != 'undefined' && per_page === null) {
			per_page = disqus_per_page;
		}

		if(typeof disqus_sort != 'undefined') {
			extra_params += '&sort=' + disqus_sort;
		}
		if(per_page !== null) {
			extra_params += '&per_page=' + per_page;
		}

		Dsq.$('dsq-pagination').innerHTML += '<img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/loading-small.gif">';
		
		if(el_clicked) {
			el_clicked.style.display = 'none';
		}
		
		Dsq.Utils.execScript('http://disqus.com/forums/washingtonindependent/thread.js'
			+ '?slug='	+ 'batman8217s_8216dark_knight8217_reflects_cheney_policy'
			+ '&p='		+ page
			+ extra_params);
	};

	this.sortBy = function(sort) {
		var disqus_script = document.createElement('script');
		var disqus_date = new Date();

		if (location.hash != '') {
			location.hash = '#disqus_thread';
		}

		if(typeof(disqus_url) == 'undefined') {
			disqus_url = disqus_href;
		}
		disqus_script.type = 'text/javascript';
		disqus_script.src = 'http://disqus.com/forums/washingtonindependent/thread.js'
			+ '?slug='	+ 'batman8217s_8216dark_knight8217_reflects_cheney_policy'
			+ '&sort='	+ sort
			+ '&title='
			+ '&'		+ disqus_date.getTime();

		Dsq.$('dsq-comments').innerHTML = '<img src="http://media.disqus.com/images/loading.gif">';
		Dsq.container.appendChild(disqus_script);
	};

	this.subscribe = function(status, email) {
		// `status` is an int -- 1 to subscribe, 0 to unsubscribe
		if(Dsq.jsonData.request.is_authenticated || email) {
			// If authenticated user OR anonymous email provided

			if(email) {
				Dsq.Popup._closePopup(null, true);
			}

			Dsq.Utils.execScript('http://disqus.com/forums/washingtonindependent/subscribe.js'
				+'?status=' 	+ status
				+ '&slug='		+ 'batman8217s_8216dark_knight8217_reflects_cheney_policy'
				+ '&email=' 	+ encodeURIComponent(email));

		} else if(!email) {
			// If anonymous user and no email has been provided yet, prompt for email

			var title = 'Subscribe to this comment thread';
			var message = ' \
				New comments will be sent directly to your email inbox! \
				<div class="dsq-subscribe-submit"> \
					<p><strong>Enter your email address below.</strong></p> \
					<input type="text" id="dsq-subscribe-email"> \
					<button onclick="Dsq.Thread.subscribe(1, Dsq.$(\'dsq-subscribe-email\').value)">Subscribe</button> \
				</div> \
			';

			Dsq.Popup.popModal(message, title);
		}
	};

	this.showSettings = function() {
		if (!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_moderator) {
			return;
		}

		/* The form has to be re-designed when more options will come out. */
		var html = 'Automatically close comments after <input size="3" id="dsq-thread-days-alive" value="' + Dsq.jsonData.thread.days_alive + '" type="text" /> days. Existing comments will still be displayed.<br /><br />(Using 0 days will disable this feature)<br /><br />'
								 + '<button onclick="Dsq.Thread.updateDaysAlive();" class="dsq-button-small"><span>Save</span></button>'
								 + '<span id="dsq-thread-settings-status" class="dsq-options-status"></span>';
		Dsq.Popup.popModal(html, 'Settings');
	};

	this.updateDaysAlive = function() {
		var days = Dsq.$('dsq-thread-days-alive').value;
		var status = Dsq.$('dsq-thread-settings-status');
		Dsq.Utils.postToUrl('http://disqus.com/forums/washingtonindependent/update_days_alive.js', {days:days,thread:Dsq.jsonData.thread.id});
		status.innerHTML = 'Saved!';
		window.setTimeout(function() { status.innerHTML = ''; }, 1000);
	};
};
// Dsq.Thread

Dsq.Events = function() {
	var obj = {};

	// Private
	var handlers = {};
	var getHandlers = function(event) {
		if (handlers[event] === undefined) {
			handlers[event] = [];
		}
		return handlers[event];
	};

	// Public
	// Value keys : postId, node, xtype
	obj.REPLY_IFRAME_CREATED = 1;
	// Value keys : postId, opened
	obj.REPLY_IFRAME_TOGGLED = 2;
	obj.fire = function(event, opt_value) {
		if (!event) {
			throw new Error('Unknown event');
		}
		var value = opt_value || {};
		for (var i=0; i<getHandlers(event).length; i++) {
			getHandlers(event)[i](value);
		}
	};
	obj.addHandler = function(event, callback) {
		getHandlers(event).push(callback);
	};

	return obj;
}();

/**
 * Dsq.Realtime
 */
Dsq.Realtime = new function() {
	var initialized = false;
	var interval = null;
	var last_checked = Dsq.jsonData.request.timestamp;
	var new_posts = [];
	var ongoing_request = false;
	var prev_script = null;

	function updateNewPostCount() {
		Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-alert').style.display = new_posts.length ? 'block' : 'none';

		Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-queued').innerHTML = new_posts.length
		+ ' new '
		+ Dsq.Utils.pluralize(new_posts.length, 'comment', 'comments')
		+ Dsq.Utils.pluralize(new_posts.length, ' was', ' were')
		+ ' just posted.';

		Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-show').innerHTML = '(' + Dsq.Strings.SHOW + ')';
	}

	function insertNewPosts() {
		var post_id = null;
		var after_id = Dsq.$('dsq-sort-select').value === 'oldest' ? -1 : null;

		for (var i=0; i<new_posts.length; i++) {
			post_id = new_posts[i];
			Dsq.Post.insert(after_id, post_id, Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id].message);
			Dsq.Post.incrementPostCount();
			Dsq.Post.outlineComment(post_id);
		}
		new_posts = [];
	}

	this.enableInterval = function() {
		interval = setInterval(Dsq.Realtime.check, Dsq.jsonData.context.realtime_speed);
		Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-status').innerHTML = Dsq.Strings.ENABLED;
		Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-toggle').innerHTML = '(' + Dsq.Strings.PAUSE + ')';
	}

	this.disableInterval = function() {
		if (interval) {
			clearInterval(interval);
			interval = null;
		}
		Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-status').innerHTML = Dsq.Strings.PAUSED;
		Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-toggle').innerHTML = '(' + Dsq.Strings.RESUME + ')';
	}

	this.toggleInterval = function() {
		if (!interval) {
			Dsq.Realtime.enableInterval();
		} else {
			Dsq.Realtime.disableInterval();
		}
		return false;
	}

