Is she saying anything that I can't read in a post? This junior reporter nonsense is a waste. I NEVER watch, and it seems many other readers have the same POV. Listen up, Salon.

"since Bill O'Reilly and Limpballs got involved in their own scandals they can't exactly point any fingers. The same is true of Newt Gingrich who admitted that while he was getting Clinton impeached he himself was involved in an affair. Their righteous indignation of the past just made them look like fools when they were exposed."

Pammy61 has it right. Puritanism thrives when you have public scolds who point out the errors of everyone else from their perch of purity. Well, when the accusers so often turn out to be guilty of the same "offenses" they are accusing everyone else of - the public stops listening to these preachers.

I'll echo what Timbuktom said earlier - many companies require pre-employment drug tests. If illegal drugs are found, you will not be hired. Don't assume that it only applies to low level employees, I know of a company that recently rescinded an offer for a C-level, $$$ position because the candidate failed the drug test.

Also, if you somehow manage to get employment, many states allow companies to request a drug test if your job performance is perceived to be impaired. They might put you in a rehab program, with lots of monitoring - a friend was able to do this through his company and they watched him like a hawk for any mistake. He did recover from his addiction and continued to work there for a number of years.

Many companies just fire you, then you're SOL.

I've always found it interesting that anti-choicers feel it's necessary for a teen girl to get parental consent to have an abortion, yet no parental consent is required to carry a pregnancy to term and give birth. Most physicians agree that a full-term pregnancy, especially for a teen, is more harmful to her health than an abortion; so it really is not about protecting the teen's health.

"Witness that Ahmedinijad (?) can announce a visit to Iraq ahead of time and receive an open, warm welcome"

Yeah - but could he buy a rug for $5 in the market like Lindy Graham?

Sure, Huckabee is personable and nice and doesn't seem as crazy as Smitin' Pat Robertson. Don't be delusional. He wants to make the US Constitution conform to the Bible - doesn't seem to reasonable to me.

You can get a new high-paying job if you are an dull-witted, unqualified White Bu$hco crony. You're SOL if you happen to be a incompetent Hispanic Bu$hco hack looking for a new job.

Overall debt levels are much higher - costs (food, gas, insurance, property taxes, utilities, etc) all have gone up double-digit rates while incomes have barely budged.

Many households supplemented their earned incomes with home equity loans, credit cards, etc - not even those folks going on extravagant vacations or buying luxury cars.

Who is going to spend $600 on another piece of toxic crap from China when you're paying 18%+ to Bank of America?

"while foreclosures rose and default rates hit the roof, Bush's HUD secretary treated himself with "an emergency bid to obtain oil portraits of Jackson and four other HUD secretaries at a cost to taxpayers of $100,000."

How Marie Antoinette of them - Let them eat...paint!

I don't believe if gas prices come down a bit, people will hop in their cars and drive aimlessly around, or use their stimulation checks to buy a Hummer instead of a Prius.

Most household incomes have not budged in the past 7 years, so if you save $25 a month on gas tax, it will just go to pay that 18% interest on your credit card bill, or your health insurance, or your property taxes.

McCain should talk about a War Tax holiday - save us and our grandchildren the $billions we'll be paying for the War in Iraq.

President Hillary/Obama should follow these easy steps:

1) Revoke Secret Service protection for Bush, Cheney - let them hire their own Blackwater mercenaries.

2) Freeze all assets based on RICO statutes

3) Don't protest extradition requests from The Hague or any other agrieved party

4) When they leave the US, cancel their passports - have fun in Paraguay!

The Federal gas tax supports road maintenance for the highway system. I don't how it is where you live, but I see potholes, cracks, crumbling bridges everywhere I drive. Are we just going to put off fixing this infrastructure and dump it on the next generations - just like paying for the Bu$hco tax cuts and Iraq War?

Why would anyone be surprised that Dem Senators are endorsing a fellow Democrat in a primary? Who are they supposed to endorse - McCain? They're not party traitors like Lieberman.

"offer all of their dry goods in bulk"

Be careful when buying from bulk bins. Not always sanitary, well know havens for bugs.

"The common ground would be 1) better sex ed, 2) better access to better contraceptives, and 3) much better supports for women bearing children."

Sounds fabulous. What happens when contraceptives fail, woman is raped, fetus is not viable or deformed, woman's health is failing, etc, etc? Until you find a way to gestate human babies somewhere else but a woman's body - it is her choice what to do with her body when it comes to abortion.

Is it any wonder these "debates" are dreadful? There have been 20 among the Dem candidates alone! Anything you want to know about their stands on policy is available on their websites and has been endlessly reported for months. So what is the purpose of another debate in Pennsylvania or North Carolina or Indiana - no new information to be gained.

Instead of increasing enthusiasm for the process, I think this schedule of endless debates, speeches, press conferences just becomes so much background noise - we'll tune back in September.