OK, I'm one of those non-parents who is weighing in on the subject of children's behavior in public. However, I was once a child, and remember how these matters were handled in an era before kids grew up in front of TVs, computers, computer games (always entertained, always driven around). All kids had chores to do. We walked or biked to school. We respected (feared?) adults. We understood that it was NOT OK to yell, scream, and run around agressively indoors, much less in public places. We played outdoors all the time unless the weather was extremely bad. There was no such thing as Attention Deficit Disorder. That kind of behavior simply wasn't tolerated. I learned to sit through a grown-up symphony concert, quietly, at age 5. Children had to be quiet in church, unless they were babies in their mothers' arms, and the mothers would take them outside if the babies were fussy.

Unfortunately, times have changed. Many working mothers of today do, in fact, spoil their children out of a sense of guilt over not really raising them - not really even knowing how. I've seen executive-looking women in public cave in to their two-year-olds (ME WANT CANDY! NOW!!), or explain away their children's bad behavior (Little Timmy's had a bad day). I do not see children's behavior being gently corrected the way a good parent would do it. Part of being a child is to learn what the next steps are - how to behave, think, relate, etc.

You raise a child without boundaries and limits and they'll grow up to be...well, they'll never quite grow up.

Does anyone else recall, around the time of the invasion of Iraq, that nothing was being said about "democracy" for the Iraqi people. While the "rosy scenario" still prevailed, the real idea was that the Iraqi people would fall down and bow to the American "liberators" who would then be free to install a puppet leader (Ahmed Chalabi), in the absence of Saddam. The whole idea was to get in there to get the oil business up and running, using the pretext of finding WMDs, defending our "freedoms" (???), etc. But, Plan A didn't quite work out, and there was no Plan B, or exit strategy. It was only after utter chaos ensued, that the right wing spin machine and Bush started talking about "democracy". That was never in the original plan or rhetoric. Keep your eyes on Ahmed Chalabi, who was recently visiting Washington, again.

That anyone could support this god-forsaken misadventure is beyond me. It's not a matter of supporting the war or not. It's a matter of believing the lies, or not. That so many of our troops and innocent Iraqis have been killed or maimed is beyond tragic. The cost to our country is tragic. The revengeful repercussions could last for generations to come. The mess is so deep, that it's unlikely that any solution will be found or implemented. Thanks, George, Dick, Rummy, Condi, Ahmed, and the rest. I'm sure the Iraqi people really appreciate what you have done.

I feel so sorry for the children and now babies of today who are brought up to be plugged into the media AS IF that is going to make them any more "smart". This stupid mother doesn't realize that an infant is going through tremendous neurological growth and her experiences will become hard-wired into her personality and very being. Relating to machines at that age is not a good thing!

The baby needs to be held, cuddled, talked to, played with, the touch of human warmth. Leave the electronic toys for a much later date. There is so much more a baby/child has to learn, such as physical coordination, relationship skills such as talking and listening, thinking, imagining, expressing one's feelings.

Want your children to be "smart"? Hold them in your lap and READ to them! Taach them how to read! Teach them the beauty of BOOKS! Converse with them! Electronic toys can never take the place of real parenting.

David Brooks has never heard of "Desperate Housewives".

You couldn't make this up!

Agreed, when will we be rid of these idiots?????

Dear Mr. Cheney,

Please do yourself, this country, Iraq, and the rest of the world a huge favor and SEE A PSYCHIATRIST!!!! It's clearly obvious that you have some sort of serious cognitive disorder. Perhaps you need to take a permanent vacation. You must be very stressed out, what with your shooting your friend, Mr. Whittington, and all.

I couldn't have said it any better. For a few years, my question has been "Exactly how long is it going it take for people to wake up?" regarding Bush/Cheney/Halliburton/Iraq, etc., while neo-cons and other right-wingers relentlesly tried to keep candy-coating the news from Iraq. Millions of good people protested this war around the world before the invasion even occurred, knowing that today's scenario would be much more likely than the rosy one put forth by the Bush cabal. But, we're just preaching to the choir on Salon.

Foxnews.com has discreet little links by which you can contact the "editor" or their various perrsonalities. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have a posting section such as this. I enjoy firing off a little rant to Bill O'Reilly every now and then. He needs to hear it! TV.MSNBC.com also has a daily question/poll and an easy link to email messages which might be read on the air.

We need to be contacting these folks, or other right-wing sites you may know of. And, yes, the Dems really need to toughen up their fight, or we'll have insane, right-wing-nuts running this country forever. They are devious and evil enough to try!