There isn't much we can do concretely to honor the war dead, so Memorial Day becomes a symbolic ritual that in some way makes us aware of their sacrifice. My point is, everyone does that in the way that works for them, some have a moment of silence, some go to church, some have parades, some ride motorcycles and some go to art museums because, as Lincoln said "in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow"

I do believe that is Obama's voice but very well coached. Notice he speaks in a lower pitch than in English. This is very typical of Spanish language announcers. Also he said "Portorrico" the way puertoricans would pronouce it, rather than "Pwertorrico", the way other Spanish speakers may say it. I don't think anyone will fault him for not knowing Spanish, but I think he will impress people that he makes an effort to use their language. After all, the guy is not monoligual, he does speak Indonesian.

At this point, with Obama's lead in pledged delegates, there is no way Hillary Clinton could be elected president. Already most Republican's loathe her and if she steals this nomination a large number of Democrats will feel the same way. Do we really want someone who rewards those who cheat as our Chief Executive? Ok, America did elect G W Bush, so maybe.

You break the rules, get told in no uncertain terms what the consequences are of breaking the rules and then because they need you on their side they decide to change the rules after the fact. If the Democrats can't play by their own rules how they run the country?

So what's the alternative? Letting more competant people (read: wealthy, powerful people) make our decisions for us. Autocracy, oligarchy, dictatorship, they've all been tried and they don't work much better. The fact is that although it is a very flawed system, democracy is the best thing going and despite what the author says, people are better informed today than any time in history. For anyone with an internet connection, the resources are there to become a virtual expert on our government. As always, people will have very little interest in how the country is run until it starts affecting them, their personal liberties, or more likely their wallets.

I've said and thought some nasty things about Hillary Clinton during this primary. But she can redeem herself in my eyes, cause I don't hold a grudge. I want her to say to her supporters who want about voting for McCain "Are you people out of your f****ing minds???"

It would get a laugh, make a point and show that she's become a real New Yorker.

I know this is about a movie but I'm bothered by the quote "They've been fighting for 2,000 years" Unfortuantely many Jews repeat this and it is simply not true. Jews and Christians have been fighting for centuries but Jews and Muslims or Arabs, not so much, in fact one of the greatest flowerings of Jewish culture was in Moorish Spain.

Obama is a leader. But leaders can only lead people where they want to go. Otherwise they are tyrants. So the real credit, and I'm sure Obama would agree, goes to the people who have this vision he has articulated and are willing to take the steps to get there.

I don't know how your summary reflect the actual speech, but it seems to me it was too much about electing the first woman president. If the tables had been reversed would Obama be talking about the dream of the first African-American president? I don't think so. Surely many supported Hillary and Obama for those reasons, but she does not need to play on it. Women have led countries for centuries, as queens and now as presidents and prime ministers. I just don't see what a big deal it is about the US electing a female head of state when the UK, India, Israel, Germany, Finland and even Pakistan have already done it. It all boils down to my big issue with her. Her campaign wasn't about issues, it was about personality.

What really ticks me off is environmental people saying we just have to make a few simple changes. First of all, if you expect me to give up a few hours of flying for several days of driving, it is not a little thing. Staying in campgrounds? This would require hauling a trailer. You can't seriously think people are going to sleep all that time in tents. More likely, for most people, it would involve staying in a motel, which is much more expensive than plane fare. And as far as just taking time off and staying home, I've done that and unless you have something really interesting going on, it doesn't feel like much of a vacation. You don't end up feeling refreshed, more likely depressed.

Ok, I know this stuff is important, but just don't say it will be some simple changes. It's going to take a lot of sacrifice to stop global warming.

The center has actually moved so much to the right that Lind thinks it is the left. In a few ways we have progressed, socially we are far more accepting of minorities and women playing a role in our society although laws protecting them have been eaten away. Programs that help the broad American middle class, like Social Security will stay. Notice G W Bush couldn't unfund PBS, basically because it is not only liberals that watch it. But by in large we are nowhere to the left compared to most of the industrialized world. The most glaring example is the gap between the rich and poor, which is greater now than 40 years ago.