In our family, my wife and I made a rule from the start: you deal with your own blood relatives.

It sounds like the husband agrees with the letter writer but is not standing up for her. This is what he should say when Mom repeats a question: "I agree with Susie." This is what he should say when Mom doesn't pass the baby over: "Ma, please give Susie the baby." etc.

It's hard enough to deal with conflict with your own parents; conflict with your in-laws is to be dealt with by your spouse.

I hope that voters will just pick the candidate they like best without worrying about how their choice will "play" in the South or West or Exurbs. Anyone who supported John Kerry for that reason has no right to criticize him for listening too much to consultants.

Besides, where do you think Republicans get the sense that "all Hillary wants is the office" or "Democrats don't stand for anything"? It starts at the grass roots.

All other issues aside, maybe you should brush his teeth after he has his last bit of milk...

...Juliette Lewis. I like all the other actors mentioned, I like Susannah Grant's writing but I cannot spend money on a movie with Juliette Lewis. Creepy good in "Cape Fear" she's just been creepy and icky in everything else since.

I've been somewhat depressed ever since the finale aired. But the show doesn't simply "not continue" as Zacharek describes, it also reboots to the beginning: Veronica is sexually violated, ostracized from her community, and Keith is (essentially) no longer Sheriff because of a scandal. The sad thing is that when the series opened in such a bleak fashion I thought that was a nadir for the Mars family, and it turns out that was just how things are for them.

Of course, the other constant is that Keith and Veronica will put on a smile for each other, comfort and support each other in a relationship we all fantasize having with our children or parents.

The complaints about having to "hold noses" to vote for a Democratic nominee should be directed at voters, not politicians. Look, the primary is for We the People to choose who we think is the best potential President and not to second guess what the undecided voter in a swing state thinks. That's how you end up with John Kerry in 2004.

And hey, no one is going to have the exact same stance on every issue as you do unless you are the candidate running. Go for it! We need a wider field. But if you aren't running, don't let a search for the "perfect" distract you from the pretty darn good.

I have to say, I was lukewarm on H. Clinton until this interview. She makes a good case for herself.

I'd be happy voting for Clinton, Edwards, Obama or Richardson -- and I'd be happier voting for a ticket that held two of those four.

"Boston's Somerville" makes as much sense as "New York's White Plains." Somerville is a city north of Cambridge, which is across the river from Boston. Not the same city.

And Carambola is in Waltham (or was, until it changed it's name to reflect the Elephant Walk brand). This is easily Googled.

Sloppy writing, and sloppy editing, Salon. Please maintain your usual high standards.

or rather, it shouldn't be.

We desperately need to purge the current administration's stench from the White House but I think Dodd is wrong about voters wanting an "electable" candidate. That's the path of good intentions and we all know where that leads.

Voters are smarter than that. Most people I know who care about politics (and those are the only people who care about 2008 at this point) are waiting to hear detailed plans on more issues. What are the candidate's plans in Iraq? Who besides Edwards has a comprehensive health policy?

I like Dodd's proposed expansion of the Americorps. I'm waiting for more policies, not factoring in someone's charisma. That's exactly the kind of thinking ("who'd you rather have a beer with?" journalism) that gets us into terrible situations.

Obama did the right thing by not voting. Abstaining from such an obvious grandstanding move by the right sends a stronger message than voting does. Can you imagine if the Democrats could say, "This thing passed 49 to 0; we didn't bother opposing it because it's not relevant to improving the state of the nation"?

Sorry Joan, gotta disagree with you on this one.

Huckabee once again appears to be the most rational Republican in the race. Good for him!

That said, I really have to question what sort of person would confuse the law with morality. By that standard Roe vs. Wade makes a private decision about abortion moral right now, and I don't think Huckabee would agree. Good job pressing him on the issue.

I have to admit my first thought was not Tawana but Charles Stuart, the white man who shot his pregnant wife in Boston in 1989 and told police that it was a black man who committed the crime. Messed up race relations in town for a while, to say the least.

I was up in Salem, NH this weekend and we didn't knock on that many doors, but of all the people we spoke to, there wasn't one who was for McCain. Everyone was Undecided, Lean Obama or definite Obama.

Small sample, but I was expecting a little bit of variation.

Hey King,

I hope you don't think this is faint praise, because it's not, I'm totally serious: I probably started reading your column regularly to hear about Buster and the coin flips and I still enjoy the gimmick. It's funny and it makes a larger, more serious point, which is what the best of your columns do. Keep it up!