	this.initialize = function() {
		if (!initialized) {
			initialized = true;
			Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-toggle').onclick = this.toggleInterval;
			if (!Dsq.jsonData.forum.streaming_realtime) {
				Dsq.$('dsq-realtime-show').onclick = this.show;
				updateNewPostCount();
			}
			if (Dsq.jsonData.thread.realtime_paused) {
				Dsq.Realtime.disableInterval();
			} else {
				Dsq.Realtime.enableInterval();
			}
		}
	}

	this.show = function() {
		insertNewPosts();
		updateNewPostCount();
		return false;
	}

	this.check = function() {
		if (!ongoing_request && Dsq.jsonData.realtime_enabled) {
			if (prev_script) {
				prev_script.parentNode.removeChild(prev_script);
			}
			ongoing_request = true;
			prev_script = Dsq.Utils.execScript('http://disqus.com/forums/3621805/realtime.js?timestamp=' + last_checked);
		}
	};

	this.update = function(timestamp, posts, users) {
		ongoing_request = false;
		last_checked = timestamp;

		if (users) {
			for (var user_id in users) {
				if (users.hasOwnProperty(user_id)) {
					if (!Dsq.jsonData.users[user_id]) {
						Dsq.jsonData.users[user_id] = users[user_id];
					}
				}
			}
		}

		if (posts) {
			for (var post_id in posts) {
				if (posts.hasOwnProperty(post_id)) {
					if (!Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id]) {
						Dsq.jsonData.posts[post_id] = posts[post_id];
						new_posts.push(post_id);
					}
				}
			}

			if (Dsq.jsonData.forum.streaming_realtime) {
				insertNewPosts();
			} else {
				updateNewPostCount();
			}
		}
	};

}();

// DEPRECATED
Dsq.Iframes = function() {
	// Different style of object from the above. Hoping to switch to this for some reason.
	var obj = {};

	// Private
	var showIframeInContainer = function(container, id, markup) {
		// Look through container for iframes, hiding them, except show one that matches id
		// If none of them matched id, create a new iframe using markup and insert it.
		// Returns the iframe node if and only if it was newly created.
		var found = false;
		for (var i=0; i<container.childNodes.length; i++) {
			var child = container.childNodes[i];
			if (child.nodeName == 'IFRAME') {
				if (child.id == id) {
					child.style.display = 'block';
					found = true;
				} else {
					child.style.display = 'none';
				}
			}
		}
		if (found) {
			return;
		}
		// The iframe wasn't found, so construct it and add it to the container.
		// Don't use innerHTML because it might reload iframes
		var div = document.createElement('div');
		div.innerHTML = markup;
		var iframe = div.childNodes[0];
		div.removeChild(iframe);
		container.appendChild(iframe);
		return iframe;
	};

	// Public
	obj.makeReplyIframeId = function(opt_postId, opt_xtype) {
		var id = 'dsq-post-add-iframe';
		if (opt_xtype) {
			id += '-' + opt_xtype;
		}
		if (opt_postId) {
			id += '-' + opt_postId;
		}
		return id;
	};
	obj.makeLoginIframeId = function(opt_postId) {
		if (!opt_postId) {
			return 'dsq-login-iframe';
		}
		return 'dsq-login-iframe-' + opt_postId;
	};
	obj.makeReplyIframeName = function(opt_postId, opt_xtype) {
		var name = 'dsq-reply-frame';
		if (opt_xtype) {
			name += '-' + opt_xtype;
		}
		if (opt_postId) {
			name += '-' + opt_postId;
		}
		return name;
	};
	obj.showReplyIframeInContainer = function(container, opt_postId, opt_extraParams, opt_className) {
		// Construct the id so we can check if it's already present.
		// Hide any other iframes we find, and show this one if it's found.
		var params = opt_extraParams || {};
		// use xtype in the id and name so we can distinguish media replies from text replies:
		var id = Dsq.Iframes.makeReplyIframeId(opt_postId, params.xtype);
		var name = Dsq.Iframes.makeReplyIframeName(opt_postId, params.xtype);
		var attributes = {
			'id': id,
			'name': name,
			'class': opt_className || 'dsq-post-reply'
			};
		var markup = Dsq.Templates.frameReply(opt_postId, opt_extraParams, attributes);
		var iframe = showIframeInContainer(container, id, markup);
		// It was newly created
		if (iframe) {
			Dsq.Events.fire(Dsq.Events.REPLY_IFRAME_CREATED, {
				postId: opt_postId,
				node: iframe,
				xtype: params.xtype
			});
		}
	};
	obj.showLoginIframeInContainer = function(container, opt_postId) {
		var id = Dsq.Iframes.makeLoginIframeId(opt_postId);
		var markup = Dsq.Templates.frameLogin({id: id});
		showIframeInContainer(container, id, markup);
	};
	obj.showReplyIframeInContainerIfAllowed = function(container, opt_postId) {
		if (Dsq.jsonData.context.show_reply) {
			obj.showReplyIframeInContainer(container, opt_postId);
		} else {
			obj.hideAllInContainer(container);
		}
	};
	obj.hideAllInContainer = function(container) {
		for (var i=0; i<container.childNodes.length; i++) {
			var child = container.childNodes[i];
			if (child.nodeName == 'IFRAME') {
				child.style.display = 'none';
			}
		}
	};

	return obj;
}();

Dsq.Twitter = new function() {
	var that = this;

	this.startTwitterConnect = function() {
		var popupParams = 'location=0,status=0,width=800,height=400';
		that._twitterWindow = window.open(Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + '/_ax/twitter/begin/', 'twitterWindow', popupParams);
		that._twitterInterval = window.setInterval(that.completeTwitterConnect, 1000);
	};

	this.completeTwitterConnect = function() {
		if (that._twitterWindow.closed) {
			window.clearInterval(that._twitterInterval);
			window.location.reload();
		}
	};
};

Dsq.Yahoo = new function() {
	var that = this;

	this.startYahooConnect = function() {
		var popupParams = 'location=0,status=0,width=800,height=400';
		that._yahooWindow = window.open(Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + '/_ax/yahoo/begin/', 'yahooWindow', popupParams);
		that._yahooInterval = window.setInterval(that.completeYahooConnect, 1000);
	};

	this.completeYahooConnect = function() {
		if (that._yahooWindow.closed) {
			window.clearInterval(that._yahooInterval);
			window.location.reload();
		}
	};
};

