Would it be insensitive to a suggest a watch, maybe a pool, for the exact moment Larry Craig says "Yes, I know I've sinned, but I've talked it over with Jesus and he tells me he's forgiven me, so it'll be alright"?

Considering how his angry video denial went, I say before Labor Day. Other possibilities: if he wants it to go away, on Labor Day. If he wants maximum repentance coverage, Wednesday (too many people still travelling Tuesday).

You know it's coming, but it might not have the impact it once did, even among the faithful. The Shark of Phony Repentance may have been jumped for good when Michael Vick announced he was trusting in Jesus and the press corps laughed.

"All over America, formerly stalwart Republicans will be explaining how they never really 'bought into' all this crap but were hijacked in some way, but we won't soon forget those who are so boisterously heralding a return to the middle ages."

According to Mike Huckabee, they won't be able to. In dressing down Ron Paul, who claimed, correctly, that American foreign policy was hijacked by the Neocons, Huckabee said "...we are one nation. We can't be divided. We have to be one nation, under God. That means if we make a mistake, we make it as a single country: The United States of America, not the divided states of America."

So there you have it: they're stuck, held fast by the lies told by their previous generation of leaders, that they so eagerly went along with. It's only we dirty divisives who have the freedom to act responsibly. In order to uphold national honor, Huck and the others have no choice but to throw live fish after dead, until the ice cracks under the weight of the bodies.

CNN's "The Ticker" says Huckabee received "loud cheers" for this indefensible crud. YOU broke it, buddy, so YOU bought it. Leave the half of the country who knew it was a bad idea from the beginning, and said so, out of this.

"There's a new power dynamic, and it's not supplicant"? Before a single primary? Before the first caucus? Tradition says it's only polite to ask for a vote, not assume it'll just come to you. That's how a monarchy acts.

Clinton's top people have been acting like that for months. While those on the ground (almost entirely young and female) are usually intelligent and pleasant, the top Clinton leadership displays the same arrogance as Hillary flashed last night. They don't want to talk to the voters, much less answer questions. They just tell them what to expect.

Like most of your posters, I saw a very different debate last night. The Dems have five good candidates, which is their problem. Unless they can unite behind one, the Clinton machine will take it, and whether she wins the election or not, we'll have eight more years of unresponsive government. Looks like Grieve is angling for those inside-the-Beltway invitations already. One disappointment, with a bigger one to come.

Just read the David Yepsen column in today's Des Moines Register.

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070927/OPINION01/709270400/1035/OPINION

When Yepsen, who is far from a liberal, has a more accurate take on the debate, that's cause for real worry. Maybe Salon and the Register could do a switch. Don't worry Tim, we'll treat you well.

"The Bushies are a "family" (in the mob sense of the word). They have all the structure and all the connections of a mob family, multiple siblings, 15 or so grandchildren, associations with people like the Saudis that go back generations. They're a clan. The Clintons are two people with one daughter...."

In the Clintons' case, the mob is the neoliberals of the DLC.

"She aspires to be the bad girl of American food writing."

Don't despair Anastacia, just because your overly colorful, sadly imprecise descriptions muddy the few valid points on a subject that's been written to death for years, no reason to give up.

Susan Faludi, who longs for the glory days of the early Clinton administration as much as you long for steel-cut oatmeal and sardines, was once like you.

And still is.

What a rotten day for Salon.

"How can two such smart men (AL Gore&John Kerry) make such a disasterous (sic) mistake?" Easy for them, hard for us. They had the same people, Robert Shrum, the DLC and the Daley family, running their campaigns. The same ones, minus Shrum, who are behind the Clinton campaign. Get set for eight years of Giuliani. Or vote for Edwards and his lovely and courageous spokeswoman.