Some people involved in horse racing may love horses, while others may simply love money, but either way, it is the horses who suffer. When weighed against the injuries, deaths, and abuse experienced by race horses, the enjoyment some people derive in betting on these animals as they run around a track pales in comparison. It is past time for this terrible industry to go.

Greens claim to care about the environment. They also loudly proclaim that there is no difference between the Democrats and Republicans. Tell me, Greens, do you honestly believe that a President Al Gore would treat global warming they same as President George W. Bush?

Nader voters in Florida cost Gore the election. Nice going, "Greens."

It is astonishing to me the sheer greed and selfishness of Blunt, Inhofe, and the other (mostly Republican) members of Congress who continue to deny the existence of man-made global warming and, in fact, actively work to perpetuate it.

Have these people no children, no grandchildren? Are they so enamored of power that they are willing to sacrifice future generations in exchange for campaign contributions from Exxon and their ilk? Apparently so.

The GOP should retire the elephant as its mascot and substitute a silhouette of a naked woman on her knees, since servicing their johns in the oil industry is what they do best.

Every time a more powerful nation goes to war against a weaker nation, one side suffers disproportionately. That's the nature of fights between bullies and weaklings. Our own country is a terrific example of the bully, so for anyone in the United States entertaining fantasies of a righteous destruction of Israel based on their slaughter of the citizens of a weaker country, remember that we're way ahead of them in that particular line.

And if you're not American, I guarantee that your own country, or city, or village, or tribe, or damned religion deserves a place in that line, too.

No doubt about it: it's much better to wear Speedos when you're swimming laps for exercise. Since most men who swim for exercise recognize this (if not at first, then swiftly thereafter), one does not stand out while wearing Speedos -- and please, no puns here from the peanut gallery.

At the beach, though, I wear trunks. Why? Because there's something undeniably sleazy about a guy wearing Speedos at the beach, in my humble opinion.

Your letter reminds me of this anecdote about Adlai Stevenson:

It was alleged that during one of Stevenson's presidential campaigns, a supporter told him that he was sure to "get the vote of every thinking man" in America, to which Stevenson is said to have replied, "Thank you, but I need a majority to win."

But surely it’s different now in 2006? After all, “There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again!”

Uh-oh.

I think we can all agree that Garrison Keillor is a liberal. He's also demonstrated time and again that he is a compassionate, thoughtful man who is willing to take on the GOP fascist brigades. So, now he writes something which like it or not is true: there are black kids who consider academic achievement to be a white thing, and therefore a bad thing. Not all black kids, of course, but enough for it to be a noticeable and very real problem. Weeping about the fact that Keillor mentions this problem, or otherwise ignoring it, is not going to solve it, so stop being such whiny stereotypes. Liberals are tough, and unlike conservatives, we are willing to acknowledge real problems and take them on. The only problems conservatives have are, 1) people having sex, and 2) how to make the rich richer. We liberals must deal with the real problems, and to do that, we must be willing to recognize them.

For the sake of argument, let's say that in the late 1960's, early 1970's, the Democratic Party really did drift so far from the mainstream that Ronald Reagan was justified when he said that he didn't leave the Democrats, the Democrats left him (though either way, he was still an asshole).

If that was the case then, then it is obvious that the GOP has now become the party of, by, and for extremists. The Katherine Harris victory is only the latest and greatest exhibit in a long line of evidence dating back to at least 1994, when the GOP House inmates took over the asylum.

Ergo, Democrats rejoice! If history is any guide, the next election or two will see a Democratic resurgence, a liberal revolution, and a scattering of the GOP to the land of irrelevance. Maybe, just maybe, the USA will recover from the devastation wrought upon it by GOP incompetence and greed.

So Steve Irwin worked to save animals, and you're complaining because he didn't work to help aborigines. So, if Steve Irwin worked to advance, say, gay rights or the rights of the disabled or abortion rights, would you still criticize him? Or is it only "bad" if someone works to save animals? How about working to preserve historical buildings? Is that okay with you, or somehow flawed?

As long as someone is doing something good and working to solve a problem, you should keep your complaints to yourself. Frankly, as long as some (or many) people are actively working to hurt animals, then we need people like Steve Irwin to save animals. If you want to bitch about something, bitch about the people who do harm to animals or people or the environment,

Do you complain about people spending their time and money on sporting events or dining out? That money could go to save starving kids, if you want to look at it all that way. For that matter, why don't you bitch about the people who do nothing to help anyone or anything -- that's a lot of people.