He had already ordered a very small phased withdrawal, and he was cagey about it when interviewed. Why? Because the Cold War was still on and he was looking towards his bid for re-election in 1964. He correctly predicted that the Republicans would throw a zealous war hawk at him (or Johnson, as it turned out), and smartly played his cards close to his vest. But the historical and anecdotal evidence is clear - he wanted the U.S. disentangled from Vietnam.

Don't forget he was also working towards detente with the Soviets (another reason he was branded a traitor by the right-wingers), got the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty passed, and through the middle of '63 was beginning to quietly make diplomatic moves towards a better relationship with Cuba (while still trying to assassinate Castro, a foolish move).

It was for all of the above, not to mention the visceral hatred of the Kennedy family held by all the traditional elites, that he was assassinated.

Give me a freaking break, dude.

...what is with this shit lately of linking to overly-broad topics in the middle of articles and essays? This is about the sixth review I've read in recent weeks where the word "movie" was hyperlinked to Salon's archive of articles and essays about...movies. Could that be less relevant? How about a link from the title of the movie, "Waitress", to some interesting old review of "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" or an essay about waitresses in movies?

The last TV show with a really great instrumental opening was "Miami Vice", and that was (my God) 23 years ago. I can still remember the theme music to such shows as "The Rookies" and "Quincy", neither of which are considered classic shows. But their theme music rocked!

...SNL is actually funny again, probably for the first time in about eight years. And I'm stunned NBC is actually doing a salute to the 90s, because SNL was funny for only the first three years of that decade. The remaining seven years were a wasteland.

SNL has had three "hey-days": '75-'80, '82-85 and '87-'93. Aside from those eras the show has pretty much stunk. MadTV, on the other hand, has been consistently good since its launch waaaay back in the early 90s. Not a single season where you just wanted to throw up your hands in disgust.

Three minutes of some Great Dane licking his balls??

GEEEEZ...

No, it's NOT rape, and it should not be prosecuted. Calling it rape is a grotesque insult to every man, woman and child who has ever actually been raped. Some people need to grow the fuck up.

The fact is that the law you reference, Anonymous, SHOULD NOT EXIST. The entire basis for laws against kiddie porn is that it exploits real children, that they are victims and so viewing/possessing it is, in effect, victimizing them again. The same cannot and should not - but inevitably has - been said about CGI of two-dimensional, non-existent "children" engaging in fake sex acts. If you can't see the difference then you need to pull your head out of your ass.

This...

..and they use less-padded gloves which means that the fighers take fewer punches in the course of a fight and their career as a whole.

...is borne out of ignorance of the nature of boxing. Ever hit a heavy bag with your bare hand, hard? I did once, when I was young, dumb full of you-know-what. It HURT, and I had/have big, beefy hands and wrists. Now, with that in mind, go and rent the documentary about the Foreman/Ali "Rumble in the Jungle" fight entitled WHEN WE WERE KINGS. Note especially the footage of Foreman working the heavy bag, then listen to what Norman Mailer - a great boxing officianado and boxer in his own right - has to say about it. It is simply beyond belief.

Now imagine George Foreman, in his prime, in the Octagon with those teensy little gloves. He would KILL his opponent the first time he landed a punch. And if some random member of the Gracey Empire were to get him into one of their interminable submission holds, he would just hit them until they stopped moving. If you'd like, exchange Foreman for Joe Frazier, Muhammad Ali, Rocky Marciano or Joe Louis. It wouldn't matter.

And THAT'S the difference between boxing at its peak and crap like the MMA.