Dsq.OpenID = new function() {
	var that = this;

	this.requestURL = function() {
		var message = '<table class="dsq-openid-form"><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;" rowspan="2"><img src="' + Dsq.jsonData.settings.media_url + '/images/openid-icon-100x100.png" /></td>';
		message += '<td><label for="dsq-openid-url">OpenID URL:</label></td><td><input type="text" id="dsq-openid-url" /></td></tr>';
		message += '<tr><td><label for="dsq-openid-username">Display name:</label></td><td><input type="text" id="dsq-openid-username" /></td></tr>';
		message += '<tr><td class="dsq-openid-submit" colspan="3"><input type="button" value="Sign in" onclick="Dsq.OpenID.startConnect();" /></td></tr>';
		message += "</table>";

		Dsq.Popup.popModal(message, 'Sign in using OpenID');
	};

	this.startConnect = function() {
		var isblank = function(str) {
			return /^\s*$/.test(str);
		};

		var openid_url = Dsq.$('dsq-openid-url').value;
		var username = Dsq.$('dsq-openid-username').value;

		if (isblank(openid_url)) {
			return;
		}

		var popupParams = 'location=0,status=0,width=800,height=500';
		var url = Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + '/_ax/openid/begin/' + '?url=' + encodeURIComponent(openid_url) + '&username=' + encodeURIComponent(username);
		that._openidWindow = window.open(url, 'openidWindow', popupParams);
		that._openidInterval = window.setInterval(that.completeConnect, 1000);
	};

	this.completeConnect = function() {
		if (that._openidWindow.closed) {
			window.clearInterval(that._openidInterval);
			window.location.reload();
		}
	};
};

Dsq.Reaction = new function() {
	var that = this;

	this.hide = function(id) {
		Dsq.Utils.execScript('http://disqus.com/forums/washingtonindependent/hidereaction.js?' + 'reaction_id=' + id);
	};

	this.reportMissingReactions = function() {
		if (!Dsq.jsonData.request.is_moderator || !Dsq.jsonData.forum.reactions_enabled) {
			return;
		}

		if (Dsq.jsonData.thread.queued) {
			Dsq.Popup.popModal('Your report has been received. The system will automatically search for new reactions; if any are found, they will be displayed on this comment thread.<br/><br/>Thank&nbsp;you.',
												 'Reported missing reactions');
			return;
		}

		Dsq.Utils.execScript(Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + '/forums/washingtonindependent/queueurl.js');
	};
};

Dsq.CNN = function() {
	var obj = {};

	obj.authenticate = function() {
		var url = Dsq.jsonData.settings.disqus_url + "/saml/cnn/try/";
		Dsq.Utils.postToUrl(url, {'target': document.location}, true);
	};

	return obj;
}();


if(Dsq.Utils.ie6) {
	(function() {
		DSQ_HEADER_AVATAR_RE = /<div class="dsq-header-avatar"(.*?)>/gim;
		Dsq.Templates.registerFilter('postPrependHeader', function(html, post_id) {
			// Add "onmouseout" for dsq-header-avatar for dropProfile
			// functionality since IE6 cannot use :hover.
			function _headerAvatarReplace(content, inner, _unused, html) {
				return '<div class="dsq-header-avatar" '
					+ inner
					+ ' onmouseout="Dsq.Post.dropProfile(' + post_id + ')">';
			}
			html = html.replace(DSQ_HEADER_AVATAR_RE, _headerAvatarReplace);
			return html;
		});
	})();
}









(function() {
	//
	// Load theme.  This overrides the base templates with template functions
	// from the respective themes.
	//
	if (Dsq.jsonData.integration.theme == 4) {
		var theme = 'narcissus';
		// HACK: Set variable on window to use post message.
		window.disqus_use_postmessage = true;

		
		for(var prop in Dsq.Themes[theme]) {
			if(Dsq.Themes[theme] && Dsq.Themes[theme].hasOwnProperty(prop)) {
				Dsq.Templates[prop] = Dsq.Themes[theme][prop];
			}
		}
		
		for(var prop in Dsq.Post) {
			if(Dsq.Themes[theme] && Dsq.Themes[theme].hasOwnProperty(prop)) {
				Dsq.Post[prop] = Dsq.Themes[theme][prop];
			}
		}
	}

	//
	// Register templates.  This must be done after all themes are loaded.
	//
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('authPost', Dsq.Templates.authPost);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('header', Dsq.Templates.header);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('footer', Dsq.Templates.footer);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('trackbacks', Dsq.Templates.trackbacks);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('reactions', Dsq.Templates.reactions);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('prependPost', Dsq.Templates.prependPost);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('appendPost', Dsq.Templates.appendPost);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('postPrependHeader', Dsq.Templates.postPrependHeader);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('postAppendHeader', Dsq.Templates.postAppendHeader);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('preBody', Dsq.Templates.preBody);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('postBody', Dsq.Templates.postBody);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('postFooter', Dsq.Templates.postFooter);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('_popupGeneric', Dsq.Templates._popupGeneric);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('voted', Dsq.Templates.voted);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('popupProfile', Dsq.Templates.popupProfile);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('postBox', Dsq.Templates.postBox);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('pagination', Dsq.Templates.pagination);
	Dsq.Templates.registerTemplate('postComment_onSuccess', Dsq.Templates.postComment_onSuccess);

})();

