I dunno, too many letters and too much stupidity to wade through, but:

To "censure" is not to "censor."

To "censure" is to condemn.

To "censor" is to silence.

For all you idiot right-wingers out there (redundant, I know), to "censure" others is no offense to the First; indeed, it's part of the dialogue.

To "censor" others, on the other hand, is precisely what the Right has been calling for in terms of the speech of the Left; we should not criticize a (Republican) president, we should not publish critical ads, etc.

Censure me all you wish, idiot right-wingers. You have that right under the First.

Joan, you're just confusing them by using complex language...

The zombies of the Right come out to eat the brains of the recently dead.

It's because they themselves lack souls.

If only Teddy had run a shadow government and death squads in Central America! Then the Right would want to name airports after him!

Murder thousands, and the Right will cheer you!

Every day I see something about Sanford(R) and his nonsensical statements, his hypocrisy, his overweening, naked ambition, I rejoice.

Let's hope he never steps down, unlike Palin (Q).

From Wikipedia:

Pielke has a somewhat nuanced position on climate change, which is sometimes taken for skepticism, a label that he explicitly renounces[2][3] . He has said:

the evidence of a human fingerprint on the global and regional climate is incontrovertible as clearly illustrated in the National Research Council report and in our research papers (e.g. see http://climatesci.org/publications/pdf/R-258.pdf

In conservative hands, "somewhat nuanced" becomes "he supports my position."

As far as Gray goes, he argues, without evidence, that those who put credence in global warming theories do so because they believe in "one world government." He also trashes the nuclear winter notion, apparently because he thinks that nuclear war should always be an option.

...fuck 'em. Just fuck 'em. The GOP has been lying through their teeth since 1980. Just fuck 'em, preferably with rusty barbed wire.

Mr. Leonard,

Thanks for writing the truth, and calling out the liars for their lies.

I'm thinkin' that Voight needs his carotid arteries cleaned out, so the oxygenated blood can start flowing back into his brain.

Why can't the press do it?

The press is tied to two things: first, they argue, "There's two sides to every story (and we can't tell you where the truth is)."

Of course, this is out-and-out bullshit. There aren't two sides to every story; there are dozens of sides. The press is too lazy, and thinks we're too stupid, to sort through it all. So they simplify.

And to point out actual lies (even Salon won't point out lies--they call 'em "myths")--takes balls. It takes the embrace of the fact that when you point out how somebody is lying, they won't come back; your sources will dry up; they won't buy you dinner anymore.

The press is too enamored of being part of the power structure, too afraid to lose the "access" they have, even if access means that they're not doing their job.

Stewart doesn't care. If McCaughey never again appears on his show...he doesn't care. If the Republicans stop giving him access...he doesn't care. He's not enamored of the power structure (save for Brian Williams; he likes Williams way too much). He has courage, and he's not looking out for a "career."

Would that people who profess to be journalists had half his courage and half his smarts. Instead, they care way too much about those steak dinners with power brokers.

Don't call these things "myths!"

They're not myths--they're lies.

Call them what they are. Don't soften it.

Say it with me, Alex: McCaughey is lying. She and other Republican shills are liar. "Death panels" is a pernicious, deliberate, lie.

There now. Don't we all feel better for airing the truth?

I'm hoping that BHO is smarter than the Republicans. Here's what I would do if I were him:

1) Spend a summer "wasted" trying to openly seek bipartisanship and rational debate.

2) Let the crazies come out of the woodwork. Let it be clearly seen that the Republicans are interested only in destruction, not in addressing the issues of the country. (Yea Tom Ridge!)

3) After Labor Day, and some discrete Blue Dog arm twisting, let the American people know that the Republicans are liars and crazies.

4) Pass single payer.

By the way, please stop calling the death panels a "myth." It implies that it sort of sprang up spontaneously, that the Republicans were out in their back yards one day and found it in a fairy ring.

It's a lie: a deliberate, no-holds-barred, crazier than a loon lie. It does no good to be polite. Be truthful. The GOP is stuffed to seams bursting with crazy liars.

A debate involves at least two parties who present informed points of view, and discuss them and refute them, as possible, in a relatively rational way.

There's no "debate" about health insurance reform (this is not about health care) in this country.

There are people who are agin' it.

There are people who are for it, and who discuss the various possibilities rationally.

The people who are agin' it carry guns and shout at the tops of theirs voices.

These people will never be won over. They won't be convinced. They won't even speak in indoor voices.

Forget 'em. If they show up with guns, arrest them (on the grounds of disturbing the peace, inciting to riot, whatever you like--people who bring guns to a townhall should be arrested; they're deliberately intimidating others). Don't try and hold a dialogue, conversation, or debate with 'em. Ain't gonna happen.

We should move ahead and demand single-payer now. Period.

Yes indeedy, I'm lovin' it when the Right comes on these letters columns and whines and complains that you're actually covering their members, actually telling America what the Right believes.

Because it reveals them to be crazy motherfuckers, and they can't stand that.

Keep it up, Salon!