This is the most important news of the week. We argue so much about stupid political issues, and barely pay attention when our literary giants leave us.

I was a little dismayed a few weeks ago when Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn died and this was scarcely acknowledged by the media. But at least Solzhenitsyn was well past his greatest days as a writer. Wallace was in his prime, making this loss all the more sad.

We complain that the politics and news of the day is so sordid, and then ignore our greatest writers. Something tells me there is a connection.

The U.S. stock market is melting down.

We are fighting a war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Two hurricanes have hit the Gulf Coast in the last month.

And Salon has been hijacked by a jihadist group OBSESSED with you-know-who.

I am so over you-know-who. I will not say or write her name. I will not speak about or discuss any issues related to her. I refuse to read any articles about her.

She will be, at best, vice president. Ms. Irrelevant. She was not McCain's first pick, and I'll bet he is more than a little jealous of her success. I'll bet the farm he doesn't let her do anything meaningful in his administration, except serve as Official Trophy Wife.

I'm over her. You should be too.

Good point, very good point.

I don't think Obama can ever shake the elitist label. This is something people pick up in his manner. Mannerisms are very subjective -- what seems uppity to you may be aloof to me or shy to someone else. You can't change how people react to you.

I think Obama should simply put the elitist label on the table. He should admit that some people find his mannerisms elitist, but he doesn't mean it that way. That he understands how people could look at him that way, even though he is not like that. Obama should remind people that in public, on television, people often come across differently than in real life. Don't always trust the image on the big screen.

One of the most effective, and least used, ways to break down resistance is to freely admit to a fault. It is amazing how quickly mistrust will melt away.

Some may argue that McCain will then respond by saying, "See, he even says he is an elitist." But it won't work. You can't turn personal disclosure against a person. That just makes the person doing the turning look like a complete ass.

I live near a small market city, New Orleans. In New Orleans, when the NFL threatens to leave town without a new stadium, that is a real threat. The NFL could easily go to San Antonio, or LA, or other places, if its demands are not met.

But New York? You think the Yankees are leaving the Big Apple? Sheesh pal, how crazy are you? If the Yanks ever left NY, baseball would fall behind hockey in the TV ratings. It would be suicide.

If I were the mayor of New York, I'd tell George Steinbrenner he can have his new stadium any time he is ready to pay for it, plus a $100 million fee to the city. Otherwise, the Bronx Bombers can play in a cardboard box, for all I care.

Why put up with these people? There are a handful of cities major sports cannot do without, and New York is at the top of that list. Way at the top.

As someone who has lived in a city that has been bullied by professional sports, I'd just love to see a big city mayor bitch slap an owner the way small town owners do their fans in every other city.

Why does every expenditure of tax money have to be about New Orleans?

You think New Orleanians don't pay taxes? Tell that to my 1040. If we had $800 million, the price of the new Yankee Stadium, in improvements to the 17th street canal prior to Katrina, there wouldn't have been a Katrina.

If we got 40% of the money the feds collect on oil contracts for drilling OFF OUR OWN COAST, oil drilling that has destroyed our coastal wetlands and made massive hurricane flooding possible -- if we just had 40% of that money, we could build our own hurricane defenses, no help from you.

This morning I get up and discover that my tax money, $85 billion of it, is going to rescue a Wall Street firm. Huh. That number is disturbingly close to the amount of money Congress approved for Katrina. So how come it is dandy to pay billions and billions to make sure insurance brokers stay employed, but New Orleanians, well, to hell with 'em.

You know why our country is going down the drain? Because too many people care about their own paychecks, and not enough care about the integrity of the entire country.

Typical American: Throw away an entire American city. What the hell, everything is disposable around here. We'll just keep throwing cities away one by one until there's nothing left but the Hamptons. Then it will all be good.

Too many people want to give Obama advice on how to run his campaign. This makes as much sense as yelling at the actors in a play while the play is going on.

Obama is a smart man. He'll muddle through. All this advice only puts needless pressure on the man. Yes, he looks unflappable, but deep inside I am certain all this yelling and screaming gets to him.

If you want to help Obama, argue about issues. Come up with a plan to fix the economy. Make some good points about offshore drilling, before that runaway train gets out of town. Let Obama worry about how he looks, and how angry he lets on to be.

Give Obama some light, and less heat.