Loved the article. Droll, condsending, and yet actual humanity lurks about below the surface. I think I'll even try out the dance show....but, probably not. Summer is a bad time for TV is because we want to be outside doing something. If it weren't for TiVo I'd have to miss Deadwood too...

Wow....quite a flurry of angry responses to a the non-event/non-story of the year. We watch with mild ammusement. It seems like the kind of "tiff" that only those in that small circle will care about...like watching a couple of nerds who can't fight going at it in lunch-room fistacuffs, while everyone stands around laughing. Too funny!

The feminist movement has pretty much always been viewed as a leftist ideal.... Now that we have a woman who can wear a dress while gutting a moose, and who actually has a shot at getting into the Oval Office, we better not waste too much time being shocked by the surprising turn of events that has resulted in the RNC being able to co-opt the gender issue, because otherwise she just might get there. And then we will really be in trouble. It is a mistake to allow Palin to sling mud at our "do-nothing" congress (who successfully shut Bush down), and to make unanswered personal attacks on both Biden and Obama, and to then cry foul when someone dares sling it back, and it just tells us where the RNC is at, which is the exactly the same place they were last election, and the election before that. They will do anything to win.

It needs to be understood that the RNC is purposely picking a fight that is based on feminism, with the clear intent to co-opt the women's rights issue away from the Dems, just as they have tried to co-opt the issue of change away from the Dems. To do this, every perceived slight will be pounced upon, and our eager press will be quick to pounce...because a cat-fight is far more interesting than the issues are, as everyone gathers to watch the ca-fight. This is hard-ball, but the Dems still need to stay to the high ground, and hit her on her record (the Gulf war is God's will and all Alaskans need to "get right with God", but her husband and children should get state per-diem checks?...I'll use my power to punish my families enemies? There is plenty of mud.

But, it would be a grave mistake for the Dems to underestimate the "Palin Factor", and it would also be a mistake to let the RNC seize ownership of the gender issue. This only happens by us letting them make the issue about gender. So what if some people think that Palin is pretty...or that she wears a skirt and has a nice smile? The question that we have to ask ourselves is, what's the difference between Palin and Cheney?

Lipstick.

I'm blown away that even after all the reporting on Obama, that some still think he is a Muslim. What this means is that they got some internt chain letter, or heard from their neighbor, or watch FAUX news, and are unable to think for themselves.

With everything about Palin that makes a legitimate target, this is what we get?

While I am certainly astonished by her lack of basic knowledge, Dems would do well to take her seriously, and underestimate her at their own peril. She is unpolished on the national stage, to be sure, but she is not stupid, and she is tough. It would not surprise me that creating low expectations is not part of the McCain plan going into Thursday's debate. I think that she is going to come out swinging, and Biden better take is seriously or he might get his ass handed to him.

The car I learned to drive on was a 69 Saab station wagon, shifter on the tree. My first car was a 76 GLi, that I rebuilt, and since then I've owned several. My favorite car, to this day, is my 94 Commemorative 900 convertible with over 200,000 miles on it. I LOVE that car, and still drive it every day in the summer. My wife has an 05 9-3 that has been totally trouble free (but I admit I wouldn't know how to fix it if it broke) She was one of those who at first didn't like Saabs because she thought they were quirky and weird, but now she loves it. Other car companies are just now talking about doing what Saab has been doing for years. It will go 150 mph, and still get 35 miles a gallon if driven rationally, and do it safely. How many cars can say that?

I for one sincerely hope Saab pulls it out. The love affair continues.

I've been married 23+ years, and love being married. Not that it was easy, and sometimes we really had to work at it. But when you work through the tough times and come out the other side, there is nothing like it in the world, and nothing better. I don't think we've had a serious fight in nearly 15 years, and it just keeps getting better. She is my best friend and ally, who always has my back. I'm sure not against divorce, but it gets old, hearing from marriage bashers who never worked their way over the hump acting as if the rest of us who did are secretly suffering away in quiet desperation, when nothing could be further from the truth. To be honest, I've done nothing to deserve to be this happy, and owe that to my wonderful wife!

SP is everything said here...but said over and over and over and over....ad-nausium

She is really dangerous though, because she is utterly certain she is on a mission from God, and if she were to run for national office and win...man I wouldn't want her near that nuclear button, trying like hell to fulfill Revelations.

The less said about her, the better.