YES! "Scarface" is a horrible, over-the-top, camp exercise in violence and profanity. Yet somehow, it has lasted for-what?- 25 years now, in our collective consciousness. So have films like 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' (arguably the worst film ever made, though I, personally, give that kudo to 'Salo'), 'Robot Monster' (you know, that one with the monster in a gorilla suit and a dive helmit), and 'Show Girls,' which is something akin to looking at a highway accident--it's horrible, but you can't look away. There is something about bad cinema that makes it just as important as 'Citizen Kane.' Besides showing what not to do as a filmmaker, these lousy films also belie the undercurrent of perversity that exists in out society. These lousy films resonate with viewers because they, in their own inept way, manage to connect with an unrecognized nature of our collective psyche that loves to see the people we feel are the cause of our disaffection punished. They are like the morality plays of the 17th century, or comedia del'arte. So, 'Say 'ello to my leel fren,' and revell in the exploitation. I hate that movie, but I never miss it when it's on cable.

Isn't it about time we stopped this self-destructive, smack ourselves in the face policy of a drug war against marijuana? We are in an economic meltdown, we have more people incarcerated than any other industrial country, mostly as a result of archaic, draconian drug laws, our inner cities are collapsing, crime is rampant, and, as Obama said, we can't just keep printing money. Isn't it about time to start reevaluating our drug policies and finally seriously consider legalizing weed? The income from taxation alone could go a long way to infusing more bucks into the economy. It is a healthier alternative to alcohol and that in this day it is still considered 'the Devil's weed' is assinine. We've rationalized legalizing gambling, despite the fact it has long been shown to destroy lives; alcohol abuse still continues to be one of the major causes of premature death and illness in America; yet pot is the big booga boo. Let's get rational and legalize it finally. It's worth billions and we should get beyond the Hoover-induced paranoias about it to finally realize the goldmine we're sitting on.

Maureen Dowd? Andrew Sullivan? Chris Matthews (his 'it was an abomination' line about Bush's farewell address aside)? These are not liberals. While I enjoy Sullivan's rhetoric and can agree to disagree with him, being anti-Bush does not make one a liberal. Dowd is so wrapped in her own ego, she writes for herself; and Matthews can't shut up, his very presence stifles intelligent debate. And, if you're going to put Jon Stewart on your list, where's Stephen Colbert? Or does satire and irony go over your heads? Remember the White House Correspondence Dinner a couple years ago? That alone should place him in the pantheon of great leftist (which is in no way a denigration, quite the contrary) commentators (for bravery alone).

We know you mean well. You can't help it that you're a racist idiot. Monkeys = Black people, who knew? Not like that stereotype hasn't been around for the last 300 years or so. So, also, how original of you to come up with that image. How artistic. Your mother must be so proud of you. I'm sure she speaks of you highly while she's cutting the eye holes out of your white sheets. I'm sure we will all regard you with a certain mien in the next few months. Of course had you tried some stupid stunt like that a couple years ago, like trying to liken 'Incurious George' to a monkey, you would have been branded a traitor and terrorist-loving dupe, and who knows, renditioned? But we're above that now. We don't brand assholes like you terrorists. You're just another asshole. You just can't help it. Deal with that.

First, I would like to say that many of these comments are cool; I particularly liked the Leni comparison as, despite her political beliefs(and they weren't good), she was a pioneering film maker and her legacy can be seen today in the work of Michael Moore and the younger Pelosi. And whether it makes you want to gag or not (and it does me), you do have to give her her props as a pioneer. Secondly, however, I would like to add that the Oscars was hardly a good representation of the things people who want to work with cameras should have learned from 'Triumph of the Will.' The onstage miscues, the horrific camera work, the nauseatingly constant pan-ins and outs of the way too small on-stage monitors made the show almost unwatchable. I say 'almost' because I just kept watching in the way you slow down to view a car wreck. And I can't help but feeling that there was a big F-you attitude directed toward the TV audience. How could the director think that people watching at home would appreciate seeing a 1-inch image of a film clip in the background, and camera movement that could cause car sickness?

I saw that sorry excuse for a debate last night. Rivkin is a knob, pure and simple. He was a knob 15 years ago and he's a knob today. That little mispronounciation was in no way an accident, but the way these guys disrespect their counterparts. Witness the 'Democrat Party.' It was despicable of Barnicle (a guy I usually like) that he was so deferential to the Knob. 'Civil Liberties aside' INDEED. So let's just ignore what this whole issue is about. Rivkin is a knob, Cheney (who, for some bizarre reason, Chris Matthews insists on calling 'Chee-ney,' which to this Jew, sounds a little too much like 'Sheeny' to make me feel comfortable)is a knob. We are being victimized by a serious, concerted knob-job by the far right, and THEY'RE the ones against gay rights??