In re: Joan Walsh's comment that Sarah Palin "failed to show simple decency when Biden referenced his family tragedy:"

What was Governor Palin supposed to do? She actually helped Senator Biden move past the awkwardness of the moment by not dwelling on his family issues. Remember, this was a vice presidential debate, not a sensitivity training session.

Female candidates are damned if they behave too much like nurturing women and damned if they don't.

Incidentally, I don't recall Senator Biden expressing sympathy for the Governor's special needs child.

Here's where Governor Palin showed her humanity:

When was the last time you heard an avowedly conservative politician say she favored tolerance for same-sex couples? Her stand on this issue is indistinguishable from Joe Biden's. Give the Governor some credit for being a defender of civil rights for all Americans.

In re: '"What I hear is she's an awful anti-Semite," George Friedberg said as he sat curbside in his Escalade. "She won't be getting my vote."'

This assertion -- unchallenged and unsubstantiated by Tristram Korten -- is typical of so much "reportage" about this presidential campaign. Why is the allegation of one George Friedberg any more worthy of consideration than McCain's that Obama pals around with William Ayers?

What I hear is that Salon.com is, well, fill in the blank. It doesn't much matter what I hear. What matters is what can be alleged and then confirmed.

So, would you mind finding out for sure if Sarah Palin is an antisemite? Inquiring minds want to know.

Joan Didion's essay is the first thing I've read in Salon since I began my subscription last month that is thoughtful and persuasive. Everything else -- and I mean everything -- has been an example of people preaching to the choir.

I've read more than one mean-spirited article about Skip Gates, all of them from black people. Cheesh. Whatever Gates may think about himself -- as a black man, a professor, a homeowner, whatever -- here's the real issue: We do not live in a police state. Once the cop saw that he had made a mistake, it was incumbent on him to back down. In this country, theoretically anyway, the burden is on the police to exercise restraint.

Professor Gates has the right to determine how he's going to live his life and how he's going to identify himself. If he thinks of himself primarily as an Ivy League professor, so be it. He should be free to define himself as he sees fit. An individual shouldn't be compelled to think and behave based solely on how the police treat him and other members of his group.