I think the analogy Greenwald's drawing here sounds reasonable at first but doesn't really hold up under scrutiny.

If I insist on going against my lawyer's advice, I'm only hurting myself -- I'd be much more likely to lose my lawsuit, go to jail, whatever.

If I were override my physician and self-prescribe any medication I wanted, I could become a danger to more people than just myself. I could drive a car or operate heavy machinery while impaired. I could sell addictive pills to others and potentially hook them. I could become a total junkie and end up robbing or otherwise endangering others just to get my next fix.

Also, since many prescription drugs impair one's judgment, doesn't this hypothetical start to break down? Someone could start out a mentally competent adult, get a powerful painkiller that makes it all better, and after a short amount of time wind up needing that painkiller just to make it through the day. In short, the person ceases to be a mentally competent adult.

Glenn

Aravosis says:

"[S]ome people say are you left, some people say are you right. I think are you fair."

Note that it's "are you fair" and not "you are fair". I think your comment about Aravosis contrasting Hume with Kurtz would be accurate if it was the latter, but as the transcript reads I understood it to be a continuation of the preceding thought -- he's setting up "third way", neither left nor right but fair.

The Pirates haven't had a winning season since Bonds couldn't throw out Sid Bream. Since then the Braves have continued winning divisional titles every single year until last season while the Pirates haven't so much as sniffed .500. The Pirates are easily the most mismanaged team in baseball -- you don't go a decade and a half without a winning team by mistake. Today they're announcing a new team president, Frank Coonelly, and they're going to bring in a new GM as well. Hopefully these two will be able to turn this once proud franchise around.

...and the Steelers went for it 3 times though they never converted ...

Correction: the Steelers stuffed the Bills three times on 4th down. The Steelers didn't attempt any 4th down conversions this past Sunday because they didn't need to.

That's odd. I know for sure that the Steelers were much better on 3rd downs than 5/13. I watched the whole game and they had more than 5 3rd down conversions in the first quarter. It sounds like wherever you're getting your boxscores from is listing the 3rd/4th down efficiency for the defense -- meaning how well they stopped the opposing team rather than how often a team's offense converted.

So you culti-crit types don't actually believe domestic violence exists or that it matters or that people are impacted by it?

Where on earth is that criticism coming from? Just because King didn't include domestic violence in his laundry list of issues doesn't mean he's somehow ignorant of its existence.

Mr. Goldman, in his unswerving obsession with "getting money" from OJ, pretty much fits the unflattering stereotype of the Jew who will put money over everything else. Don't say you haven't had this thought, as well, because I know you have.

I think Holly was right to point out how this sounds anti-Semitic. You plainly think Goldman values money over the life of his murdered son, compare him to a Jewish stereotype and seal the deal with the patented 'dont tell me you weren't thinking the same thing' routine. I have no idea if you're a bigot in real life but if you want to come across as one on the internet that paragraph is a great way to start.

Of course I've heard the unflattering stereotypes, but I don't casually toss them around about people grieving their murdered son. Nowhere did AnaHadWolves acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, the Goldmans think the system failed them and are after a shred of justice, even though financial compensation won't bring their son back. No, it was clear s/he thought the Goldmans were just trying to cash in. AnaHadWolves later responded to criticism by lamenting how frequently the charge of anti-Semitism is bandied about, apparently oblivious to the fact that arguing someone's a greedy Jew is different from criticizing Israeli foreign policy.

but do Salon writers assign red stars to the comments their columns receive? I never really thought about it, but that seems like a task someone else would perform.

My guess is that McNabb couldn't handle being a Steeler ...

Not sure if I agree with that, but I sure would've rather had McNabb than Kordell.

One other point, I didn't look closely at the numbers, but I don't know that the percentage of black quarterbacks in the NFL is all that low. Looked like it was generally in line with the percentage of black people in the U.S. population.

That may be the case but I think a more relevant comparison would be to the percentage of black players in the NFL. Over half the guys in the NFL are black, so why are there only a handful of black QBs in the league? That's the discrepancy.

How sad is it that Political Correctness has made people uncomfortable about having opinions?

We have reached a new low as a 'socially progressive' society.

Perhaps I'm reading too much into gavin's comment, but I interpreted it more as since he isn't black he feels awkward commenting on what it's like to be black. I don't think there's anything wrong with that sentiment at all. I feel the same way myself -- I might be able to empathize with African Americans (or Hispanics or women or any other group I'm not a part of) but the lack of first hand experience means my understanding of whatever the issue of the day is will be limited.

Again, I may be misinterpreting his comment but that's how I understood it when I first read it.