with this article. John McCain made a dishonorable choice to put this woman a stroke away from the presidency were he to win, and she made a dishonorable choice to accept the position.

It boggles my mind, after what we've seen, the amount of hubris this woman must have had to take this job on "without blinking."

Mr. Kamiya's article is razor edged succint in its cutting summary of the current GOP. But of all the terrible legacies they have left us to turn around, their legacy of hate and divisivness should be the one that tars their feathers for years to come.

Today on the Huffington Post there is an essay by Jeffrey Feldman, "McCain's panic in PA..." It is a must read and with it, a must see video of McCain backers in line for a rally a few days ago. We who use the internet have all seen videos like this, but I would like to implore Salon editors writers and readers to help in asking the mainstream media to air this tape.

The best way to get rid of the dark is to shine light on it. The people on these videos need to be shown for what they are on the nightly news, which is still where many get their only news. One video is worth a thousand words when it comes to exposingwhat the McCain campaign has sown with the help of Karl Rove and George Bush. And it is deeper and scarier than the occassional heckler at a rally. It is hate politics unmasked.

I don't know how they live with the shame of it.

Heather,

I am a baby boomer old enough to be humble to the collective negatives of my generation and finally wise enough to know no generation does it better or worse than the next. My mother told me long ago that every generation has its challenges and every generation both succeeds and fails at it---she of the so called "greatest generation," has enough wisdom and humility to know that label is more hype than truth.

I admire your introspection and feel your pain over the bad TV shows you were subjected to growing up, although for my money it's a toss up as to whether that was worse than growing up to bloody nightly news footage of the useless war in Viet Nam. (In those days they showed it all up close and personal--- before they got crafty and decided a nation who saw what war really looked like might not be so willing to participate in it.) Truth is, both innanity and endless travesty can make you cynical.

My generation lost the wind in their sails somewhere along the way, and it seems your generation has had trouble finding the wind to begin with. Untill now. The important thing is that hopefully we have all woken up, that we will all set sail with "a righteous wind at our backs" and not give up till we find safe port in a country we can believe in.

"Moreover, many of the votes that Obama received were delivered by people who didn't have a clue about Obama's policies (old or new). Many were in the anti-Bush contingent and the "yes, let's make history" contingent. And now they have a president-elect who has a lackluster political record with no history of sticking his neck out to make a decision."

-- judithod

The vast majority of us who voted for Obama did so with great enthusiasm and confidence. We know exactly what he stands for and exactly why we elected him. And we're not getting off the train now. Our new president taught us something---that we can. And we will. So don't be counting on a non-existent huge mob of anti-Bush unmotivated Obama voters. I guarantee you we will outnumber them by millions.

And as for "no history of sticking his neck out to make a decision," what do you call choosing to run for over 2 years to become America's first black president? Two years of unending smears, challengers, doubters and dirt diggers.

We're damn lucky he stuck his neck out to do this. Considering the sack of manure we're going to hand the president elect this year, I'm amazed we didn't have to run a want ad to fill the position. Judithod, you need to re-examine your definition of courage.