American Eagle and Irish Conservative and your ilk:

First, let me say something personal: There will be a special place in hell for right wingers who accuse liberals of not really being sad about US military casualties. Many of us have family members who have fought or who are fighting in this war -- and have lost family members. You are evil.

Ok now, I will be brief. Rational arguments seem to mean nothing to you "Islamo-Fascist" fearmongers. You seem to NEED the idea of a long-term, violent struggle to keep you happy. You want a "battle." You CRAVE a battle.

Just leave us out of it. We are intelligent people who want intelligent and rational long-term plans.

Learn some proper history that does not come from Fox News and warped neo-con philosophy. Your simplistic, racist and narrow view of the world has been repudiated, thank goodness -- so go slink back off into the dark corners of your think tanks and country clubs and leave the rest of us alone.

My 16-year-old daughter and I love all those silly “Girl Power” songs. I only wish girls really were so strong and independent as the songs would have us think they are! But the songs are mostly bluster. The songs are what these girls (and what many older single women) WISH they could be like. But most females continue to be softhearted when it comes to the opposite sex and romance -- no matter what all these popular songs seem to indicate.

But I think these songs do indicate a wish that modern girls and women have that they will find the courage to resist the next time some guy feeds them a line or tries to pull some stupid trick on them.

David Brooks just has to find fault with anything that is fun and modern; that is his "shtick." Brooks is like the arrogant guy in Pink’s song. He and his hand will certainly go home alone together!

If your man loves and respects you, he will eventually find your comfort level concerning "window shopping," especiallly if you are a good sport.

I am a pretty confident woman and enjoyed a pretty playful time in this area with a previous beau, but gradually realized what a jerk he was. First, while he was a a big oggler, he didn't want other men to look at me ("I don't want strange men thinking like that about YOU!") and then started articulating a preference VERY young women...yuk! I HAVE a teen-age daughter. If nothing else, he was an idiot.

All in all, being open about these issues is a good way for couples to learn a lot about each other and help them build a stronger relationship. It can also be a good way for a woman to learn to run for the hills!

I guess I'd rather see a book complaining about Dem and progressive activities, organizations, leaders and large donors -- no matter how wrong the book is-- than go back to the way it was 6 or 7 years ago when we didn't have all those Dem and progressive outlets, activities, organizations, leaders and large donors. Doesn't everyone remember what it was like? I was volunteering for a small progressive PAC in 2002; compared to the GOP we were wandering in the desert!

But, given how far we have come, how much work we still have to do and the terrible policies that we are fighting, I think someone needs to tell Mr. Bai that, perhaps he should take a chill pill and wait to see how all these new movements, groups and activities end up working out -- over more than just one or two election cycles.

I don't suppose you see that your attitudes that Dems are "wussy, freakish, girly and unorganized" parrot the mind-set and propaganda of the Right and make you just as much a liability to Dem election success as any radical, disabled, gay, feather boa-wearing, gun-confiscating parade marcher might be. In any case, your attitudes are out of date and incorrect.

I have a hard enough time trying to change the minds of my Independent and liberal GOP friends -- let alone having to deal with "Dems" who don't know what they are talking about. Dems don't need to "straighten up." Folks like you need to learn more about what your own party is doing and maybe even pitch in and help.

And we do NOT need creatures like Rove or Cheney coming to "save" our party. It is like what we say about the "War on Terror." It is not worth "winning" if we lose what makes us great or if we have to win by becoming like them.

I don't support Hillary at this stage (I would vote for her in the General Election), because I think her candidacy smacks of an emerging oligarcy in our country and because I think her presidency would be marred by constant right-wing mischief. That aside -- I have found on a personal level that my "independent" and moderate conservative friends lean toward Obama. They see him as a transformational and pragmatic candidate, without the baggage of many of the other Dem candidates. They also like the fact that he is untainted by the war authorization vote. These days, even many people who do not think we should leave Iraq quickly believe we never should have invaded the country in the first place. The fact that Obama did not make that original vote is an important bi-partisan advantage -- no matter what his current stand on the war is.

Some people are just born to be contrarian little twerps. They drove us crazy when we were young and they will bug us when we are rocking in our rocking chairs. That a publishing house choses to make money off this jerk is too bad, but the best thing to do is ignore him. Too bad Salon did not see fit to do this, even though he looks cool and has piercing blue eyes.