With five (a majority) of the Supreme Court justices claiming Roman Catholicism as their religious affiliation, perhaps they reflected on earlier encounters with nuns and intended to squelch the monastic vote.

The October surprise that would most help Obama's election would be a global cease fire.

Sen. McCain says Obama would "sit down unconditionally" with foreign leaders the U.S. doesn't get along with. Sen. Clinton has equated Obama's willingness to talk to those leaders with White House visits. They need their rhetoric. I think Obama might start with phone calls or get acquainted at gatherings of world leaders rather than having formal talks without conditions at the beginning.

http://www.606mag.com/main.php?id=80

Should you call something an advertisement when it's a piece not shown on TV, apparently only posted on the website of the "ad" maker? Did it receive outside funding? If so, maybe it's a promotional film. Did the guy posting it pay for it? Could it be an elaborate Vblog?

It seems his point is to make little videos and hope they get the media play. I don't see that he's actually airing them on TV anywhere. It's different in ideology from the "Obama girl" video, but it's the same medium, and nobody calls that video an ad.

I realize that making a hybrid adds to the price, but I'm wondering why the Smart Car isn't a hybrid so it can boast extremely high gas mileage.

You might also look at the follow-up to "The Newsroom," a series titled "More Tears."

"If only there were a way to magically convey the words from page to screen to e-mail to editor."

With Adobe Acrobat, you can create a .pdf from scanned pages. There's probably the added bonus (to the writer) of the editor not easily changing the text.

Pardon is equivalent to absolute privilege, isn't it?

Charlie Gibson asked whether the U.S. has a "right" to invade other countries preemptively. The answer to that, regardless of party, should be no. The U.S. has a responsibility to its people to do so, maybe, but it doesn't have a right to do so. But this doesn't address the War Room posting.

It's such an enshrined idea that anybody can grow up to be president that it seems the American electorate often consciously chooses the less exceptional, more average, wrong "anybody" to preserve that notion.

I haven't heard any commentator yet refer to Pat Nixon's "Republican cloth coat" of the Checkers speech when RMN was a vice presidential candidate.

Sarah Palin was a journalism major. I guess she cut class during discussions on the First Amendment.

I think it's worth noting that with Biden a Senate leader and Emanuel a House leader, now both top White House people, Obama might have an executive advantage in pushing White House concerns.

A governor's making an appointment is an opportunity to sidestep normal politics. This is Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg's best chance, as she's not a politician but does have some legal expertise, a liberal reputation from her family ties, and a definite connection to New York. She could serve and prove herself during the appointment time and then stand for election. I'd rather Patterson consider others, not just the elected officials who might feel ready to take the next rung on a political career ladder.

This is a topic on which I feel sorry for Obama. I figure he chose Warren as a minister of national standing with "purpose driven" theology. Obama might have thought it wouldn't be a controversial pick, instead illustrating the new administration's reaching out to others. Better than a Graham or an Osteen, but still, not a great pick.

I would have liked a differently representative choice, like the presiding bishop of the Episcopal church (a woman) or a minister who worked for Obama's election (there are many volunteers).

Having resigned his membership at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Obama now has to deal with whether he'll be a churchgoer as president and, if so, where he'll go. Plenty of churches are extending invitations. He's going to be the most scrutinized president in terms of religion. Maybe it's best that he stay away from church.

We all know from Leo McGarry's time as chief of staff that experience as the president's no. 1 makes a person very familiar with intelligence.

I wonder whether news-reporting publications could continue as subscription-based enterprises without paper and presses, but publishing daily editions, with updates, on Kindle or other e-readers. I'd be willing to subscribe to my local news publication of record for a full-feature daily edition. I'd still want to surf the Web for free info, too, from other news organizations.

The Campbell Brown show (with fill-in Roland Martin) has a "how-many-days-since-he-went-to-church" counter. There's a lot more that news organizations could cover than trying to force the president to pick a congregation. Let the man take a break from church!