Glenn, For the first time, I disagree with you. Or at least, I think you are missing a key point about tracking prescription drug usage. One of the primary problems in our health system is people failing to follow prescribed treatment. Knowing when/if patient's fill their prescription is a key piece of information to determine the effectiveness of treatments and the interventions necessary to help patients and to reduce our national healthcare tab (negotiating drug prices would help too, but that's another subject). That said, this information, like all medical records information, must never be made public or used for any purpose outside of patient care or anonymous research without a warrant.

The senselessness and magnitude of the tragedy at VT are overwhelming. Yet, at the same time, it is troubling how this tragedy highlights how numb we are to the tragedies in Iraq. Iraq. 32 innocents dead would be a good day there. I guess we have a shock factor they don't have. But the tragedy? Is it is less?

I am surprised we got the pass we did by the international press. And encouraged because I think they still believe in the spirit of America, if not our leaders. Because while we are, in large part, indirectly responsible for the deaths Iin the sense those specific deaths wouldn't have occurred but for us)even the necons didn't mean it to turn out so badly. We meant well. We just didn't know what we were doing. We are lucky to be viewed so kindly.

JUST THE FACTS. You are correct in assuming it is a personal decision to fill/not fill your prescriptions. But from the perspective of medical care, there is a definite need to know whether or not you did. Albeit, you need the absolute right to refuse to take a drug, for whatever reason. And albeit, it's nobody's right to look at what drugs you take, in order to make any decisions about you except on the basis of evaluating medical eficacy/medical care. My point:

1. We could gain immense knowledge by studying the overall care/treatment a patient receives in our efforts to combat disease. A key component of that is prescription drug usage. We can and should develop ways to use the data to evaluate drug compliance, but protect the patients privacy rights to not have that data used in punitive ways.

2. Perhaps more probematic, but if physicians had an objective way to evaluate a patients drug compliance, they could more effectively treat their patients. Patients always say they are compliant. If physicians had a way to evaluate true compliance, they could more effectively help the patient (Why didn't you fill your prescriptions? Because you can't afford it? Because you don't agree with the prescribed treatment? etc.)

Of course, while the Bushies have provided an amazing amount of material to do themselves in, you have done a tremendously eloquent and effective job of sloshing through it all. We owe you Glenn. Thanks.

(Today's dose of they did what?!: Randall Tobias, the Deputy Secretary of State leading our AIDS initiative with an utterly ridiculous focus on abstinence, getting busted for using hookers. Good grief. We need to start handing out hypocrisy awards...makes me need to take a shower....)

One of the pundit shows - think it was Matthews, had Hilary's Senate opponent on. She was giddily happy because the Republicans are about to conquer the world.

Her logic? Bush has showed us the heavy price of incompetence....and we all know, the republicans own competence. That is their strong point. Bush was an anamoly. The rest of them are competent. So they will win because the American people now see the value of being competent.

I couldn't believe it. And did the host guffaw? Choke? Nada. Didn't point out how the "competent" republicans enabled the gross incompetency for 6 freaking years. Didn't toss their little anomoly out on his a$$. Unbelievable.

Related to childbirth are not uncommon. I guess if you want to gamble so the 20 hours are exactly what you want them to be and risk your other children being motherless for the rest of their lives...go for it.

Would these same people favor violent attacks against fellow American citizens? No. Just if they are foreign innocents. We're a scary people. And we tout our Christianity. This is a crucial debate. We have become nationalistic beyond reason, at the expense of our humanity.

I agree the dems should have positioned themselves better for this vote. But the reality of yesterday? A veto was assured. They couldn't override it. What then? Would Bush carelessly pull the troops out, in stubborn retribution to the dems? An overnight pull-out? What would have happened then?

I'll tell you what would have happened. The tragedy that is Iraq could be sound-bited into a dem failure. Iraq would no longer be Bush's failure. And that isn't just a political save face for the dems. It's a question of...if they play chicken with Bush, does he crash head on and blame it on the other car? From what I know of Bush, yes.. I think we need to impeach Bush and Cheney and remove them from the equation and get on with being America again...