Mr. Lyden now accuses me of indifference to the quarter of a million people lost in the 2004 tsunami, the less-counted but continuing suffering in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina, and the victims of the cyclone that hit Bangladesh last fall.

Methinks he's veered a little too far away from the premise of my post, which was about people not wanting to see a Creature Feature because the buildings the thing knocks down reminds them of the much-exploited 9-11 attacks.

Meanwhile, I've been enjoying the other posts about Gojira's significance in an atomic world, why we're drawn to horror movies, and commentary on which cities are worthy of cinematic destruction. Sorry.

I'm not going to try to compete with you in the empathy game, Mr. Lyden. But I will second (or third, or whatever we're up to) with the other folks who've said they're tired of "9-11"™ (a trademark of the Republican Party) needing to be treated with bowed-head reverence.

Sooner or later, this nation will need to grow up and get on with its life.

"I am not now, and never have been, a senior citizen." sez the bard.

"Senior citizen" is bad. "Seniors" is worse. The word "seniors" brings to mind young, strong people about to graduate and go off to do great things, not shambling, mumbling dementia cases.

Mr.Keillor, let's hope you never become a "senior citizen."

This is something that NASA should have come up with 35 years ago. You go, Sir Richard!

I've been hearing from all the talking heads, even the sainted Daniel Schorr of NPR, how inappropriate and unseemly it is that FORMER PRESIDENT Bill Clinton, the FACE OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, is engaging in bare-knuckle attack politics.

Well, boo hoo. Probably all of us in the Democratic base have been waiting for decades for a Democratic leader who isn't mealy-mouthed, conciliatory, apologetic, and all but eager to be date-raped and gang-raped by the Republican machine.

So Bill is standing up to defend his Democratic candidate? Well, good on him, and I hope he keeps it up, for whoever the Democratic candidate turns out to be. (I'm hoping for John Edwards this week, but frankly, I'll be happy with any of them.)

Mrs. Obama is just engaging in the "poor victim" strategy that has worked so well for the GOP for the last 40+ years. Nothing wrong with that. And Big Bill is using their mad dog attack strategy. It's worth mentioning that Al Gore took "the high road" and none of his fellow citizens swarmed the streets to defend his win of the Presidency. John Kerry took "the high road", too, and very few cared about the massive vote suppressions in Ohio and Florida that gave his loathesome opponent another lease on The People's House.

As a Democrat, I'm tired of losing. Let Mrs. Obama play the crying game and Bill Clinton the low-blow attack, and may whoever's tactics work the best face off against the Republican slime machine this fall.

This is another reason I hate country music.

First of all, congratulations to Senator Obama!

However, in the Presidential election, SC has been solidly Republican for decades now. It will make no difference who the Democratic candidate is, because the US votes for President by State and not by voter. When SC goes Republican in the general election, all of the votes for Democrats will effectively be "wasted."

The Electoral College - time to revoke its accreditation.

Seems to me as if the Dems are united the way they've always been.

I'll really miss you! Some of the things that the other posters haven't yet said include:

• your posts tended to be short and pithy
• you always left enough unsaid to provoke commentary
• 4,000 posts! That amounts to several reasons per day to check out Salon

Best of luck with your new job. I hope you do even better there. Apparently, they (the Politico) need it.

Great rundown, Mr. Shapiro! I laughed all the way through, particularly regarding "This was scant reason ... to delay the thrill of cleaning out the medicine chest. "

However, don't lose sight of the fact that we ignore this failed president at our own risk. There is basically no limit to the damage he and his henchmen can do in their last year in power. No limit.

Juliebird asks "would the US treat with a political entity that had as it stated goal the destruction of the US and all its people?"

You bet we would! Are you serious? The US had diplomatic relations and made treaties with the Soviet Union (remember them? The Communists who swore they would "bury us"? Second-largest functioning nuclear arsenal in the world?) basically since its inception in the 1920s up through its demise under President George H.W. (A Beneficiary of History) Bush.

Heck, the US even fought alongside the Commies in WWII! They were publically proclaimed as our allies against (well, we can't mention his name in responses to an article about Israel.) The Soviets were a critical part of the group of "Good Guys" known as "The Allies."

This business of not having any diplomatic dealings with nations who don't like us is new under the Bush Administration - although it's apparently been fundamental to Israeli policy for a much longer time. Nonetheless, it's a stupid, counterproductive policy. It's what you would expect from kindergardeners, not adults, and certainly not from heads of state and diplomats.

Seriously - the government of Israel needs to grow up.