I'm sure it's just an oversight, but the estrogen-soaked minds at SALON have been conspicuously silent about John McCain's statement regarding reactivating the draft. I am stunned at the number of women who have cried SEXISM on the most trivial issues. Yet, it has never occured to them that the selective service laws are, in fact, the ONLY laws that apply solely to one gender. But, even the most ardent "feminist" must surely have some concern about her sons, nephews, husbands and brothers being slaughtered, maimed or permanently damaged psychologically. They must be concerned even though the possibility of being forced to particpate in a war based on lies does not directly affect them. THEY MUST!

FEMINISM: "......men should be more like women and women can be anything thing they want." (Camille Paglia, SEXUAL PERSONAE)

It is fascinating how women in general and feminists in particular have completely INGNORED the blatant inequality of the Selective Service laws. How can anyone who claims to be interested in gender issues have no opinon when it comes to the MOST SEXIST law on the books? Martin Luther King was not fighting exclusively for BLACK RIGHTS, he was fighting for HUMAN RIGHTS! It's shameful to contemplate just how self-involved and petty the Feminsist Movement has become. To force a man into into military service against his will is involutary servitude, the moral equivilent of RAPE!

You're missing the point. Out of more than 4,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, only about 60 have been women. Only someone who has not had her entire life affected by being required by law to register for the military draft would call it "anachronistic."

How dense are you? What can you possibly mean by "the absence of war"? In case you haven't heard, there's a little skirmish going on in Iraq and John McCain has raised the possibility of activating the draft so that he can continue and expand it. Women calling the selective service laws irrelevant is like men dismissing Roe v. Wade. Still, ACTIVE DUTY is not the issue. EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW IS. Until women are subject to ALL of the same laws that men are, there it will simply be impossible to take anyone who calls themself a feminist seriously.

....and insensitivity knows no gender. Obvioulsy, these "guys" you mentioned were not around during the Viet-Nam War.

Of course, I support the ERA. It would seem that women themselves (a voting majority in this country) are the ones who are holding it up. Could it be that they are afraid that the amendment will require them to adhere to ALL laws--including the Selective Service laws and they don't want to get their pettycoats muddy? Even when the draft is not active, MEN (boys) can still suffer if they do not register (IE: job availabity, college loans, maybe even jail). Why, in God's name, would you argue against such an obvious inequity. Are you embarassed that your "progressive" views have been revealed to be fake and that you, indeed, favor special treatment for GIRLS?

The song used to introduce Mrs. Obama was not "Isn't She Lovely." It was "I Was Made To Love Her"---both written by Stevie Wonder.

There was a wasted, gun-totin' redneck conspiracy threatening our country's security long before it even occured to the Muslim fundamentalist fringe to attack us. Why haven't we bombed the Midwest? If these idiots had been people of color, they'd be in Guantonamo being waterboarded by now.

I think in the case of a female reporter bashing another woman, as with Michelle Obama, it is more a matter of good old-fashioned racism rather than sexism. Yes, as shocking as it may seem, women are capable of racsim. (They may even be capable of male-bashing.) But, in general, this column is becoming very tiresome in it's constant assertions of sexism in the most trivial instances.

I have never understood the existence of women Republicans. It seems like the classic oxymoron to me. Yes, Sarah Palin is attractive, female, personable, but she is still a FREAKIN' REPUBLCIAN! She is still anti-choice, anti-gay and, if she is a true Republican, probably pretty much anti-everything that that entails having any kind of human compassion. McCain's choice of her as his VP candidate is a cyncical calculation gone wrong. If there are any women out there stupid enough to fall for this, they deserve what they get. She's obviously window dressing to offset the "dawn of the dead" presence of Cindy McCain---who is obviously not of this world.

Has it occured to anyone besides me that growing up black in America might be as tough psychologically as spending five years in a North Vietnamese POW camp? Why all this miplaced pity for the rich old white guy? Just a thought.....

The choice of the gun-loving, hunting, fishing, sports fan, anit-gay, anti-choice, pro-war Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate reminds me of an old Brett Butler joke: "Feminisim has allowed women to become what we wanted to be all along, MEN!"

One question I haven't heard asked about Governor Palin is: why did she accept McCain's offer? Surely, she is smart enough to know that she is being used? A beauty queen mom can "soften" some of the most archaic political ideas in existence. When any of the old white guys of the Republican party express these ideas, they just come off as mean and superior. (We have a tendency to assign positive qualities to beautiful people.) Coming from Ms. Palin, the vilest thoughts appear to be cute and harmless.

Sarah Palin is the Vanna White of the Republican party.

Sarah Palin is so cute--especially when she wrinkles up her nose, but man is she mean! And, in spite of all the talk about no special treatment for women, I'm sure the gentlemen on the Democratic side will have to be pushed pretty far not to show defference to a "lady." She's the perfect enforcer. She can make the most viscious attacks and never be hit back as hard as she hits.