I'm with JanetL. Babies ought to wear soft, non-binding clothing that allows them to be comfortable. Jeans are insane. So are leather cowboy boots on a baby, but I see them all the time.

For what it's worth, adults might be better off in soft, non-binding clothing and comfortable shoes, too.

Some writers have expressed their disgust with the entire Democratic Party. Nonsense! It isn't the Party that's the problem; it's certain Democrats, particularly certain Democrats who are in leadership positions.

"The Democrats" is not some homogeneous unified mass. It's individuals. Some are better, some are worse. As activists and voters, it's up to us to replace the bad ones.

Luckily, there's an election coming up next year. Now is the time to start pushing for better Democrats at the local/state level. You can get involved in Party politics. You can start attending Party meetings. You can start working in the Party. And you can have a voice in deciding who will run.

Voting is good, but it's not enough. How many times have you personally complained about choosing the lesser of two evils? To get better choices, you need to be involved in choosing who gets to run, and that means getting into Party politics.

Don't be a defeatist. As Alice Walker observed, "The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any."

Democracy is not a spectator sport. You can play, too. It's time to get off the bench.

What really makes it for me is that Tom Tomorrow shows all the responsible, ethical actions that you would expect a government to take - but which this one would never, ever do.

Wait for Petraeus's report, and then make decisions based on his observations? Check. Realize they've made horrible decisions and have to face the consequences? Check. The media realizing that these people are not to be trusted? Check. Rank & File Repubs questioning their other assumptions? Check. Check. Check.

And no way.

"he refuses to hand over the reigns"

I hope readers can forgive my nit-picking, but the word is "reins" not "reigns". I don't mean anything personal, but I've been seeing so many instances of this word substitution by columnists as well as responders that I feel compelled to comment on it.

"Reigns" makes a certain sense, in that it refers to control or government. But the actual reference is to "reins", those leather strips that attach to a horse's bridle and are used to direct it.

It's interesting how the more ancient usage seems to have been lost (who these days has any recollection that people once used animals for transportation??) and yet the concept of control and its corresponding homonym spelling live on.

Once again, nothing personal. It's not your fault that you wrote the 100th instance that drove me up the wall ;-)

"DOD took the reigns"

I complained about this usage yesterday. The expression ought to be "took the reins", those leather strips connected to the horses' bridles. At this point, I'm willing to concede that the spelling, and the meaning of the expression itself, has subtly changed. People in this century understand "reigns" and "reigning"; nobody remembers that we used to travel around via literal "horse power."

Another $5o gigabucks might be useful for starting off the invasion of Iran. After all, August is rapidly drawing to a close, and in the immortal phrasing of Andy Card, it's about time to "roll out a new product."

Time to start calling, writing, and visiting your local Congress critters. Many are in their local offices or holding public meetings. The Democrats do respond to constituent pressure ... For that matter, there are still Republicans who respond to the fear of not being re-elected. They're not all crazy loons.

As Alice Walker noted, "The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any."

The Larry Craig saga is another win-win sitution for the Republicans.

They get to show outrage and call for his resignation from the Senate - good for the right wing base, sounds reasonable to non-aligned potential voters. If Craig actually does resign, his Republican governor will appoint another Republican - no loss there, either.

On the other hand, if Democrats call for tolerance of homosexuals or the homosexual "Life Style™" (a trademark of the Republican Party), they're un-American perverts. If Democrats agree Craig should resign, they're gay-abandoning opportunists and hypocrites.

Whatever happens to Senator Craig, he'll be on the right-wing dole for the rest of his life.

Figuring out what makes women with Purging Disorder feel full sooner might help women who actually overeat, and NEVER seem to feel full.

"None of the senators who voted to authorize the use of force had an inkling of the Sabri intelligence"

But we must punish each and every one of them nonetheless, whether Senator "Hillary" Clinton, Senator John Kerry, or any other Democrat who dares run for the Presidency. Now and forever. Endlessly. No matter what. We shall never forget; we shall never forgive. We'd rather be right -- er, left... Yada yada yada.

But seriously -- I read Richard Clarke's Against All Enemies and have a hard time squaring the hair-on-fire George Tenet of pre-911 with the pathetic Bush syncophant following That Fateful Day. What the hell happened to Mr. Tenet?

No doubt about it -- we need better Democrats.

Three posts, and Godwin's Law strikes. FredRated drags in Israel.

The thread is dead, Fred.