Even if what you described was reality, I'd take that over mind-numbing Handmaid's Tale theocracy, plus a robber-baron oligarchy and an environment trashed beyond all hope of repair, ever, and no one with wits or curiosity to survive. Oh yeah, and the debt and the never-ending wars on terror, and the manipulation of the public paranoia on the eve of any significant democratic participatory event.

Amen.

Dodd has been cleared of any and all wrongdoing by a Senate Ethics Committee regarding the Countrywide "deal."

So if Frank is "less scummy" than the measurably un-scummy Dodd, then ... yes.

BTW, Dodd was handed the health care baton when Ted Kennedy took ill. It surprises me not at all that he is being swift-boated.

I was responding to your post at the bottom of page 3.

She's closer in age, geography, and experience, and she's somehow figured it out. Why not approach her and say "Gee, you're doing so great for yourself. I think X might like to try your path out of the family zoo. Got any pointers for her? She looks up to you, but she'd tune me out as I am an old married lady 3 hours away."

Here's a handy link that shows where your representative stand on health care reform.

http://standwithdrdean.com/where_congress_stands

"his ..... gift certificate. Gift certificate? Birth certificate."

Of course, the transcript isn't entirely accurate anyway: DeLay was slurring his words, repeating himself, and cracking himself up. I'm guessinghe was drunk (unless Mr DeLay has suffered a recent stroke?) Matthews was all but beating his head into a wall when DeLay issued that last mangled request. (And personally, I'd like Obama to produce a gift certificate. With a note saying "Kindly STFU now.")

Also missing form the transcript is DeLay's homophobic derision over his "pump with a little heel" dance shoe. His quip about Texans like himself weren't used to little shoes with heels made me giggle. Clearly he's never looked at the soles of a pair of cowboy boots.

Did nobody look at all those position charts back during the primaries? Kucinich is a liberal. Obama is a moderate.

I'm okay with Obama being a moderate. (OMFG, he could be a meth addict, and he's still a vast improvement over what came before, or what we nearly got.)

But the country is actually slightly to Obama's left. And the left must learn how to push.

made a good point today.

Where are all the Nazis and neo-Nazis? Shouldn't they be rallying to support the "Nazi plan" of expanding health care coverage?

And yet, when I see footage of these meetings and protests, there isn't a single pro-Obama Nazi to be found.

Go figure.

Let me get this straight:

1. White men carrying loaded guns as close to the black President as the Secret Service will allow is simply an exercise in patriotism.

2. A (presumably) black woman suggesting that carrying loaded weapons in a tough neighborhood might lead to trouble is "a veiled threat."

And no one is allowed to call you a stupid racist?

You're being deliberately disingenuous and you know it.

By Grassley's definition, the government will send fedora-hatted agents into hospitals to "pull the plug on grandma." Ain't never gonna happen.

But. By your definition (deliberately denying care to the the terminally ill, in the name of cost-cutting), today's insurance companies are noting more than "death panels."

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

I didn't see the special and try not to follow the pseudo-celebrity circuses.

I agree that Suleman has made catastrophically irresponsible decisions. I agree that she is probably a "Crazy cat lady" of babies. I agree that mandated compassion for her self-made predicament is absurd.

But.

I feel much compassion for her children. Who asked for none of this. And so I ask myself, Are these kids better off in foster care, where they would undoubtedly be split up, or perhaps get adopted, perhaps be abused, perhaps languish in foster care until they become adults? Or are these kids better off with Suleman (attention-seeking as she may or may not be) and the staff that are in place to care for them?

That's not an easy answer, but isn't that what we should be thinking about, instead of picking on Suleman for getting a tattoo or interrupting he mother?

Someone Barney Frank was close to was breaking the law. Therefore, Barney Frank is a criminal?

Somehow I bet that doesn't apply to Sarah Palin and her daughter paling around with Meth dealers.

The rest of the comments are pure spin.

Was that the drinking Tom DeLay was playing before his appearance on "Hardball" last night? He showed off his dancing shoes, slurred his words, and insisted Chris Matthews ask Obama to show his "gift shertifikat. hic."

I'd donate $20 to the DNC war chest if Obama posted a copy of a gift certificate on his website. Maybe that would shut the birthers up?

Grassley said today he wouldn't support a (hypothetical) good be he himself crafted unless an overwhelming majority of GOPers supported it. Because nothing says leadership like waiting for the entire group to go first.

Screw him. We need 51 votes to pass. That's what we should be shooting for.

Are you suggesting the town hall protesters are trying out a new comedy act?

I couldn't finish your letter.

Your subject line has either a spelling or a grammatical error. Were you trying to tell "us" about all of our misplaced livestock? (All your lost sheep") Or were you calling us names ("You are all lost sheep" or "You're all lost sheep"). Between the shaky grasp of English and the cognitive dissonance ("I haven't read the comments, but they are all mean"; "You lost sheep are rude name-callers"; "You are smug, and I am just the right person to tell you so, see here's my stone tablet that qualifies me!") I just couldn't stop laughing.