Editors of Salon,

Reading "America Can't Take it Anymore" I wonder if we are tiring of the Bush administration's justification of torture in the war on Iraq because it is eerily similar to the BS we were fed about initiating the war: WMD.

Aren't these black sites and eroding definitions of "torture," just like WMD where we accused Iraq and Saddam Hussein of hiding the means to harm others?

Where are the inspectors who should be investigating these abuses of the system by the US? What's good for the goose is good for the gander - transparency of these operations where US military and OGA's are involved is essential to restore the credibility of the US as a world leader.

Laura McHugh

I agree with another reader that the US appears self-important in matters of "leading the world" to better places (my words, not his). However, leadership in an of itself is an important quality to have. True leadership takes the opinions, feelings, desires and beliefs of others into account when implementing strategies to move us all forward. I believe Bill Clinton is a true leader in this sense.

I was fortunate to see Volver recently in France with French subtitles. I don't speak French and understand a bit of spoken Spanish, but even without knowing exactly what the characters were saying, it was a marvelous film. The cinematography was beautiful and Penelope Cruz was magnificent. The story was haunting and Zacharek's comments about the faces, especially young Paula, brought an inner beauty to the film.

You will kiss your children differently after seeing this film.

My son will be 19 next month. I had the same agony as these parents when there wasn't too much information available out there.

My biggest difficulties with the "routine" procedure were:

- isn't his body perfect just they way he was born?

and

- if someone had told me I had to perform a surgery on any of my three daughters to "make them right" wouldn't that be ridiculous?

His dad is circumcised; he is not. I've never had any negative feedback from my son that he didn't get circumcised and he is old enough that he probably stands out among peers. Hopefully, he feels the humanity of our love for him and will carry that on to his son(s). There were never any health issues or situations that I heard plenty of "do it" scare stories about as he grew up with a foreskin.

Not being Jewish helped (less familial pressure), but I did have to stand firm with family and the docs.

My recommendation: don't do it.

In the 30+ years I've been watching SNL, this was THE BEST opener I've ever seen. Tina did channel Sarah Palin, and Amy was spectacular as Hil as well. What a treat to watch, and so good that we have a priceless parody outlet in SNL (and MAD TV tonight too by the way - priceless skit about McCain and Obama on So You Think You Can Dance!). We have to laugh a bit about all this silliness to keep things in the proper perspective.

Sarah Palin's real interview with Katie Couric this week, slightly exaggerated in the Fey/Poehler parody on SNL last night, is eerily reminiscent of Caitlin Upton's performance in the Miss Teen USA 2007 question and answer portion of their program: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

I recently had the opportunity to see Caroline Kennedy speak at DeAnza College in Cupertino California as part of a women's series. The other speakers I've heard include Maya Angelou, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.

In each case, with the exception of Caroline Kennedy, the women were lively, engaging, thoughtful in their remarks, and described how their life work was translating to doing more good out in the world.

I was so excited for the opportunity to see Caroline Kennedy because she is a woman I nominally looked up to. We are about the same age and though she has been able to spend her time as an at-home mom, I felt that because of her family and their history, there must be a professional with aspirations to help the world lurking inside her.

Instead, friends I attended this event with remarked how she seemed like "the neighbor next door," which was a polite way of saying she presented as unambitious, relatively uninformed, disinterested in the larger issues, and a weak speaker/presenter. Some brushed this performance off as her shyness, and perhaps that is at the base of it. However, as a senator, Caroline will not be effective if she cannot or does not want to develop relationships with her constituents, her fellow senators, and the larger body politic. Sure, she has friends in high places, but that won't carry her through a senate seat. And, it won't be in the best interests of the citizens of New York to appoint someone with such low energy and no track record of real accomplishment.