What Oprah did was 100% correct. Public apology by her and public flogging of that outrageous liar is exactly what was called for.Part of the rot of the culture is the the jokey, ironic semi-acceptance of these frauds by the news and infotainment establishment, such as the reaction to Ashlee Simpson's faking on SNL. This stuff isn't really very funny it's corrupting and only the celebrity culture run amok we have now can tolerate it.

Excellent article but you should have worked in a mention of the the truly fabulous, very readable translations by Robert Fagles of both of these works.

Bill's whining was to Detroit fans more like an art form, it seems like you are crticising a Pavarotti aria for being "too emotional"; to us it was an integral pert of his gratness, made only better by the fact that he was rich kid !Fabulous

It seems that the obvious, common sense point outside of politics is being missed here by politicians and the media: We as a society have become more aware of pedophiles and the damage they can cause. The effort to stop them at all levels of society has focused on the need for other adults,in schools, churches, social organizations and the like to be on the alert for suspicious behavior and to act effectively when sexual approach to children is made or reasonably suggested.The house leadership's approach to this problem is exactly the wrong, traditional approach to sex abuse often taken by church leaders,scout leaders, principals and the like.Tell the offender to knock it off and do nothing to remove him from his position of access. For this reason alone , apart from any directly political reasons, Hastert and several others should resign.

NPR broadcast in depth on that event after it happened including the tapes at length. I remember having to stop my car because I was crying too hard to drive. Yes. these were idealistic , maybe naive people who fell into their leader's developing madness, apoint worth considering for all of us.

Thanks for the dumbest, most puerile article ever to appear in Salon.From the kente cloth reference to the claim he's not black,this article offended me on more levels than I can describe.This is what race politics has come to in this country? Obama may be too inexperienced, I grant,but believe me, the racists think he's black and the writer is way out of touch with reality.

Broder argues that he has been critical of Bush and maybe he has been, albeit very mildly. He and the other pundits, however since the beginning of this presidency have been unable or unwilling to admit that Bush Cheney and their minions are radical demagogues who believe that their higher purposes (whatever those are)justify lying,the use of pure propaganda techniques,and ruthless suppression of dissent to further their aims. I find Broder and others delusional in analyzing a piece of propaganda, or a cynically crafted set of talking points las if it was an actual statement of political philosophy,or a policy argument intended to persuade, when it is only a tool used to incite the base, shame the opposition or obfuscate their true aims. By this they lend legitimacy to Bush where it is not deserved.

Regardless of whether one thinks she should be or wishes she weren't a celebrity (and how I wish she wasn't!) the fact that she is one makes her case important to the rule of law. The system of law works when it is perceived to be fair to some degree and for her to get special celebrity treatment has a direct negative effect on the law and works like corrosive acid on the law itself. Yes, many don't respect or believe in the law now, but we cannot abandon the effort altogether.The sheriff should have known this: shame on him.

This interesting article fails to mention one of the root sources of the president's fatuous certainty: his born again faith. While I take religion and spirituality very seriously, I am troubled by a doctrine which encourages followers to "only believe" and banishes self doubt as a lack of faith. Bush appears to believe he is on "a mission from God" (and has about the same intellectual depth as Elwood Blues) and therefore believes in having no doubt.In the hands of limited intellects such as the President's,such religious doctrines can easily persuade the person of their rightness without painful self examination.How much of the the know-nothingness of current politics and policy is fueled by this faith based ,not fact based, certainty?

No

I agree that this bill is hardly the ultimate solution, but in this problem there isn't a simple answer: what we really need and don't have is a responsible hard headed political process that functions to get us through this. Toyota, for example opposes the current bill and believes it will seriously damage their business. If that's true, how much will it damage one of our biggest and most important industries: our auto industry? Leftists and environmentalists shouldn't scoff at this concern: these are industrial workers at risk, the people they should care about. We have made this transportation nightmare with cheap gas, kept cheap by force of arms and CIA coups around the world for decades: we can't turn that on a dime. The incentives proposal has merit: among other things it would permit businesses, workers and farmers who need the large trucks to keep having them.What are the biggest sources of greenhouse gas? Cheap politics won't cut it here, hard slogging governance is what we need and sensible people to get that done.Such people are probably mostly Democrats: but we sure as hell need to figure out who they are and get them in charge.