Dsq.container.className = "clearfix";
Dsq.container.innerHTML = ' \
<ul id="dsq-comments">\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-4663422">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-4663422" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-4663422" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-4663422">Scotlaroc</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-4663422" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-4663422" class="dsq-comment-message">I\'ve read all the coments and people fail to mention the important clues.  The Joker (Satan) uses wants and fears (especially money and who makes and controls the money?) to recruit everybody and anybody (he doesn\'t work alone although it seems so).  He recruits the mafia, street thugs, police men and women, people in the justice system and pulls the strings of children with masks and pistols which the police are ready to gun down.  He puts men in position in medical garb to assasinate.  Who he can\'t buy he manipulates with fear.  He does this with the people on the boats.  It was when they could not be bought or motivated by fear that they did the right things.  You have to be willing to die to do the right thing especially in extreme conditions.  Harvey was a symbol of this path.  Although his flesh was ravaged and he did die he still became a martyr,  but not one for violence, but for justice and purity of heart.  Like Christ his memory will live on.  Batman caught the Joker, but did not kill him, but instead jailed him.  Michael the Archangel captures Satan, chains him and cast him into the pit.  Commissioner Gordon is just a man who has picked the side of justice (rightiousness) to act on and though confused still works with Batman to continue this good, but difficult work.  In all the chaos, do we not often blame God for the problems of the world in effect blaming his angels?  And also do not people have personal problems and cast judgement on people and things saying it is the devil?  If God\'s ways are mysterious then I believe so is the devil\'s.  And people often, just as Job, are confused between the two to the point where everything is grey.  Doesn\'t the joker wear purple and didn\'t often kings and religious leaders wear purple?  Didn\'t they manipulate on a mass scale beyond most peoples understanding and not often know who works for them?  Isn\'t the Angel of Death often portrayed as a skeletal figure cloaked in black?  Aren\'t demons portrayed often as having bat wings?  So there you have it.  The machinations of the devil and the mysteries of God often become blurred to the human eye.   Didn\'t the sight of Angels and Satan and his demons strike fear at times, but at times they appeared beautiful apparently changing costumes at will? The Bible tells us what each one stands for and that even though in reality our lives (for the long haul) are not really in our hands, it\'s the choice to do good that matters in the end and whether you are a so called law abiding citizen or a convicted criminal we are all in the same boat and it\'s never to late to make the right choice.  And even if we do make the right choice and death is at your front door step, yes some malevolent force can push a button and exterminate us.  But, evil will not have our obedience.  If the eventuality of all things is death does it matter?  You might ask.  It claims your life, but not your spirit (not your heart).  That is the message of the film.  And when we all make that choice, maybe, just maybe, there will be a Dark Knight hidden from us in the shadows fist deep in blood yet wings flying in the heavens to stop Historys Worst Joker from pushing the button.  If we fail that test, we will have noone to blame but ourselves.  Star Wars, The Matrix,  Doctor Who (who has two hearts by the way) use many tricks to fight evil, but in the end it is the heart, it is with love that finally won the day.  Vader\'s love for his son.  Smith touched Neo\'s heart and was vanquished.  Doctor Who\'s love for humanity and a little help from assistants helped him win battle after battle.  The war is on going.  Like positive and negative, matter and antimatter they are always drawn to one another and only through contact do you find either cancellation or cooperation.  The out come is impossible for man to predict most of the time.  Man is too small to understand all the things, but from what we can see, life is constantly growing, making, spreading, consuming destroying and rebuilding.  It is the way of the universe.  Perhaps that is the way of God and his reflection of it is seen here on earth.  If government and world government has become a wild beast, ask yourself who is the harlot that is riding it?  Remember Sin City?  Who controled the assassin?  Who is drunk off the blood of martyrs and holy ones?  Rev. 17.  I think a major world wide battle is about to occur and noone will be safe.  Let us all pray that the Ultimate Dark Knight comes to the rescue.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-4665267">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-4665267" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-4665267" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-4665267">doknite</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-4665267" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-4665267" class="dsq-comment-message">Well equipped, willing, brutal yet tied down by rules of engagement. Underappreciated unless we feel they are needed. Selfless. The US Soldier- the Real Dark Knight. Love or Hate them, they are always watching.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-4662475">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-4662475" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-4662475" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-4662475">Scotlaroc</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-4662475" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-4662475" class="dsq-comment-message">The problem is that 10000 years from now, none of this will exist.  So, the Satanic philosophy says nothing matters and to do what you want.  The God philosophy says obey me and you will be rewarded with liberation from the chaos of time, eternal peace.  So, is it real or isn\'t it?  Is it a lie or isn\'t it?  Is it just a game played by higher beings the same as we play chess?  If it is then choice is an illusion.  Maybe understanding why we do the things we do is why we go on.  Maybe it\'s just preprogramed habit.  Maybe wanting change is watching the world burn.  Maybe having your parent tell you not to touch the flame because it will burn you is not the same as experiencing a burn itself.  To want power you must desire control over your life.  For the long haul, to control your life you must be willing to control others lives.  Eventually others will want control to counteract your control and one thing will lead to another.  A rock or a mountain can sit for a very long time which seems almost eternal.  The facts show that given enough time even the pyramids will turn to dust and constant rain fall, freezes and heat can shatter any stone given enough time.  If all life is just one prodigious gag real, perhaps what it means to be in the image of Him is to laugh right along with him and fear not and hate not knowing that all that exists will one day cease to exist.  The promise of being taken into the realm of a timeless existence all hinges on your belief.  In one way or another, eventually, all will be taken.  Perhaps I\'m just praddling on but lastly I will share something personal.  Many years ago I had a dream.  For years I have tried to decipher it, but I have not been able until recently, I think.  I dreamed of a god like figure like something Michaelangelo carved himself.  He was striking with a fury that I had never seen swinging a black smith\'s hammer in his left hand upon an object in his right which he was squeezing intensely upon an anvil.  As I approached closer I saw blood every where from his chest to the floor to the anvil.  This being had ripped his own heart out of his chest and was striking it into a shiny metal, silver perhaps.  As I got closer he turned and looked me in the eyes and to my own horror... hmmmm, well let\'s leave something to the imagination.  You guess.  I\'ve been at a loss for years, but recent events I think have given me some insight.  I don\'t see the point in telling or else you\'ll miss the point.  I will say I believe this... the cost of power is too great, often you become what you despise.  I think it\'s impossible for the Batman to do what he does without (whether it be accidental or intentional) becoming what he despises.  Can he live with that?  Could you?</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-3697607">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-3697607" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-3697607" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-3697607">beandipdave</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-3697607" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-3697607" class="dsq-comment-message">bewillderd, you are, whats that word.....................fu#$@*# retarded!!! Man, people are so brain washed in this country! PLEASE wake up people, please!</div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-2508282">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-2508282" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-2508282" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-2508282">Joe</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-2508282" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-2508282" class="dsq-comment-message">WOW! Give me a break on the far-left communist crap.</div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-2331036">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-2331036" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-2331036" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-2331036">kathleen</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-2331036" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-2331036" class="dsq-comment-message">Spencer if you as well as the Bush Cheney regime continue to ignore some of the core issues that has continually been aggravating the situation in the middle east...U.S. military bases on Muslims holy land and what many Muslims see as the seepage of the dark side of U.S.\'s culture on their populations, the lop sided policies of many U.S. administrations in the Israeli Palestinian conflict, the unwillingness of Israel to sign onto the IAEA non proliferation treaty while demanding that their neighbors abide by this treaty...then you obviously are unable to look at this issue clearly due to your own biases.</div>\
