I wouldn't want to be Obama either. I'm not up to all the guff he has to take. Fortunately, he's a better man than I am. That's just one of the reasons that I voted for him.

But the thing that really scares me is that those on the hard right have gone crazy. And their craziness is so extreme that scares me. They claim that the left treated Bush badly. But, nothing anyone had against Bush was like the seething hatred those on the hard right have for Obama. He's under personal threat but I fear for the whole nation about what they might be capable of in their craziness.

Personally, I think he's just looking for pay-back for Democrats failing to support him the last time ran. For that insult to his ego, he's going to make Connecticut Democrats pay, and pay, and pay. He's the ultimate egotist. And to think that he was almost VP.

... I really, really hope that the Republicans have a Palin-Beck ticket in 2012. It might just destroy the Republicans for all time.

You don't get it. Conservatives have their own facts and they are never wrong on those facts. True, their facts don't agree with the facts of anyone else. But, that's just because everyone else is wrong about the facts.

It's really tough arguing with a conservative when they have their own set of facts that they are never wrong about.

If so, that would explain about all of the history of South Carolina.

My son has played soccer for 20 years and I've watched big league soccer on TV. I've NEVER seen anything like what that woman did -- men, women, kids, or adults. Every one of the examples shown was an intentional foul. Almost all fouls in soccer are accidental -- but they still are fouls. And, what's more, every coach I've ever know has said that nobody will commit an intentional foul. And, even if the ref doesn't catch it, if the coach sees it then it leads to getting benched for at least the rest of the game. It's not just because it's bad sportsmanship but because it's really dumb play.

So, don't say that she was just "playing like a man." She was playing like a bully and a bully is a bully whether it's a man or woman.

And, it's always dumb play.

I was around for Vietnam and served my own 365 and a wake-up there. This just has the feel of our build-up there. We add more and more troops and there is nothing much to ever show for it. It's too bad that a new generation has to risk lives for an extremely doubtful purpose.

I hope that Obama gives a speech to the nation explaining his reasons for the additional troops. And, I really hope that he has really persuasive reasons. But, I'm afraid that he won't and that we don't.

that Salon could just quit talking about Sarah Palin?

I think that these child beauty pageants are a travesty. However, if you look on them as a parody of adult beauty pageants, I think that they make the adult contests equally revolting. It's a free country so I guess they all can't be shut down. But, they ought to be.

I'm afraid that the request by the victim to have the charges dropped in this high-profile case will mean that every future victim will now be quizzed, "The victim in the Polanski case dropped the charges. What's wrong with you that you won't drop the charges?" No one should have to endure that.

And what Polanski did is not a trivial matter -- I find it shocking that some people believe that Polanski is somehow exempt from the laws that bind the rest of us.

Ever since Lieberman lost the Democratic Primary for his Senate seat it's been my impression that it caused him to flip out. He swore revenge on the Democrats and his decision now has more to do with payback for the believed insult in his last election than it does with his wife's prior employment. It's hard to maintain a sense of proportion when you're a United States Senator. I think a lot of them get to believe that everyone owes them. And Sen. Lieberman is a great example of what happens when one of them is deprived of his or her illusions -- you just go crazy.

It's not much consolation to the woman whose guy was freaked out because she lost her nipples to cancer but it that hadn't scotched the relationship, something else equally petty would have done it. If the guy had any sense at all, and had any really deep feeling for her, he would just have been overjoyed that she was going to live. And that very minor loss would have constantly reminded him how lucky he was that she was going to be around, now, for a long time.

No person is a part of their body. If the guy needed her to have nipples, then she should have seen that his attraction to her was not really to her but to a body part. When she finds someone who doesn't care about that body part, then she'll know that she's found someone that's worth being with for the long term.

I have no doubt that Reid will stay friendly, in public, to not only Lieberman but to all of the Blue Dog Democrats. None of them will be sure votes until they finally cast them. I'm also sure that, in private, Reid will have told them of the consequences should any of them vote with the Republicans. I'm also certain that he'll follow through on any private threats. This is a big deal vote and he won't let it slide as "just ordinary stuff."