Murdoch is not an ideologue; he's a media version of P.T. Barnum. He lets O'Reilly and Beck spew their bullshit because it makes money. He lets The Simpsons make fun of him because it makes money. He has the "Page 3 Girl" in the Sun because that makes the Sun the most popular tabloid in the U.K. and that makes money.

Unlike many people, I don't think Murdoch has any political axe to grind: he's just serving tripe to the hungry and if they'll pay, he'll play. . . . —austinboy

The Tea Party crowd fought the Mexican government twice at the Alamo and during the Mexican-American war.

Now they're time travelers!

The Tea Party is made up of Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Independents, etc. who do not vote for Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Independents, ect. . . . —websmith

Regardless of how they want to label themselves, the Teabaggers are by and large poorly educated, narrow minded, bigoted people. They are not "patriots" they are not "real Americans." They are a political nuisance that does nothing to broaden or deepen debate.

. . . Manhattan on the Gulf. Oil business was booming and, I don't remember exactly why, but a lot of finance moved to Houston.

That being said, I hardly think it was enough to swing the state in terms of its politics.

@squaresville And even the balance of the state only went red in the mid 1980s with northeast in-migration.

What was reason for this migration? Do you have any links? —K. Trout

. . . and the MSM firmly secured in the right's hip pocket, I welcome this race to the bottom. Rather than the Rethugs gaining back a few seats in Congress in 2010, I really think it's going to be a race to the bottom. We will see lots of House (less in the Senate) races where the Rethug contenders will be trying to out-crazy each other and only succeed in alienating a lot voters.

. . . confused being. He must be something of an embarrassment to his father as well.

He's willing to spend millions of his own money (collected from monopolistic rents) for health and education, but at the same time he has his company avoiding hundreds of millions of taxes in Washington State by setting up a shell division in no-tax Nevada. And now it seems he's willing to climb in bed with the devil himself because he just can't accept that notion, as AOL-TimeWarner and Sony demonstrated so convincingly, that there is no naturally synergy (or additional monopolistic rents) by linking hardware and content.

. . . cares? Anyone that feels a hole in her life due to the departure of a television talk show hostess has problems. Oprah is only slightly less creepy but just as annoying as Martha Stewart.

. . . no it's not germane as it wasn't part of Tsing-Loh's shtick, which was comparing one meat chili to another, not tofu chili to moose chili.

It's an obsession that has been part of responses to at least three stories this week that had nothing to do with "veganism" - ya, we get it Mr. Greenbeans, you don't eat meat. Now keep it to yourself.

If not true trollism, it is at the very least annoying, off-topic boosterism.

Since Palin bragged about killing and eating meat and Ms. Tsing-Loh chose to reference that, veganism is germane.— bigguns

. . . political commentator. She's a humorist of modest skills who's life has recently come unglued since she walked out on her family. This article is just a paycheck for someone who was never an "A list" talent to begin with.

If Ms Tsing-Loh is as liberal as she claims to be what on earth did she even find to read in Palin's book??????? (sic - multiple question marks don't make it profound). — tailwind

Does everything you write have to be a treatise on your vegan lifestyle? Give it a fucking break. You're posts are as annoying and pointless as Zornka's. A troll is a troll.

Anyway, go vegan and avoid both scenarios. — Beans&Greens

. . . "With a slight chuckle, she said: "It's stunning to me that something I consider so separate and apart from what I do for a living has taken up so much space in some people's thoughts. I am a hard-news journalist. That is what I do."

"Hard-news journalist"? No. She's a TV talking head. Journalists work for newspapers and magazines.

. . . no need to split hairs. Wider growth rings are because of warmer temperatures and, probably in the bristlecone's case, greater available moisture.

Beetles overwhelming pine forests in the West are entirely because of warmer temperatures. Colder and longer winters otherwise keep their numbers in check.