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	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790759">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790759" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790759" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790759">bwillderd</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790759" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790759" class="dsq-comment-message">You really have to jump through some hoops with multiple spins to come to some of the conclusions many of you have managed in these comments. Throughout our history, there have been leaders who have committed \'un-American\' acts in order to secure the future from chaos. Abraham Lincoln is the most egregious example. Roosevelt is a close second. Bush is a minor example.  At times, they endured ridicule, approbation and outright hatred because they did what had to be done, and often those things made us squirm as we express the outrage appropriate to the clueless. Those leaders accepted that burden.  In the light of history, we condemn their \'failures\' to live up to the American ideals, but we honor them for the courage and steadfastness in the face of<br> that which would destroy us.<br><br>Why did the victims on the boats have the luxury of deciding by taking no action? Because they lived in a society where others made those decisions for them, and this instance was no different. Had they all been killed, they would not have been celebrated as noble martyrs for \'good\', they would have been seen as victims of the failures of those they had become reliant upon for protection. It was Batman\'s fault, or Bush\'s.<br><br>You seem to miss your part in the play as you assign identities to the characters.  You are the judgmental, ungrateful, accusatory, clueless public who use the freedoms secured for you by leaders  whom you bitterly denounce.  Until you feel safe again, at which time you will build monuments to the memory of their service and say you were for them all along, but wish they hadn\'t done some of those awful things along the way.</div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790760">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790760" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790760" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790760">truepatriot</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790760" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790760" class="dsq-comment-message">...Kenneth R. Miller). And just because you don\'t like what you\'re reading right now, don\'t hide your head in the sand. Bush supporters--stop with the cognitive dissonance, please. If you don\'t know what a signing statement is, or gerrymandering, or are unfamiliar with Richard Clarke\'s memo, Google is your friend</div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790761">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790761" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790761" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790761">truepatriot</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790761" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790761" class="dsq-comment-message">The framers, in all their wisdom, did their best to form a system that would safeguard democracy. To do this, they created various checks and balances. Many in America want to destroy this; some without realizing it, others with full intent.<br><br><br><br>Our founding fathers first goal was to prevent tyranny. With reference to the executive branch, they wanted to ensure transparency, accountability, and prevent a president from being above the rule of law. In this regard, the Bush/Cheney administration has had the worst record.<br><br><br><br>Aside from the will of the people as expressed through elections, there is separation of powers. Within congress there is the house and the senate as a check and balance, and combined, congress is supposed to provide oversight for the executive and judicial branches. Congress has failed to oversee the executive branch, initially due to being a</div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790762">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790762" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790762" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790762">verafromsedona</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790762" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790762" class="dsq-comment-message">Is John McCain in the pocket of oil companies?<br><br>Is John McCain in the pocket of insurance companies?<br><br>Is john McCain in the pocket of pharmaceutical companies?<br><br>Is John McCain in the pocket of other nations?<br><br>Here is a list of lobbyists and employees of major companies working in major positions in the McCain campaign. It will answer any questions you might have about the people who are advising and influencing him.<br><br><a href="http://mccainsource.com/corruption?id=0006" rel="nofollow">http://mccainsource.com/corruption?id=0006</a></div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790763">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790763" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790763" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790763">kwaayesnama</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790763" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790763" class="dsq-comment-message">George Bush, Dick Chaney, Condoleezza Rice and John McCain are responsible for the murder of 94,330 innocent people while they looked for nonexistent weapons of mass destruction.<br><br>Of that total 4,134 were Americans.<br><br>They are also responsible for the wounding of 30,464 people.<br><br>As of 8 - 07 - 2008.</div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790764">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790764" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790764" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790764">feanor70115</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790764" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790764" class="dsq-comment-message">Here\'s how I\'ve just responded to a friend\'s blog post in which he asks us to comment on Mr. Ackerman\'s views:<br><br>I\'m not familiar with the Washington Independent, so I can\'t really qualify my opinion with any information about its editorial bias, if it has one.<br><br>In any event, I find that their language trivializes, over and over again, the issues they are discussing.  Batman having a strict inhibition against taking life is merely "moral hand-wringing."  While they are happy to dissect the Batman\'s motives, they take the Joker at face value.  The entire point of the Joker, whatever his metaphorical relationship with any real-world figure, is that he is the opposite of one\'s conscience: insane, nihilistic, exploiting any and every vulnerability and turning decency into a weakness.  Bob Kane did perhaps his only piece of compelling writing the first time he described the rictus forming on the dead face of one of the Joker\'s victims in 1939 or so.  Making the victims of murder smile was the Joker\'s joke.<br><br>The Joker says that the key to beating him is to become as nihilistic as he  is?  So what?  When does he say anything but to manipulate others?<br><br>Moreover, the writer seems to be trying to make a point that his own evidence doesn\'t back up: Batman\'s would-be love is disenchanted and chooses the symbol of upstanding law and order.  Alfred nearly loses patience with his obsessive and relentless methods.  Commissioner Gordon only reluctantly accepts his help. And furthermore, except for the cell-phone spying helping to catch the Joker (and neutralise the bumbling cops), it never does any good when Batman crosses a moral line.  Doing so is just playing the Joker\'s game.<br><br>The writer really betrays his bias with this:<br><br>"That, in the final analysis, is what the Joker is really interested in: to deprive Gotham of its hero, its hope, and its soul. Batman, in other words, must "work, though, sort of the dark side, if you will. We\'ve got to spend time in the shadows.""<br><br>Applying Dick Cheney\'s words to the Batman is a cheap trick, commonly known as putting words in someone\'s mouth.  Those words are revelatory about Cheney and no one else.<br><br>The cell-phone spying thing as a metaphor for war-on-terror policies is obviously true.  It\'s equally a metaphor for Lincoln suspending the writ of habeas corpus or Roosevelt interning suspected enemy sympathizers (thousands of whom were actually of European descent).  