Generation Dem makes some good points amid some annoying typos. Essentially, the right-wing hate factory that swung hard at Bill Clinton and hit Al Gore has disgusted almost everyone except hard-core GOP. This election may have been more against Republicans than it was for Democrats... except the last several elections have been more against Democrats than for Republicans. That explains the huge swing in "independents". Atwater/Rovian mud-slinging had caused a huge swath of moderates who's views were much more closely aligned with the Democrats to vote uncomfortably for people they didn't really like. The radical right cried "wolf" too many times, and the scare tactics didn't work.

Still, the article doesn't allow for two factors:

First, that GOP control of Congress was razor thin during this entire 12 year span. The intense partisanship from Gingrich, Lott, DeLay et al was totally undeserved. Bush never had a mandate to do anything. They weren't politicians, they were bullies, and they didn't give a damn about America as long as the money rolled their way.

Second, that the GOP had to cheat to eke out razor thin victories in their razor thin majorities. Conservative arrogance and greed caught up with them in this election cycle, but it has taken six years since Al Gore was elected in 2000 for voters to get really angry about their votes being stolen. Even knowing that everyone was watching, Republicans successfully derailed voter intentions in Ohio, Minnesota and Florida, at the very least. In 2006, the anger boiled over to majorities that couldn't be denied by purging voter rolls of Democrats or corrupt voting procedures that still smell to high heaven. The final chapter on this issue hasn't been written.

Will this translate to victory in 2008 and beyond? I don't know. I would hope that honest politicians can now flourish where the corrupt now tread, but it's early in the kind of generational cycle Sydney Blumenthal is talking about. Still, LBJ said that the Civil Rights laws passed as part of the Great Society would hand control of the government to the Republicans for a generation. LJB was right... but there's a new generation, one that hasn't had to fight the old battles, and is prepared for the next set of challenges.

Bolling is making a satiric point: We won't go into space unless someone is making money. Right now, everyone is making money off the space program. Virtually everything you do, eat or wear in the 21st Century was affected -- for the better -- by the US Space Program. The corporate entities that control space will make a LOT of money. And who will make a LOT of money? The people who have a LOT of money now, eg Haliburtexxon. Where would we be without the internet, weather satellites, new food processing techniques, cheap but strong building materials? Drinking Orange Julius? (They've never been the same since you can't add an egg.)

A dash of satire to remind us that we're not going into space for noble reasons, we're doing it to benefit us here on earth. Oh, and to preserve our nuclear missile dominance, but let's not mention that right now.

I rather suspect The Holocaust Memorial Museum didn't like the hopelessly agenda-driven Bush administration shoving Dennis Prager down its throat. The Holocaust Memorial is dedicated to remembering and fighting genocide anywhere. In an astonishing display of public consciousness-raising, they showed slides of the Darfur genocide very publicly against the outside facade of the Memorial. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/21/AR2006112100275.html

This is a free country and Prager has the right to say any damn thing he wants, but he should not be associated with an institution fighting intolerance and hatred.

I haven't read all the letters so I don't know if anyone else has made this point, but the huge passionate outpouring here in salon.com reflect the anger of the larger world. Gary Kamilya has bought into Karl Rove's bullet points, and I reject his premise from the beginning.

There were some of the largest demonstrations in history, both in the United States and abroad, protesting Bush and the Iraqi invasion. If they made the newspapers, the reports were buried on page six. If they made the cable tv channels, it was briefly mentioned during primetime with a longer report at night. Only The Daily Show spent any time on the huge crowds.

Learning the lessons from the success of the Vietnam War anti-war protests, the right wing has successfully co-opted the media. It's not a "movement" if no one knows that they're neighbors went to a rally. The story is huge, and the conservative news media is staying away in droves.

To the media, the story is never the protests, but the Cindy Sheehan doesn't like George W. Bush. This is more than incompetence, it's a complete abrogation of journalistic responsibility.

Where is the outrage? Everywhere.

Where is the outrage at the press for missing the story? Not here in salon.com.

By Challenger, Gray & Christmas' estimate, writing this letter to the editor is costing my company around $17 (if I don't run it through a spell checker). Of course, since I'm self-employed, that means it's costing me a minute's worth of Real Work. And I'm worth more than $17.

Let's crunch the imaginary numbers further: If the average hourly wage is three times the current Minimum Wage, what does that say about Undocumented Workers? They get paid very little but probably don't discuss the Super Bowl at all. Illegal aliens are a bargain for any company around Roman Numeral Time. Our immigration policy should reflect workers productivity.

Preview... oops, now I'm up to $34 and counting. My boss (me) will be damn disappointed if I don't get an Editor's Choice star.