Combat! blog’s residency at death’s door continues today, and I don’t like it any better than you do. Those who saw me at Friday’s panel will be pleased to learn I am no longer shivering and sweating at the same time, but my lungs remain a home for glue. So are my ears, now, such that as my illness progresses the world seems disconcertingly farther away. It is a gray, rainy morning in Missoula, caught between the dawn and its inevitable conclusion. Perhaps I am already dead.

But you, dear reader, are most certainly alive, and you cannot soldier on in ignorance. So while I wait for that thing which happens to us all, how about you read this long, fascinating profile of Barack Obama’s foreign policy? I know that doesn’t sound enticing, but Jeffrey Goldberg’s interview-centered analysis is amazing. It starts with the president’s decision not to launch airstrikes against Assad’s Syria in 2013 and ends, in the present day, with David Frum absolutely losing his shit on Twitter. I like Frum on domestic politics, but ragging on Obama for not starting enough wars in the Middle East is a bad look for a man who wrote speeches for George W. Bush in 2003. I joke about being dead, but in my lifetime, my government has made hundreds of thousands of people dead for real. Maybe the worst foreign policy that doesn’t invade Syria is better than the best that does.

The best part about being really, really sick is getting a thick strand of mucus caught between your nose and throat and clenching your abdominal muscles to avoid vomiting. You can’t avoid gagging. You’re going to gag. But throwing up is a choice, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to release my precious analgesics and expectorants minutes after I swallow them. There is no Combat! blog today, because I am sick. In two hours, I will go do a panel at the University of Montana, where I plan to warn aspiring writers against weakening their immune systems by working from home. If you’re in Missoula, come on down to the University Theater and check it out. A hacking cough will be your reward.

Last week, the Bozeman-based real estate developer HomeBase Montana presented plans to demolish the Missoula Mercantile building and erect a Residence Inn by Marriott. This plan to destroy a historic building did not impress the Historic Preservation Commission. Neither did it impress members of the public, who expressed unanimous opposition during the comment period. I don’t know for certain, but I assume the meeting ended when the commission asked who else had $5 million dollars to buy the Merc and do something with it, and everyone fell silent.

The doors have been locked since 2010. A group of investors bought the building in 2011 with ambitious plans for remodeling and retail, but they came to nothing. Another investor almost bought the Merc in 2014, but they backed out at the last minute. Unless someone squats it, which would be awesome but probably unsustainable, it is likely to remain empty for the foreseeable future. Our choice is therefore not between a Marriott and something else. It’s between a Marriott and nothing.

That’s a pretty pass for our local economy to come to. You can read all about it in this week’s column for the Missoula Independent. I thought the last thing I wanted downtown was a giant hotel, but after I considered it, I realized the last thing I wanted downtown was a giant, empty building. At least people at the Residence Inn will go outside and buy stuff. We’ll be back tomorrow with Friday links, unless I cough up my other lung.

It’s a good thing I’m not sick, or I would be concerned about my body aches and persistent fever. As it is, I’m just annoyed by this hacking cough, but I can’t reach high dudgeon because my headache keeps distracting me. There is no Combat! blog today, due to my many unrelated problems. While I rest my eyes, how about you read this fascinating article from the New York Times Magazine about the plot to take down Wayne Simmons, a possibly fraudulent former CIA agent and intelligence analyst for Fox News? I can’t decide if we live in a boom time for lying or only for hearing about it.

 

Remember on Thursday, when I promised you a surprise for Friday links? I’m sorry, champ, but it’s been real busy at the office. The surprise was that I wrote this examination of Commander Ryan Zinke’s (R-Mont.) Twitter account for the New York Times Magazine, which went up Friday night after links were tucked away. This news will come as no surprise if you follow me on Twitter, where I have been flogging the piece all weekend. But I thought I’d direct you good, potentially non-Twitter-using folks toward it, since you have done so much for me. Depending on what time of day you’re reading, there may or may not be an image at the top of this post. As of press time, Combat! blog’s WordPress server is neither accepting uploads to its image library nor allowing the placement of images in posts. You know what my favorite part of running a blog is? Abstruse technical problems. Anywhom, I’m always thrilled to be in the Times, and it was great to work with editor Jazmine Hughes who, like Willy, made the final draft of this piece much better than the first. How ’bout you read it, or merely click on it and create the impression that I am popular? In exchange, I will write free essays for you every weekday. Almost every weekday. I love you. Obey me.