The fact that the power was laid down afterwards - something the Bush Administration has no intention of doing - is also telling, and is a metaphor for Roman dictators through Sulla among other historical antecedents.  I seem to recall that the film actually referred to Cincinattus.<br><br>Also, the writer makes the mistake of assuming that because any one questionable Bush war-on-terror policy is evil, they all must be.  Why?  Because they\'re associated with Bush and Cheney.  Further, the writer just doesn\'t understand that the screenwriters knew they were writing fiction.  Torture is, by any sane moral calculus, excusable in a ticking-bomb scenario when one has the actual perpetrator in custody.  However, that scenario has never happened and probably never will.  Finally, the writer absolutely misses or misinterprets the abundance of material in the film that counters his position.<br><br>Anyhow, my take on the film is that it encourages the audience to think about those issues and draw its own conclusions.  If Spencer Ackerman thinks that the film sided with Bush, it\'s because he admits the superiority of that side\'s argument (one I would not concede).  I note he doesn\'t spend any time proposing an alternative take on the story, one which would support the other side.</div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790765">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790765" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790765" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790765">avenger</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790765" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790765" class="dsq-comment-message">Yes, Cheney and his pals would like us to see the world in stark comic book terms of good and evil. But any rational analysis of what has happened over the past nearly eight years would lead an honest observer to conclude that Cheney and his gang of pin-striped gangsters are morally inferior to the people they seek to destroy. They have a) invaded a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children -- ripping them to pieces with cluster bombs, immolating them with white phosphorous, vaporizing them in their homes using 2,000 pound bombs; b) destroyed the Iraqi health care system, which might have tended to the hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians they maimed and dismembered with weapons we\'ve been forced to pay for; c) doomed countless children to miserable lives of blindness, paralysis, and grotesque disfigurement; d) terrorized millions of others by exposing them to the  danger that their entire families might at any moment be murdered by US forces; e) threatened non-nuclear nations with preventive nuclear strikes, an act that would make the Joker wet his pants with glee; f) created a global gulag into which men, women and children have disappeared to be tortured by contractors working for private for-profit corporations; g) attempted to plunder Iraq\'s enormous resources and place them at the disposal of US-based multi-national corporations with which they have continuing business and personal ties; h) violated and undermined the the Constitution of the United States, which they are sworn to uphold, placing the freedom of the American people in great jeopardy.  And, of course, when it comes to the Treasury of the United States, that\'s just money to burn.  On top of all their other crimes, they\'re bankrupting us through the transfer of public money into private pockets through no-bid contracts to scum like the Dark Prince of Blackwater, a mercenary organization that casually murders civilians knowing that enjoy an impunity that the Joker might relish. Fortunately for the rest of the world, the United States is rapidly going broke. But the wisdom and goodness and righteousness of Cheney and his fellow murderous clowns is pure fantasy: relying on them to save us from the occasional psychopathic scum bag would be like begging the Gestapo to protect us from pickpockets.</div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790766">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790766" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790766" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790766">matthewlove</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790766" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790766" class="dsq-comment-message">I can\'t read the mind of the writers, but I prefer to interpret the movie in a very different way. I think the Joker is a better symbol of Dick Cheney than he is a symbol of al-Qaeda. After all, al-Qaeda is not really a threat to the United States, and if it is, it is a tenth or a hundredth of the threat represented by Bush, Cheney, the military-industrial-intelligence complex (check out Naomi Klein\'s recent piece entitled "China\'s All-Seeing Eye" for more on the reality of surveillance in the post-9/11 world and how it ties into intelligence operations that have little to do, if anything, with fighting terrorism but have everything to do with profiteering and keeping the local population in a state of confusion and fear). The Joker brought Gotham to its knees. Al-Qaeda has never been capable of such a feat. The Bush administration has been. It went from a do-nothing administration to securing wide popular support through inciting fear and phony patriotism. It used its popularity to hijack the country, with the help of the media (which strangely enough, the Joker was adept at manipulating for his evil schemes), it pushed through some of the worst pieces of legislation in U.S. history, namely the Patriot Act. It secured record profits for Bush\'s chief campaign contributers, specifically the oil industry, and it began an endless war of terrorism against a faceless opponent that will not end in our lifetime and will not be regulated by international law, U.S. law, or basic human decency.<br><br>And the extent to which al-Qaeda is a threat, it is a manufactured threat: both physically and psychologically. The CIA and its allies created al-Qaeda is an instrument of Cold War policy to force the Soviets out of Afghanistan. Later, when the Islamic extremists focused their attention on American hegemony as the source of their brand of Islam\'s declining support in the Arab world, the Neocons decided to make them into the new Soviets (the buzzword switched from "communism" to "terrorism") as an excuse for launching yet another crusade, with the United States playing the role of the good Christians. The Neocons eventually won the support of U.S. regimes, secured jobs in their respective cabinets, and came to dominate the current Bush administration\'s foreign policy strategy.<br><br>This is a long explanation, but the point is that Bush/Cheney Inc. has never been interested in maintaining order. They are interested in the total opposite. They want the chaos that the Joker spoke so fawningly of. They don\'t like laws or regulations. They hate the Constitution. They hate human freedom and would replace it in a second with total corporate elite rule if they could just get Congress, the Supreme Court, and a few other key establishments on board - or eliminate them altogether, as they have plans to do with something on the books called "Continuity of Government." Just look at their response to Hurricane Katrina. Look at deregulation of industry. Look at the chaos in Iraq. Is Blackwater there to establish law and order? Maybe, if that includes killing Iraqi civilians for leisure and getting away with it because of the total LACK of law and order in Iraq as IMPOSED by Paul Bremer and other administration lackeys. These men RELY ON chaos to extract profits from unsuspecting people. Read Naomi Klein\'s "The Shock Doctrine." They only care about law and order so long as it keeps the masses away from asserting their right to true political and economic freedom.<br><br>To even insinuate that Cheney ever had the American people\'s interests in mind is to be naive. He has no idea what the typical American experience is and doesn\'t care.<br><br>Therefore, the Dark Knight is certainly NOT Cheney because he has the people\'s interests in mind (despite being super-rich). He reminds me of some of the Left in this country. Some of us are so misguided we choose to participate in the devil\'s game rather than accepting that the whole game is fixed and we need to quit and draw up a completely new game. The Joker was going to do whatever he wanted regardless of the response. This is the key. Torturing or killing him doesn\'t solve the problem because he is only the symptom and not the disease, and we can\'t defeat him by becoming him. If Cheney/Bush Inc. were assassinated tomorrow, it would not eliminate the graft and greed that plagues this country. The same goes for the Joker. The goal should be to fix the systems that give rise to this graft. Capitalism, namely, which encourages self-interest above everything else, and representative government that only represents the people who can afford to fund the election campaigns of its representatives.<br><br>My view of the film was that Batman was able to keep most of his principles. He refused to let the Joker die, stopped himself from "playing the hero," and allowed the controversial surveillance system to phase itself out when it was no longer needed. In the end, he selflessly walked into persecution in favor of restoring order, even though it could be argued that this was unprincipled because it served to hide the truth from the people, which to me was that there was no way for the system as it was to stop crime, under Harvey Dent or anyone else. It was also fallacious in suggesting that one knight in shining armor, whether suited in a tie or a cape, could somehow protect the people of a sprawling metropolis. Whatever happened to all of those principled people on the ships who refused to kill in order to survive? They were the heroes Gotham needed. Why weren\'t they glorified in the press? Why do we in the West rely on one man to save us, whether it be George Bush, Barack Obama, or Jesus Christ? Can\'t we empower ourselves?