Yeah, I see the point of being concerned about 'dumbing down' outrage, but remember, the people who don't get satire (or are sadistically addicted to it) elected George W. Bush president twice (well, once, with 'help'). I think we should remain aware of the ignorant among us who vote, and playing to, or mocking their 'values,' such as they are, is playing with fire. I got the NYer's 'joke' but still found it bothersome. As the old song said, 'Don't mess up a good thing.'

There's so much talk in the MSM now about how BO needs to define himself to the American people. Seems to me that's kind of hard for him to do when the MSM refuses to allow him to and obfuscates his message in sound bites and contrived controversies. What Ms Walsh quoted was an incredibly elegant argument for his sense of social responsibility, one that is completely out of reach of the current occupant or the person who would extend his reign. But we don't get to hear it because the MSM is more interested in promoting controversy over policy; it gets better ratings to report that Jesse Jackson said he wants to cut Obama's nuts off than it does to say that Obama wants to promote social justice. The same day that Jackson said that, the International Red Cross said that senior officials in the Bush Administration could be held liable for war crimes and that an international tribunal such as that held for Serbia should be instituted against the United States. Guess which story got the big headline.

How about Federer-Nadal in the finals of the US Open? Federer-Nadal in Australia, Federer-Nadal at Roland Garos... see where I'm going with this? Until SOMEBODY picks up their game (and doing imitations of Sharapova isn't gonna do it, JOKE-avitch), the men's game is moribund and painfully predictable. Granted, Roger and Rafa are incredibly talented and likeable athletes, and that was one hella match, but they have the misfortune of having no one else to challenge them. It seems the womens game is going the same way, but at least the Williams' provide enough drama by virtue of their on and off interest in the sport to allow for some suspense come the fourth round. While I admire The Sisters', and Agassi's and McEnroe's dedication to trying to expand the interest in and availability of tennis to the 'lower classes', the sport is still widely perceived as a country-club pursuit for rich kids and until some US male comes along from some street court to win a major, American interest in tennis will continue to be half-hearted. Tennis interest in the US needs a Tiger Woods, and by that I mean a non-White American (Tiger is hardly from 'the streets' but his multi-hued ethnicity makes him intriguing to an American audience that likes to pretend it is 'color blind', which may be more racist than the links that wouldn't have allowed Tiger to play were he not 'Tiger'). I don't see that happening anytime soon. Tennis needs another Arthur Ashe. Hell, America needs another Arthur Ashe; someone talented and at the top of their game, and brave and articulate enough to use that talent as a catalyst for changing perceptions of the sport, and the culture as a whole.

I never think ill of anybody, but the passing of this hateful bigot swells my heart with glee. He has been a lightening rod of intolerance for far too long and his passing is greeted here, at least, with a sigh of satisfaction. Finally, this bastard will shut the fck up!

This guy, McSame, can't do effective housekeeping, can't manage his own campaign. How can he expect anyone to think he can do better running the country?

Speaking as a Jew, I find the tactics by Herr Lieberman et al to be truly disgusting. When they scream anti-semite at every attempt to put the US-Israel-Iran conundrum into perspective, they belittle the truly antisemitic/racist actions that are actually occurring throughout the world (e.g., denying citizenship to African Jews in Israel) and they besmirch the suffering of the millions of Jews from the Inquisition through the Holocaust to today. Why is this a legitimate political tool, to squelch debate by declaiming that someone is 'anti-Israel' when we have seen within this century the same attempt to derail a political campaign by virtue of the candidate being Catholic and therefore holding allegiance to a foreign power (ie, the Pope)? Are we to say 'Vote McCain' because his loyalties are to Israel and not the United States and 'Do not vote for Obama' because he does not sufficiently kowtow to Israeli protectionism over the welfare of the United States, it's economy, security, and safety of it's citizens?

OH SNAP! Right on, Conason! We used to consider Der Lieberman a mensch, now it is obvious, he is nothing but a schmuck, a shonda, or, in the lingo of the WASP, A WHORE! If he were in Auschwitz, he would be the smiling mishpuckha(sp?)leading his bros to the showers. I had a neighbor who's parents did just that very thing. 50 years later, that family was shunned by our community and refused entry to the synagogue. That is what the Democratic Party should do to Lieberman. He is a 'race traitor,' the lowest form of scum. Why do these self aggrandizing appeasers get such a by by the MSM?

When John McCain was asked the same question, he responded 'depends.'

O'Reilly went nuts over it? That's funny. This from the guy who wanted to take a shower with his assistant and rub her breasts with a FALAFAL!