Dan Savage gets it: Here is Savage on the war. He makes the best liberal case for it, not only why we need to fight al Qaida but why we must reckon with Iraq and other states that agressively sponsor illiberal values. And he points out that nation-building will be necessary to make the coming peace a lasting one. Other articles in the same feature are less combative, but show much more thought and less kneejerk anti-Americanism than is usual for The Stranger.
I have long thought that The Stranger is the best Seattle paper because it shows its biases honestly and is willing to explore the cracks in the city's culture rather than papering them over. I agree with its stands on the monorail (for), light rail (against), stadiums (should be privately funded), and the teen dance ordinance (let the kids have fun). This is not to say I agree with The Stranger always -- it far too often supports government intervention as a solution to economic problems and bases it editorial judgment on an outdated postmodern, multi-cultural orthodoxy, equating power with evil and antiestablishmentism with good. I'm happy that they realize things are not that simple, that American power applied in support of noble goals is good and that not everyone who wishes us harm has been harmed by us.