As a gay American, I too felt the joy the day Newsom passed his legislation. It was palatable, even to the nether regions of a small town in Mississippi. It was inevitable, and yet, just because something is inevitable, doesn't mean the timing is right.

It was an election year. Anyone cognizant of the events happening after 9/11 could have predicted what would happen leaading to the gulf wars. Whereas gay assimiliation is an eventuality, the war that we are presently engaged in, begun by George Bush, and handed to the Republicans on a silver platter by Newsom, couldn't have come at a worse time. We blindly were led into war with rhetoric...with four years behind us, and the proper leadership, (and with a President, Al Gore, not in bed with the Saudis), war would not have been an eventuality. It was preventable. I blame the war completely on Newsom.

I do not feel that the joy and release, that would have come eventually, was worth the thousands of souls, gay and straight, we have lost in an asinine war. Newsom has blood on his hands. I guess his wife pretty much thought the same...she didn't stick around him very long after that either. Being a journalist, she could forsee what perhaps others couldn't. Congrats to you, the now ex Mrs. Newsom, on having the wisdom to leave an idiot.

Let's see... Gay was fine, was it not? Language and the meanings dufferent words take on, especially over a ten or thirty year period of time, change like the tides. Lesbians wanted 'more'. It wasn't enough to be gay. Bi? Why are we even talking about them in any talk of legislation at all? A large percentage are prostitutes, players, or just confused...the rest will make a decision one way or the other, and then hope that they fall on the right side of the applicable legislation. Too many have worked too hard, for too long, to have fringe groups, with little in common, jumping on a bill, like jumping on a sinking boat. Because that is what will happen. The "T"'s will get theirs..in "tttime." Maybe they can jump on board with others who have bad fashion taste like M.C. Hammer or P. Diddy. A bill to help those discriminated against wearing too much gold, too much fabric in their pants, and the wrong sex clothing. Other than that, how much do they have in common with mem who have sex with men, or women who have sex with women? Nada. You'll get yours...but wait out your own d*mned ten years.

He/she...sorry, didn't catch the gender... is right on the money, in my opinion. I'm sure this will be a brilliant series, certainly a jewel in the crown of Ken Burns' other works. But to call it "The War", when such key elements as the French resistance, the battle of Stalingrad, etc, were much more important than a lot of aspects of the American involvement. I say this not downplaying our contribution, but simply to "play up" what other countries did in this WORLD WAR, simply put. Quite honestly, I can't think of a catchy title...maybe that's the tragedy of it....that we have to think about ratings and such in naming this work of art... "World War II, American Style" doesn't cut it, and certainly is ridiculously irreverent. I don't have a solution....but I know wrong when I see it.

I wish these same people taking up for this idiotic M.I.T. student with extremely poor taste would have reacted accordingly in the defense of the bipolar young man who was shot dead in Miami two years or so ago...not for having a bomb, not for saying he had a bomb (though the cops, security, etc...said so, but every single passenger around him denied him making ANY such remark)...but he did have a manic episode. This was while the plane was boarding...an easily handled situation. I'm a science teacher with a Master's degree...that doesn't qualify me as a circuit board expert, but my memory isn't so short that I don't remember Richard Wright, the "shoe bomber" arrested en route, in the air, with no indication of "putty"...often a component in explosives, or an exposed battery (yes, that size battery COULD cause an explosion...believe me). All you libertarians out there...do you not remember that most of the 911 planes took off from Logan? All of you who protest racial profiling, well, what the xxxx do you want the security guards to look for? If she wasn't suspicious, than who is? If she had been of Arab descent, these comments would be totally different, because that young person would be dead. Period. She is lucky to be alive. Yes, I think that some precautions are downright silly, and,yes,they are somethimes inconvenient. But erring on the side of caution is more important than this child's civil rights. I can't believe M.I.T.'s standards have been lowered to the point of allowing a creative "art" student into its prestigious technology program. The simple fact is, she is an idiot, period. Not just "tired", and not just not thinking...an IDIOT.

Did anyone else get the feeling that you were just watching events unfold, and not really watching a show? Does that even make sense? I just felt so curiously disengaged...

And what of the other song choices that Tony passed up unitl deciding on Journey? Guess he really was in charge of his destiny, deciding to forego Tony Bennett's "lonely guy" for Journey's halcion lyrics. Bravo, Brilliant, pass the xanax now.