I get what you're saying, and it's a sad but accurate observation. And you're right, Steele's ex-brother in law at least was true to what he was, which was a brute with emotional problems who nevertheless was an athletic phenomenon.

Bad as Bachmann was, nothing will ever compare to Mitt "Plastic Man" Romney chanting: "Who let the dogs out? Who? Who?" That embarrassed me as both a fellow white man, and a fellow human being.

Judges are not robots. They bring their life experiences and attendant perspective to the bench. As one example, in criminal law an anal-compulsive law and order judge is more likely to overlook mitigating circumstances than a judge with a more compassionate worldview.

President Obama seeks a wise judge with an expansive understanding of what it is to live and struggle in the United States in our time. I would rather have a judge with empathy and understanding than one who views him or herself as a completely objective enforcer of the law -- because there is no such creature.

Imagine if Ms. Justin-Jinich had only been armed with a handgun. That way, she would still have been taken by surprise when this disguised lunatic walked in with murderous intent, but at least she would have died with a gun in her pocket or purse.

And if the customers had only been armed, too, then AFTER this young woman was murdered, they could have engaged in a shootout in the store with the killer.

That is what the NRA will never understand in its extreme opposition to gun regulation. Killers walk onto the scene prepared and ready to kill; brave Joe or Jane citizen with their guns kept somewhere on their person, engaged in whatever task they are engaged in, will only be able to react after the killer has fired his gun at his target. Sure, they might kill him, but a person will already be lying dead or wounded.

If we really want to prevent more horrible tragedies like this, we will have strict gun control, especially for handguns. Otherwise, we should simply accept the fact that the United States does not really mind if its citizens, including its children, are shot dead at a rate that the civilized world finds revolting.

What depresses most about this quote is Steele's lack of dignity and willingness to sound practically uneducated. I can accept the GOP's resistance to Democratic judicial picks, but whatever happened to people in positions of authority speaking with the gravitas and decorum appropriate to their titles?

The dumbing down of America is not merely a cute phrase. It is a fact, and when our political leaders of whatever persuasion join in the reduction of our society to the level of sarcastic teenagers, the problem only grows worse.

You seem proud of your anti-semitism. That makes any concern you express for the Palestinians dubious, as well as hypocritical. Bigots don't care about other peoples, and you are a bigot. And Brett, if you run your mouth like that in the real world the way you do in Salon, some "Jewman" is going to break your jaw.

And comparing Israel's actions to those of Nazi Germany both demonstrates your historical ignorance and diminishes the true horrors of the Holocaust. It shows that you are a fool.

("Brett." The only Bretts I ever met were preppie white boys who fluffed up the collars of their polo shirts).

That would be a fine retribution, though I prefer something similar to the scenario in Arthur C. Clarke's, "Childhood's End," where all the spectators at a bull fight are forced to feel the pain endured by the bull the first time it is stabbed by the matador. After that, bullfighting is outlawed.