Ms. Palin still seems to think she is running for Homecomeing Queen. But, more pathetically, she is convinced that she DESERVES to win. There is a kind of scorched earth obsessiveness about winning for its own sake that makes her (in spite of all the gee-whiz, golly, aww-shucks perkiness) kind of terrifying. I'm positive that MICHELLE OBAMA knows more about national and world affairs than Palin and McCain combined (what an asset she would be) and, still, some people are actually considering voting for McCain---a man who changes his mind three times every hour and a spoiled girl-woman who must have her way or all Hell will break loose. *(A woman must have everything---Joni Mitchell)

It makes perfect sense that women would want to have sex with robots. As a man, I can attest that having sex with some women is the very definition of robotic.

I am all for manners and mutual consideration among human beings. God knows there is too little of it in the world. BUT, the idea of treating a woman like "ladies" suggests giving them special treatment. In the 70s, (yes, I'm old) "feminists" got angry if you opened a door for them. Now, women are asking: "what ever happened to chivalry?" Well, quite simply, "feminism" killed it. Again girls, make up your freakin' minds!

Sarah should show up in high boots and a leather boustier, holding a riding crop (or maybe a red lace teddy).....be very pouty and keep her mouth shut except when she licks her lips. Isn't that why she was put on the ticket?

As usual, you have an amazing ability to misread and then react to what you think someone said. I didn't say Palin would TRY to act like a cunt. I was questioning SALON's the use of the word DICK in reference to Joe Bidan.

Isn't the inference that Joe Biden may come off as a "dick" a horribly sexist statement? Why are we not asking about the possibility of Palin coming off as a "cunt?"

It may have very subtle, but I think the male candidates in Democratic Primary debates, DID show deference to Hillary Clinton as a "lady." They weren't exactly gentle, but they certainly didn't talk to her the same way that they would have if she had been a man. Most men, if they have had any kind of training in manners, are automatically more polite to women. It is burned into our being. This is an example of more mixed signals from "feminists:" "treat us like equals, but put down the toilet seat."

Dear Cary,

I have kind of a crackpot theory about all of this. I think we would have much less "emotional illness" in this culture if we did not have so much denial about its existence. In other words, I think a lot of emotional illness is actually caused by trying to suppress our perfectly natural feelings, including our reactions to legitimately painful occurances. On a personal level, I am going through something very similar to your letter writer. (And, being a man, sort of rules out menopause.) One of my oldest friends died a couple of months ago of a sudden heart attack. His widow, who is also one of my dearest friends, has been having a very difficult time. And, in trying to be there for her, I am not only mourning my friend's death, I am also sharing her grief. Today is my 55th Birthday and feel very sad and hopeless--anxious, having trouble sleeping, depressed. (I don't cry all the time, but I feel like I want to.) It seems that evey day there is some new horror--death, illness, financial crisis, war, corruption in government, etc, etc. It seems endless. The thing I have noticed is that, after the death of my parents, over the last eight years, everything seems to hit me harder and I am experiencing the same symptoms I had when they were ill and dying. I feel paralyzed and overwhelmed. I have had some good periods with the help of medications and therapy. But, it seems that at the very moment that I think things are ok, everything turns to shit. Now, I am wondering if these periods of extreme pain are just part of life that we have to survive as best we can. Should I just accept and this and stop torturing myself with the illsuion of feeling good long term?

Dear Glenn,

Isn't it obvious that a large part of this "financial crisis" can be linked directly to the huge amounts of money we're hemmoraging in the Iraq War? More, specifically, have the so-called private security firms (ie: mercenaries) sent us a bill?

----Thanks

Rumor has it that women think in a more non-linear fashion than men. But, there is a difference between non-linear (which can be very creative) and non-sensical. If Sarah Palin were a novelist or poet (assuming that she had something to say) she might be seen as some kind of avant-garde writer or just stoned out of her mind. Her abandonment of simple English syntax makes me think that she must have been flirting with the football team when they were teaching sentence structure at her high school. Even Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and James Joyce, etc., regardless of how far out they got, still used the primary rules of grammar for the most part. And, when they didn't, they knew that they were departing from the traditonal form to achieve a certain effect. What worries me is that Ms. Palin, is oblviious to the tangle of verbal tangensts that comes out of her mouth. If her mind is as disordered as her speach, she may very well have some kind of personality disorder. On that level, it is sad. But, someone who lacks basic verbal skills should not be runing for national office. It's not a matter of pity. It's a matter of lacking one of the primary requirements for the job.