They've been satirizing Americans' ignorance of their civil liberties all along. Here's an example: their 1996 parody of the "I'm Just a Bill" song from Schoolhouse Rock:

Amendment-to-Be

Boy: (spoken) Hey, who left all this garbage lying on the steps of Congress?

Amendment: (spoken) I'm not garbage.

(sung) I'm an amendment to be,

Yes, an amendment to be,

And I'm hoping that they'll ratify me,

There's a lot of flag burners,

Who have got too much freedom,

I wanna make it legal,

For policemen to beat 'em,

'Cause there's limits to our liberties.

'Least I hope and pray that there are,

'Cause those liberal freaks go too far.

Boy: (spoken) But why can't we just make a law against flag burning?

Amendment: (spoken) Because that law would be unconstitutional.

But if we changed the Constitution...

Boy: (spoken) Then we could make all sorts of crazy laws!

Amendment: (spoken) Now you're catching on!

Boy: (spoken) But what if they say you're not good enough to be in the Constitution?

Amendment: (sung) Then I'll destroy all opposition to me,

And I'll make Ted Kennedy pay,

If he fights back,

I'll say that he's gay!

Fat Senator: (running up) Good news, Amendment! They ratified 'ya. You're in the U.S. Constitution!

Amendment: (spoken, estatic) Oh, yeah! Door's open, boys!

I'm sure there will still be plenty of plotless films involving explosions and chicks with jiggly breast implants.

Right wing talk show hosts can dish it out, but they can't take it.

A friend who was an animal rights and human rights activist once told me that he viewed animal and human rights as equally important parts of the circle of compassion for all beings. If you think of your friends and other activists who are focusing on human rights but not animal rights as being part of the same circle that you are, perhaps you'll find it easier to connect with them.

If abortion is to be considered legally as murder, wouldn't every miscarriage have to be investigated as a possible criminal homicide?

Del writes that being impregnated by a rapist is an "inconvenience" that a woman should gladly suffer for the sake of bringing a new life into the world.

News flash: Pregnancy and childbirth are NOT mere "inconveniences." They are significant medical events that potentially have life threatening complications. Among them: hypertension, ectopic pregnancy, gestational diabetes, placental abruption, preeclampsia, and various infections, not to mention complications of existing health problems. I'm not even going to list other, less serious complications because if Dell and his ilk do not give a damn about endangering a woman's life by forced childbearing, they aren't going to care about things like fluid retention and enforced bedrest. (I'm assuming that Del is a man because few women are this callous or clueless.)

News flash: Rape is a crime of violence against women. Women do not "ask" to be raped, nor should they be forced to endure a pregnancy that results from rape. And consider this: If a man enjoys degrading and attacking women, imagine how much more pleasure he'd have if the degradation and assault were dragged out through nine months of pregnancy, childbirth, and everything that comes afterwards. Is the pro-life movement in the business of promoting rapists' rights, too?

I've given birth to two wonderful children; both pregnancies and births were ordeals that I suffered willingly. However, having been through these things myself, I know how difficult they can be and would never, ever force another woman to undergo them if she didn't want to. And if I was raped and conceived, you better believe that I would want the option to end the pregnancy.

Women are human beings with rights over our own bodies. We are not walking, talking receptacles for sperm, to be forced by violence into pregnancy and childbirth.

Don't get stressed out about being a gold digger. The very fact that you're worried about it shows you're not!

Talk honestly to your boyfriend about your financial situation and family background. You need to deal with this issue now, because money is the elephant in the room of your relationship. The elephant takes up a lot of space and isn't going to go away. You need to confront it instead of tiptoeing around pretending it isn't there.

Your boyfriend sounds like a decent guy and is probably just clueless about what it's really like to be broke. Perhaps he'll be able to understand it on some level, perhaps he won't. It may end up being a deal-breaker for your relationship, but at least you will have tried.

Good luck.

Yet another pious conservative moralist is exposed as a liar, thief and hypocrite. And a petty thief at that! (At least Duke Cunningham stole with style.) Perhaps Claude Allen took a cue from his boss and believed that he was above the law.

I'm not sure how shoplifting from Target can possibly be equated with putting condoms in your kids' Christmas stockings (WTF??), but that's conservative logic for you. Apparently the 10 Commandments don't apply to holier-than-thou Bush Administration flunkies.

Also, in case conservatives hadn't noticed, Clinton has been out of office for six years now. The statute of limitations has long expired for blaming him for the malfeasance and misconduct of the Bush Administration.

They are part of a packaged commercial fantasy. I'm not sure if it is really every man's fantasy, or just what the porn industry imagines it to be, though.