Tacroy80, a very nice and thoughtful reply, I thought.

For those whose advice is just, "Get over it," did it ever occur to you that if she could just "get over it," the letter writer would have already done so? You guys remind me of the people who tell someone who has major depression that they should just, "Cheer up."

Finally, for the letter writer, I don't have any specific advice on how to get over your loss. I had a similar situation with an 11 year relationship that ended seven years ago and I am not fully over it yet, either. It gradually gets better, with ups and downs, and in fits and starts, but the pain and longing is still there. Just do the best you can to take care of yourself and have a core of one or two supportive friends who understand you (and who don't just say "get over it" or "just cheer up").

Regrettably, Judge Sotomayor is too old. By picking younger and younger judges, the Republicans have forced the Democrats to respond in kind. Obama shouldn't consider anyone over 50. It's an ugly game, but it's one we have to play.

Why be satisfied with 20 - 30 years on the Court when we could get 25 - 35? Seems to be taking an unnecessary chance.

Here is a good article on why appointing someone 50 or under is so important:

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=57762136-6855-44c6-b057-7510b7cb4eda

Interesting stats.

I'm not so much surprised about heath care. Obama's shift here has been only been a subtle one toward the right. In the campaign he said that he would not take discussion of single payer off the table, and now he is.

However, the more I see of Obama, I find him to be more and more of a Dick Morris triangulator, especially on terrorism and foreign policy. He really seems to be going out of his way to piss of the progressives that voted for him so he can look at the center/right DLC types and independents and say, "See, I'm not so liberal!" In other words, those who thought that he was better in that regard than Hillary have been sold a bill of goods and he's just as bad as she was for progressive voters.

So this gal rediscovers the Madonna/whore complex and writes a book. Doesn't take much to get published these days, does it?

I'm actually shocked at the vitrol and frank misogyny directed at Ms. Chapur. What did she do wrong? She's divorced. She can have sex when even, and with whoever, she wants to. She didn't promise to be faithful to anybody. If you believe in some sort of old fashioned morality that blames everything on women and exonerates men as incapable of fidelity, I suppose you could just call her a "homewrecker," but this isn't then 1930's for Christ's sake.

Personally, I think the entire issue of Gov. Stanford's affair is overblown. Were it not for the fact that he's a Bible thumping Republican, and therefore a hypocrite, it should be completely irrelevant and entirely his (his wife, and Maria's) business. But if you struggle with what to call her, I'd suggest "paramour," "girlfriend," "lover," "mistress", or "inamorata" (in that order) are all fine.

Shit happens. The heart wants what the heart wants. It's a shame that people get hurt, but they do. We have no idea what their marriage was like, so who are we to judge who, if anyone, is to blame.

Ditch the wife, and do so a bit more gently, but firmly than you are now, Governor. Go get the gal in Argentina if she'll have you and bring her back to S.C. Have her shack up with you at the Governor's Mansion or marry her, your and her choice. (Or hell, run S.C. by e-mail from Argentina, for all I care.) If the public doesn't like it, tell them to go to hell and join the 21st Century. Just grow a pair, for Christ's sake. You might find you like it.

Just go to law school. First, it's lots of fun and the easiest school experience I ever had. And I went to a top ten law school. Second, try practicing for a year or two and see if you like it. If you don't, make some money and pay off some of your debt and then go do something else. You'd be surprised how beneficial a law degree can be in other careers. Plus, there are probably more ways of practicing law than you've ever imagined. Surely one of them will fit your style. And if not, then do something else, but don't blow your chance to get a good degree and make a good living.

Well, at least the rest of the country is discovering out Governor. If nothing else, he's always good for a laugh, even it it's sometimes gallows humor. You'll soon know what most of us know: If stupidity was music, Rick Perry would be a one-man band.

To paraphrase what the great Jim Hightower once said about Bill Clements: When ignorance goes to $150/barrel, I want drilling rights on Perry's head.

Why no substance on what was said or done in the meeting with the Blue Dogs? This is as substance free a story as one can get. Put some meat on the bone, for Christ's sake!

I wonder if you might comment in a future column -- or even in these comments -- on the idea that a consumer demand model economy isn't going to come back any time soon. Some economists posit that we are going to move from an economy that had a fairly long term negative savings rate to one that has a historically more normal savings rate of 2 - 3 %, and that this is not inconsistent with long term prosperity. Economic prosperity will be somewhat slower to return, but will not be measured so much by consumer spending. etc.