I was leery of reading this, but very pleasantly surprised by its serious, respectful tone. Whatever you think of other candidates, you can't dismiss Edwards' presence, his obvious integrity, or his intelligent takes on many issues. The economy, class differences, healthcare, environment, renewable energy, Iraq and foreign policy; unlike some of the frontrunners, he's spoken knowledgeably on all of them.

Edwards, Obama and Richardson would each make fine candidates, but Edwards may have the best combination of charisma, experience and credibility. And a poor-background, southern progressive is almost as rare a presidential candidate as an African-American, hispanic or a woman. Some might say that describes Bill Clinton, but there's a real question as to how progressive he really was.

I'll just second Edgore, who was the first to react.

I've never liked Shapiro's writing, but had trouble putting why into a couple of sentences, apart from his obvious worship of Hillary Clinton.

This says it all, though. Some diehard liberal had to jerk a knee at this tragedy, and Shapiro felt it was his duty to be first. He wants another thirty years of dictatorship by the right, because the opposition is too weak to muster a credible majority. Yeah, I know, it's not dictatorship if most of the country sees it as preferable to the alternative, which would be us.

Way to go, guy. Keep handing us losing issues. There are just enough who, if not reminded, will want to embrace them.

Let's reframe this argument. Who let this psycho have a gun? That way we only lose the psycho vote. And they have that anyway.

When has anything McGovern said ever come to pass?

With strongarms like McGovern and Kucinich coming out for impeachment, Bush, Cheney and Rove may just rule forever.

See Chapter 3 of "Crashing the Gate" for a detailed indictment of the political consultant culture, especially in the Democratic Party. They rake off the money, AND decide on the issues, often with jaw-dropping ineptitude. One statement, "We don't want to make memorable TV ads," says it all.

good as he was at that time. "Compared To What" is the opening track to "Swiss Movement: Live at Montreux" by Les McCann and Eddie Harris. It was written by Gene McDaniels, an R&B artist best known for novelty songs until this. It's one of the great songs of the '60s, comparable to the best of Dylan and Phil Ochs. Unreal values, crass distortion -- and we are still all chicken feathers without one gut:

To a driving beat:

1. Love the lie and lie the love

Hangin' on, with a push and shove

Possession is the motivation

that is hangin' up the God-damn nation

Looks like we always end up in a rut (everybody now!)

Tryin' to make it real — compared to what?

2. Slaughterhouse is killin' hogs

Twisted children killin' frogs

Poor dumb rednecks rollin' logs

Tired old ladies kissin' dogs

Hate the human, love that stinking mutt (I can't stand it!)

Try to make it real — compared to what?

3. The President, he's got his war

Folks don't know just what it's for

Nobody gives us rhyme or reason

Have one doubt, they call it treason

We're chicken-feathers, all without one gut (God damn it!)

Tryin' to make it real — compared to what? (Sock it to me, now)

4. Church on Sunday, sleep and nod

Tryin' to duck the wrath of God

Preacher's fillin' us with fright

Tryin' to tell us what he thinks is right

He really got to be some kind of nut (I can't use it!)

Tryin' to make it real — compared to what?

5. Where's that bee and where's that honey?

Where's my God and where's my money

Unreal values, crass distortion

Unwed mothers need abortion

Kind of brings to mind ol' young King Tut (He did it now)

Tried to make it real — compared to what?!

One more thing on "Compared to What:"

The line about "poor dumb rednecks rollin' logs" refers to a common recreational practice of the Jim Crow south:

Take a black man who's been causing trouble, by agitating for the right to vote, opening a successful store that competes with a white one, or just standing up for himself; beat him, hopefully, senseless, bind him in a log chain, and roll him into a river. The obligatory joke to conclude the ceremony was "Looks like that nigger stole more chain than he could swim with."

My father told me that when I was nine years old.

That's the faction that's taken over the country. That's what we have to fight.

Any of the people we saw last night are a universe away from today's Republican mainstream. About half of them would actually be up to the job.

But keep it in mind while you're reading "What's the Matter With Kansas." We have met the enemy, and if they're not us, they're living pretty close by. We can't afford to lose, especially by defeating ourselves.

And we can feel lucky we have artists like Gene McDaniels, who is apparently still with us.

for blurring, then destroying the line between people who are famous for doing something (artists, writers, musicians, scientists, philosophers) and people who are famous just for being famous. Fame is a waste of everybody's time if it's not tied to accomplishment, and the latest crapola movie, single or Idol contestant doesn't mean a damn in the context of the world. That's what The Fix covered, and its clones will continue.

Don't get me wrong, I liked watching Britney Spears melt down as much as anyone, but it would be nice to think that Warhol and his successors have had their fifteen minutes, and get back to things, and people, who matter. There used to be a pretty decent underground art culture in this country, before everything became Performance Art. Might be interesting to find out what's left of that.