<br><br>No, we\'d rather leave all the grunt work to a handful of activists and two or three super-activists, like the caped crusader himself, to save the day. When you put all that pressure on a few people, is it any wonder that they might abuse their power, as Batman did? Power is abusive when it is concentrated. This is fundamental.<br><br>So in following my existing framework, the plot is much different. We see Joker trying to root out the last real revolutionary leader, the Dark Knight, and his few good men. He fails to kill Batman, but he largely succeeds in killing the spirit of Gotham. He has made people to be something worse than militant - indifferent, cynical, powerless. This is where the American people are now. This is the ultimate weapon of the elite, and they have used it well.<br><br>But if I learned anything from the one hopeful scene of the movie, the dilemma of the passengers on board those two ships in the harbor, it\'s that maybe the same will happen here, given another catastrophe. Maybe people will wake up the day after a second 9/11 and realize what this system really is and how it is more dangerous than 100 al-Qaedas, how it gives rise to men like Cheney (the Joker), who can easily subvert the modest regulations it possesses, and how it also gives rise to men like Batman who take it upon themselves to defend the millions of faceless people they claim to represent from overwhelming odds while attempting to keep their principles. A better society would give rise to neither.<br><br>So the choice belongs to the people. We can continue playing this old, tired game of good vs. evil where lower-class people from around the world are pitted against each other while the indifferent corporations make their profits. We can go on thinking that some "people out there" are just downright evil and want to kill us without any rationale, or we can accept that imposed poverty, itself a form of violence, illegal occupation, and injustice fuel terror. That terror fuels more terror in response, and the resultant chaos and cynicism creates a situation where bystanders decide to kick back and watch the profits roll in while the world burns (which Cheney, like Joker, would love to see). After all, war is so much more profitable than peace.<br><br>We can play this game and watch characters mimic it on the big screen at over-priced movie theaters, or we can reject it for something better. That something better is based on love, environmental stewardship, and the understanding that all people are worthy of dignity and respect - and that any system that strays from these principles is not worth keeping. It is also based on the understanding that if we continue to let chaos rule, it will consume the entire human race, rich and poor alike. This planet will not be able to sustain us if we continue to rape it in mad pursuit of profit and expansion. The time to change course isn\'t now. It was yesterday.</div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790767">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790767" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790767" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790767">stayinuplate</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790767" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790767" class="dsq-comment-message">The makers of this film used a Bush/Batman allegory to promote the idea that all of Bush\'d unlawful and deceitful policies were a necessary evil to fight the war on terror. Some people have come to believe the propaganda that Bush sacrificed his reputation for the good of the country, just as Batman does in the film. I think that America needs to realize that Bush lied about the threat of Iraq to start a war, he set up secret off-shore prisons to torture people, and he conducted unlawful wiretaps on American citizens. This movie tries to justify these actions by painting them as necessary evils. In reality, these actions were not necessary, they have only been made to seem necessary through propaganda such as "The Dark Knight". I would urge others to consider what I\'ve said and post their thoughts on it so we can engage in a reasonable dialogue.</div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790768">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790768" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790768" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790768">demilu</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790768" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790768" class="dsq-comment-message">drvictordavishj, I would argue that the Joker was reacting not to Batman\'s flamboyancy but to Batman\'s threat to his means of survival. Without Batman around to reel in the harshest criminals, the Joker was free to thrive in an environment where crime was rampant and criminals needing to hire a madman like the Joker were many.<br><br>oogiedoogie, nice response.</div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790769">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790769" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790769" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790769">jayt</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790769" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790769" class="dsq-comment-message">I saw the movie last night, and read your response this morning.  It\'s hard not to see the similarities between Batman and Bush et al.  But in my view the Joker is also a reflection of the administration\'s dark tactics in Iraq and in the GWOT more generally.  The Joker is a force of radical destabilization who does his utmost to generate fear-driven class conflicts of all kinds (criminals v. law-abiding citizens; citizens v. politicians; police grunts v. police officials) while providing cover for the mob.  Sounds like Bremer in Iraq, and Rove at home.  The difference of course is that the Joker does not  represent the interests of the mob whereas the Bush administration does.  But even that discrepancy might bring us closer to an understanding of how Bush and Cheney operate in creating a global instability which both promotes exploitation and endangers capital at one and the same time.</div>\
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	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790770">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790770" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790770" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790770">doctorjay</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790770" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790770" class="dsq-comment-message">I saw the film in a converse light. I saw it as a repudiation of Bush, Cheney, et al.<br>Yes, it is about the choices we make and the deceptions and fantasies we succumb to.<br>Morgan Freeman helps Batman as he says "only once and followed by my resignation."<br>He\'s told to type his name in at the end and that act evaporates Batman\'s FISA network.<br>The principled act by a sub=ordinate leads to rectitude. Similarly, the boat scene was profound.<br>When the huge, black criminal stood up and demanded the detonator, as representative of a<br>man of action, who in the audience did not believe he would blow up the other boat, whether<br>based on our own prejudice or personal identification. But he didn\'t; he led the way to a higher moral principal: "Give me liberty or give me death!" The Joker has no answer to that truth; and neither does Osama nor his enablers, Dick and Bush. Even the criminals on that boat understood the choice and made the noble one; the mainstream folks on the second boat backed into that<br>same decision, perhaps as you say out of cowardice but I believe out of a sense of guilt if not conscience, as in "What profit a man to gain the world [his life] and lose his very soul?"<br><br>No! I totally disagree with your take that this movie supports the views of Addington and  Cheney; on the contrary I was deeply moved to tears, first for the loss of such an incandescent talent as Heath Ledger, and second, for the denigration of the Constitution of the United States of America by this administartion and its minions. While in the throes of the movie, I thought of all those complicit Democrats and Republicans, who along with GWB and DC abrogated their oath of office and, for that alone, have committed acts of treason, far beyond those of Ethel and Julius, or of Sacco and Vinzetti.</div>\
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	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790771">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790771" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790771" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790771">brianlangeman</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790771" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790771" class="dsq-comment-message">escobar says:<br>"The former chief of the CIA</div>\
