You know.

The ones you're CURRENTLY TORTURING?

Maybe they can tell you.

This sounds like Condi Rice's line about "not anticipating" that the Daily Presidential Brief about al-Qaeda flying planes into buildings actually meant FLYING PLANES INTO BUILDINGS. You want me to draw you a picture?

My God in heaven.

You've either got to be really, really stupid, or a really sadistic son of a bitch to even ask that kind of a question.

So I guess Bush would be really stupid.

And Dick Cheney would be really sadistic. On an order of magnitude that would make the Marquis de Sade cringe.

If, as Sen. Allen suggests, his mother taught him about tolerance, it's quite clear that he slept through the lessons. It's quite an effort to re-invent yourself. Particularly if you hail from California (or Connecticut, for that matter), and you want to pose as a God-fearing, old fashioned, "family values" having, son of the South. People re-invent themselves for many reasons all the time. But you have to wonder how much of the "new and improved" George Allen is artifice fabricated to appeal to the radicals in VA who still think they're fighting the Civil War, and think those old plantation houses don't look the same now that the slaves are gone. How else to explain the overreaction to a simple, if perhaps ill-timed question about his Jewish heritage? Judaism is a religion, that's true. But as I read the story, Ms. Fox was asking about Sen. Allen's possible Jewish ethnicity. Now he has added to his troubles. First the slur against the young man who is in fact, AMERICAN. Indian heritage, yes, but he's one of us. Then the disingenuous remarks about valuing tolerance (nevermind the noose and the Confederate flag in his office when he was governor), and now, what would seem to me an attempt to distance himself from whatever strain of Jewish heritage he might possess. Now why would someone do that? Why would someone need to do that? In any event, it's probably safe to say that George Allen's career in the Senate is over. Sane people in Virginia, just like sane people in America don't like racists. Jim Webb is not necessarily the most attractive alternative, but...like in PA, where Bob Casey is a pro-life Democrat, but people would rather see him in the Senate than another 6 years of Senator Santimonius, Jim Webb at least is with the rest of us about this stupid war. And he knows about battle, whereas George Allen is still playing with his GI Joe "action figures".

So nice to see that my despair over voices of reason being silenced by the Chest Beaters was ill-founded. Joan did herself proud and raised Salon's profile in the news media market when it seems that the voices of those in the MSM want to drown out, once again, any sort of sanity and common sense. Now I personally don't think much of the former Cardinal Ratzinger, now new Pope. I think he's exactly NOT what the Catholic Church needs in these times. He was not exactly the voice of moderation and balance as advisor to Pope John Paul II, and now as Pope Benedict XVI, he's actually far more conservative than his predecessor. Having said that, I think Joan was spot on when she said that conservative extremists and Muslim extremists have something in common which is the need to stifle debate and dominate the media with their own point of view. They call it "mainstream" when it's in fact, just theirs and they won't shut up about it. As proof, Scarborough and Bozell went postal, making her point for her. This is the great sin of this generation of news "reporting". First to allow itself to be driven only by profit, and second, to be co-opted by those who would essentially abandon the truth for sensationalism because it sells ad space, wins ratings points, or wins elections. There may be historical precedents, but I've not seen any in my lifetime. Joan also gets high marks for keeping cool under fire. Way to go, Joan! Keep up the good work.

Laughable.

Or it would be it it weren't so truly pathetic.

George Allen was voted to the US Senate in 2000. Before that, he was Governor of Virginia. That means that the people of VA sent a bigot to the State House of VA, and a bigot to the US Senate. Robert Byrd was a racist and clearly has reformed himself. George Allen was a racist, is a racist, and continues to be a racist, an anti-Semite, and a full-time meathead with identity issues. This is the difference.

Anyone remember Trent Lott and how he wistfully longed for the days of segregation and Jim Crow? Remember how he said that if his good friend Strom Thurmond had been elected President in 1948, we wouldn't have had "all these problems over all these years"? Remember how he got tarred and feathered and even President Bush backed away from him? Remember how he even went on BET to apologize? Anybody hear from him since?

Keep digging, George. Trent Lott's fate awaits you.

I did what any American citizen should do: called my elected representatives and expressed my outrage. I called Sen. Kerry, Rep. Pelosi, and Sen. Reed. I will call the elected representatives of my state to express my outrage. Once they feel pressure from THE PEOPLE, they will act. To all my brothers and sisters here in the Salon, I say keep the pressure up. Don't give in to cynicism(?). WE must fight.

When the people lead, the leaders will follow. That's the way democracy has been advanced in this country, by pressure from the electorate, not by the so-called "principled" leaders that are up there (or down there, in my case) in Washington, D.C. That's being part of the process, part of the solution. Don't wait to be dictated to. SPEAK UP! This is your government, our government, our country. LET'S TAKE IT BACK!