There are people who really believe the "ancient astronauts" stuff. Probably the same people who think the world is ending in 2012. I assume that was the context of Obama's remark.

Though I suppose he could have been chatting about "Stargate".

I tuned in I think shortly after it started, and I couldn't watch long. Joan, I appreciate your willingness to try to get the truth out, and I don't blame you for getting angry. I'm torn about the value of those yelling-panel shows, because there's no good way to debate someone willing to lie. Maybe call her a liar point-blank? Because "worst of the worst" isn't an opinion. It's a verifiable or debunkable fact, and my understanding is even the remaining detainees elsewhere than a battlefield and are regarded as innocent by human rights monitors.

Anyway, no kidding, when the bells went off we kept going to our doors thinking the doorbell was rung. It just seemed dumb, and after enough yelling, I flipped back to the Stanley Cup finals. The enforcers are nicer than the Republicans.

Does Cheney ever get called on her lying by someone who isn't having to yell over her to be heard?

I don't understand why the detainees who are too dangerous to release but can't be convicted in a fair trial can't be designated as POWs. I understand why Bush wouldn't do it, because POWs have protection from interrogation, can't be subjected to criminal trials, must be inspected by the International Red Cross, and must be released when the war is over.

But what's Obama's problem? Other than writing off all hope of trying detainees if ever there was evidence untainted by coercion, this seems to be what he's hoping for. Some of the Axis POWs were committed Nazis and Fascists when World War II ended, but we still released them and seem to have survived.

"And I am on the other hand curious as to how much it costs, in dollars and cents, to be all things to all people."

How about in comparison to the cost of providing the taxophobic right another talking point to put off responsible tax increases? What would English-only save, half of one rich guy's taxes?

I guess it's my day for disagreeing with you Andrew. The quote says the ballot integrity in rural Iran is questionable, and this is part of the comparison to Bush. So you miss the point by saying Bush was elected twice. The election integrity problems weren't rural, but otherwise the problems were enough for me to deny that Bush was ever elected, even once. He stole both elections. I hope those energetic Iranians in green have more success than blue Americans in dumping our dangerous president.

When Bush blundered on 911, the country rallied around him and Republicans took that for granted. If a similar attack happens under Obama, they'll demand his impeachment. Though all but a few Democrats were skittish about impeaching a president who lied and blundered his way into war, Republicans will have no hesitation.

So if one scientist can be right and all others wrong in science fiction (and presumably real life), how Dr. Daniel Jackson in Stargate, who had the crackpot theory the ancient Egyptian pyramids were landing pads for alien spaceships? Would these global warming denier creationists like to follow where that leads? Because it turned out the Egyptian gods were aliens masquerading as gods, and then pretty much all ancient mythological figures --- including Satan --- were aliens. The conclusion? One scientist, mocked as a crackpot, leads the other characters to discover all gods are false. Did the deniers and creationists pick Stargate for their example? No. And if Karnick said, "But that's just a TV show! It doesn't prove anything!", I'd say yes, it is, and your example is just a movie. That's why science requires proof, not myth and speculation.

My point being that Karnick is picking his cherry, and mashing it up, to find something that doesn't conflict with the bible and with his funders' economic interests.

The good news is if we tell this fool to take a hike, he might do it!

It seemed ACORN ran everything. Then it seemed unions ran everything. Now Beck says ACORN runs the unions. Of course, now it's so plain. I'm sure I would have seen it before, but I didn't know ACORN was changing its name until O'Reilly mentioned it.

Delusion is no obstacle to your own TV show.

Spitzer faced impeachment by his own party about five seconds after his scandal broke. I recall the state attorney general of Ohio resigned for sexual harassment charges when he too faced impeachment by his fellow Democrats. But these Republicans --- no biggie. Just say Jesus forgave you. Will Sanford face impeachment? Doubt it. Vitter did what Spitzer did, and got protected.

Of course he's the smarter Bush, but that's not exactly anything to brag about. Anyway, the venality is the bigger problem. Remember Jeb was the biggest mover behind the Terri Schiavo controversy.

Maybe they picked the racist because the other candidate, Rachel Hoff, was convicted of misdemeanor charges or voter fraud when the Republicans pulled some funny things with absentee ballots in South Dakota in 2004, when JoOhn Thune narrowly beat Tom Daschle.

Maybe that's why Republicans are convinced there really is massive voter fraud: they've been committing it on a small scale and so worry Democrats will be better at it.

How did Goldman Sachs get to run the government? It seems they can somehow always rig things to their benefit.

Since much of the trouble started when financial corporations were allowed to merge with different sorts of financial businesses, it seems breaking them is straightforward. Break them back into their separate parts. Separate investment banking from insurance, mortgages from stock brokerages. Corporations spin off business all the time. The only difference here is they don't want to do it.