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	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790772">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790772" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790772" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790772">drvictordavishj</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790772" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790772" class="dsq-comment-message">One thing you\'re overlooking, oogiedoogie, is that the film strongly implies that the Joker is a reaction to Batman. That Batman\'s flamboyant, melodramatic symbolism creates an equally flmaboyant, evil one. We most definitely do not "need such heros" if they just wind up creating more problems than they solve.<br><br><br><br>And make no mistake, oogiedoogie, Batman doesn\'t win at the end of this movie. It\'s at best a draw.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790773">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790773" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790773" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790773">ufred</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790773" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790773" class="dsq-comment-message">I found enjoyment in this essay and write with thanks. I was most impressed with your invocation of Walzer\'s argument and look to seeing you explore it in more depth.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790774">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790774" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790774" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790774">oogiedoogie</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790774" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790774" class="dsq-comment-message">I agree that the Dark Knight is a surprisingly deep film.  While many authors have drawn similarities between the Bush administration and Batman, none few really delve the depths of Batman\'s dilemma: there is a cruel, ruthless, and sinister villian on the loose who has promised to kill the innocent.<br><br><br><br>While many criticize Batman for abuses of power, they almost never offer alternatives.  What alternatives are there when faced with such madness?  To do nothing leaves leaders culpable since they had the power to intervene, but did not.<br><br><br><br>This may be why both Scheuer and Walzer advocated for action followed by accountability.  While abuses of power almost always lead to collateral damage, some refuse to accept the reality that the alternative is greater carnage, but on the enemy\'s terms.<br><br><br><br>Suppose Batman had refused to utilize his surveilance system on moral grounds.  Would he have been a hero?  The Joker would surely have progressed unhindered to greater atrocities.  Society, if knowledgable of Batman\'s capablity, would rightly accuse him of holding his own morality in higher regard than the lives of others - clearly not the choice expected of a hero.<br><br><br><br>In the film, Batman has the strength of character to accept societal rejection in order to accomplish the greater good.  This quality is almost totally absent in today\'s leaders who look continually to popularity polls for guidance.<br><br><br><br>Nowadays, rare is the leader who will sacrifice personal reputation for the good of the nation.  Like Gotham, we need such heros, but instead we elect "weathervane politicians" who give us short-term fixes in exchange for long-term consequences.  Leaders who cannot withstand popular opinion will never be able to defeat the challenges that threaten our country.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790775">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790775" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790775" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790775">deadlycowfish</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790775" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790775" class="dsq-comment-message">I think the biggest problem with this analysis is that it\'s pushing too hard to constrain a moral allegory to real world characters who to put it mildly are an extremely shaky fit to the fictional \'counterparts\'. I didn\'t see the ferry scene as \'why we need a utilitarian strong-man\' I saw it as an obvious way of saying \'survival is not always compatible with morality\'. That\'s not justification per se, it\'s food for thought, ultimately both boats chose to die rather than kill the other to ensure their survival, they decided it was more important to \'be good\' than to survive, even though they were as the ballots showed, afraid of dying.<br>But more to the point a very central theme of the movie is actions and consequences, Batman breaks the hold of the mobsters on Gotham with his theatrical brand of vigilante justice. The reaction is the emergence of the Joker, an equally theatrical, equally intelligent enemy who sees batman\'s \'I want to give people a symbol to give them hope against ceaseless corruption and violence\' and responds with \'I want to give people a symbol that kills the goodness in them and shows they don\'t deserve anything or any protection\'. More to the point THE JOKER WINS. Harvey Dent is destroyed and Batman resorts to unreasonable means in his attempt to defeat the Joker. The people on the boats are the only ones who at all \'win\' against the Joker, who doesn\'t really care if he is captured or killed, the people on the boats choose to die rather than murder each other to survive.<br>If one of the boats had destroyed the other, it would have been understandable, but it wouldn\'t have been the \'right\' decision. Sometimes there is no right decision that allows you to survive. We live in a complex world, diverse enough for us to wonder if Gandhi was more \'good\' than George Washington, wonder if that question is stupid or wonder what meaning morality really has when you detach it from reality. Harvey Dent did what was understandable and went out for revenge, we can all understand that, but it didn\'t exactly seem like the best decision ever, did it?<br>You can take the Dark Knight as an endorsement of Cheney, though I feel that\'s kind of a stretch, given the prevalence of moral ambiguity in the film, compared to the Bush Administration\'s black and white view of the world. However, you can also take it as a suggestion as to why we can\'t turn to the simple and violent solutions, because we might create a bigger dragon. When you punish people for pickpocketing with the death penalty, you don\'t eliminate pickpocketing, you make the stakes so high the criminals become murderers, rather than petty thieves. Likewise when you stop using law and instead turn to brutal, unreasoning force, you will find in response, brutal unreasoning force.<br>I\'m interested in seeing where the third film goes, but I think this article is oversimplifying things rather profoundly.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790776">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790776" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790776" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790776">davee1</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790776" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790776" class="dsq-comment-message">There\'s one basic fallacy in your premise. Batman\'s motive in the film is to bring order to Gotham and to eventually relinquish his role as "savior". Cheney has no such motivation. His motives are demonstrably more sinister. Profit, and control (hegemony) are Cheney\'s goals, not order.</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790777">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790777" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790777" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790777">escobar</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790777" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790777" class="dsq-comment-message">Excellent article by Spencer Ackerman.<br>And a great response by drvictordavishj.<br><br>My concern would be the implied comparison of the nihilistic Joker to a rational movement called Al-Queda.<br><br>The danger of this comparison is that it underestimates the threat Al-Queda presents.<br><br>The former chief of the CIA\'s Bin Ladin Unit, Michael Scheuer, has written extensively of the sound tactical logic behind Al-Queda. These are patient men with a rational mission. Not the Joker running around blowing up things for kicks.<br><br>Instead of recognizing it as a philosophical movement of liberation capable of inspiring millions of young Arab men...We\'re assuming that only the poor, dumb, and child-abused would be attracted to such a force.<br><br>Michael Scheuer proposes the "heavy handed" approach though.<br>He would see quick and heavy strike as more merciful and effective than the slow and ineffective posturing of the Bush administration.<br><br>The real joke here is believing that our foreign enemies fear Cheney.<br>I\'d suggest folks read the works of Michael Scheuer at the JamesTown foundation:<br><a href="http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/analysts.php?authorid=251" rel="nofollow">http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/analysts.php...</a></div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 <li id="dsq-comment-1790778">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-header-1790778" class="dsq-comment-header">\
	 <cite id="dsq-cite-1790778" class="dsq-comment-cite">\
	 <span id="dsq-author-user-1790778">drvictordavishj</span>\
	 </cite>\
	 </div>\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-body-1790778" class="dsq-comment-body">\
	 <div id="dsq-comment-message-1790778" class="dsq-comment-message">I agree with you but I would argue that the film is not necessarily all that pro-Batman. After all, Alfred</div>\
	 </div>\
	 </li>\
	 </ul>\
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