That's why I keep reading Salon. And having said that, let's get to it.

"But all weekend long, I've found myself shaking my head over Rush's Thursday tantrum about me, in which he called me a "racist," a "magic white" and finally "the magic honky," trying to understand what it all means."

You are a journalist. Quoting Rush Limbaugh's insults and then defending yourself is not journalism, it is narcissism. There are important issues being decided right now (and most of them are going the wrong way) and every column inch in your excellent magazine that talks about Limbaugh is a distraction and only makes him happier.

To be even blunter, I don't care if Rush Limbaugh insults you all day long. He is a fool. You are not. Please don't let him distract you from the important work that needs to be done. Please get back to work, and stop listening to Limbaugh.

I know Robert Herjavec personally, and he is a hell of a nice guy. I don't know the other people you slag in your article, but Robert doesn't deserve that treatment. He is a decent, ethical person.

Every now and then in life you run into someone who wears their success with humility and humor. Robert is that kind of person. It is nice to see that good guys can finish first now and then.

That should be 'hanged in effigy', not 'hung in effigy.'

We have the same issue up here in Canada. The national media started paying attention after a Polish immigrant was tasered and died in Vancouver International Airport. Police are using it as a control tool, not as a substitute for deadly force. I personally don't think that tasers will be allowed much longer in Canada - there are too many poor outcomes for the public to stomach.

Thanks for raising the issue. It really is horrible.

My son cut his arm with an axe while camping last week. I took him to the hospital, and in an hour and a half he had 8 stitches and was back splitting wood again. No money changed hands. I have no idea what the cost was, and I don't care. I pay for it with my taxes - my employer doesn't have to pay the burden of healthcare - and all I care about is that my son got the care he needed, when he needed it.

I talked to my parents, both in their 80's, a few hours later. Dad had cancer, and my mother has arthritis. They are getting home care every morning. No money is mentioned, and we have no idea what it costs. They earned that care by working hard and paying their taxes all their lives.

We live in Alberta, Canada. Obama says that Canadian-style healthcare wouldn't work in the US, and I wonder why. Canadians are healthier and live longer than Americans, and our healthcare costs half as much. Don't you guys want world-class healthcare where patients don't have to worry about the cost? Wouldn't you like to have a system where it is a crime to make a patient cough up a co-pay?

The reason it won't work is that the US has a huge parasitic class that has intereceded between doctors and patients, and it needs to be fed first.

You guys need to get your shit together and get the healthcare thing sorted out or you will fall farther behind Canada and Europe economically. Remember - Canadian industry can produce goods and services cheaper than the US because our companies don't have to pay for the health insurance of its employees. (Ask Toyota and Alabama.) Canadian employees pay their own health insurance through their taxes.

Watching all the floundering over the healthcare debate, I wonder how you guys ever managed to put a man on the moon. Why can't you get your government to do something that will benefit all Americans? Who's in charge down there?

I remember when my oldest son was seven or eight. He came home from playing with his friend one day and announced that Kyle's parents had bought him a SuperSoaker 50. My wife had visions of Kyle and Peter having fun running around the neighborhood shooting water pistols at each other, so she suggested that we buy Peter a SuperSoaker 50 too. I told her, "Hell, no. We're getting him a SuperSoaker 100. More water, better range, better hitting power." She didn't think that this was 'fair.' I told her that fair had nothing to do with it. The aim was to win, and if we needed to launch an arms race on Thurlow Street, then we would do it.

I suspect that there are few people who understand the importance of civilian control of the military better than the senior officers, generals and admirals in the US armed services. There are few professional classes equal to them. They know the importance of civilian primacy: if the civilian leadership wants war, then they have to pay for it. The military has no independent fundraising capability. Also, if it goes badly, the civilians get the blame, as they did after the Vietnam War. This leaves the military unencumbered by public doubt, and able to pick up and move on while the politicians get scourged by the electorate.

Patrick,

I have considered what I would do with my backpack and laptop, and as I keep them under the seat under me, I thought that I would grab them on the way out should it become necessary. Thanks for your explanation of why it is a bad idea - should I find myself in that situation I will leave them behind. Safety first.