"All Democratic contenders agree on the goal of universal coverage for the 47 million without insurance -- and, Kucinich aside, their road maps for getting there only differ in the details."

What about the millions of Americans who currently pay thousands of dollars a year in health care premiums, but are routinely denied the coverage for which they pay?

And regarding Hillary's "wet kiss to the insurance industry and the insurance lobby," what about the citizens who will fall into the income gray zone: making too much money to qualify for assistance, but too little money to afford compulsory health care. How will Hillary's plan penalize them?

I want to see the for-profit mindset wiped clean from all discussions of and proposals for the revision of the American health care system. Whatever candidate supports the latter, and agrees to actually deliver it, will be the candidate who gets my vote. If that's Kucinich, then so be it.

"...we need to make clear that access to insurance is not the same as access to healthcare."

Clinton and Edwards need to fess up to that as well.

My condolences to the Mayfield family for having had to endure such a travesty of misplaced suspicion, especially since it was foisted on them by their own country's government.

However, I thank all deities that Mayfield is a lawyer; if this had to happen to an American, our entire country is blessed that it happened to one of its better educated patriots.

"As to the question recently raised by L.A. Weekly art critic Doug Harvey -- if Marla's paintings are any good, aren't they still good if someone else painted them, or helped her paint them? -- that never even comes up here."

And why doesn't it come up? Art is all about an individual viewer's personal appreciation, his or her singular emotional experience when viewing any work of artistic expression. Who cares who painted it? If it pleases the viewer, then it has merit. If Marla's father is the actual artist, then--although he may be an artist who lied--he still commands respect as an artist.

I'm looking forward to seeing this documentary, and my thanks to Mr. O'Hehir for his very intriguing article.

I won't miss Bush but I'll sure miss Blumenthal.

Hillary Clinton is gaining one of the world's best political analysts, so here's hoping that 1.20.09 means not only the end of King George's imperial rule, but the beginning of a return to the constitutional government on which our (once) great nation was founded.

I'm in excited agreement with most of these choices, but I was so hoping for at least one Coen brother.

Jonesing in the night.

Where is my TT?

It has taken flight

To a new facility.

I've nowhere to write

Until the night is through.

Jonesing in the night

To read conjecture

Or a clever bite,

Even a lecture.

Pity me my plight,

I'm jonesing in the night.

Jonesing in the night!

I cannot stop, I am still

Jonesing in the night!

The wine is helping

But I need to hit Reply

Or I feel I'll die:

Freedom was a post away

Until you took the host away.

And I'll regret this night,

Losing decorum,

Being so uptight

About a forum,

But I miss my rite.

I'm jonesing in the night.

Great lyrics, Fog! I posted a Wobblie upthread to the tune of Strangers In The Night, but forgot to cite the tune. lol

My condolences to the Watts family.

The plan to embrace is one of a Flat Tax, not a Fair Tax, as there is nothing fair about the latter.

Warren Buffet has pointed out that he paid 17.7% in taxes on the $46 million he made last year "without trying to avoid paying higher taxes, while his secretary, who earned $60,000, was taxed at 30 per cent." (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/tax/article1996735.ece)

Close the loopholes. Tax all income, regardless if it's interest income, inheritance income, hedge fund income, or income earned by minimum wage workers. Do that, and you'll truly have a fair tax.

For Obama, the signage is about "change," but the rhetoric revolves around that richly emotional word "hope."

I'll wager that every person who recalls JFK's campaign recalls that he used the song "High Hopes" in television spots. I'll wager that Obama's strategists know that, too.

With Obama, it's like getting JFK, RFK, and MLK all rolled into one (their hopes were also for real change). But while Obama talks a lot about hope, Edwards talk actually gives me hope. I wish I could say the same about Hillary, but after 20 years of two families dominating the presidency, America needs a change.

Da Bird is absolutely the most ingenious cat toy to ever come down the pike. A friend introduced me to it years ago, and I can never thank her enough. It mimics bird movement with a whirring, fluttering sound that holds my cat's attention like nothing else; when we play with Da Bird, she morphs into a jungle huntress.

Wonderful article, Ms. Weir. For more fascinating insights into feline behavior, I recommend the book The Tribe of Tiger: Cats and Their Culture by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas.