I forgot to include this quote from another writer that prompted my last letter, to put my thoughts in context:

Like John McCain, Warren can be a likeable guy -- and, in fact, is generally likeable and not prone to the insane outbursts McCain has exhibited over the years. Still, he is interested in control, in power, and in herding his flock (or should we just call it a herd?) of unusually well-educated and generally upper-middle class Orange County professing Christians. But his ambitions no doubt exceed his current reach. This could be a good thing (or at least not the frightening thing Billy Graham has represented to me for nearly my entire life)

...tomreedtoon, you sound like you maybe know Breathed in real life? If so, give him "the best" from a devoted fan.

And, if you're reading this, Berk, I would be remiss to say that I consider you a truly brilliant artist, in every sense of the word. I have been reading about the folks of Bloom County literally since I was old enough to read (I even had a big stuffed Opus as a kid) and, at the risk of sounding way corny, you've really touched my life.

I take it back--if you need rest now, please take it. I will keep you in my prayers.

BTW, tom, I've been a fan of Keef for some time. If Berk packs it in, Keef and Ruben Bolling will be the only comic artists left worth reading IMO.

To question whether the car proved to be a revolutionary invention now seems absurd. The car not only changed our means of moving around, but it drastically altered our physical landscapes and our entire global economy.

But what is a car? How much of an improvement was it over horses? All a car really does is go faster. In fact, a car is subject to certain limitations that a horse--or, say, more obviously, a boat--is not.

But speed counts. Remember, humans don't just invent things--we invented the whole notion of time as a measurable quantity. In fact, clocks were probably the most revolutionary invention before the car.

So anything that affects our perception of time (i.e. how much we "have") can drastically and quickly change...everything about human society.

I'm a natural cynic, and sometimes I feel like the authors--the internet and its accompanying digital technology won't really be that big of a deal to posterity's eyes.

But I know I'm wrong about that fleeting suspicion. More often it occurs to me that I belong to the last generation of humans who will remember what life was like before the invention of what will probably be the most incredible human innovations ever made.

HUman consciousness exists at a perennial precipice. we're always inclined to think that "the end is near." Dismissing such ideas is also natural and healthy, by corollary. But by even the most objective standards, this particular threshold is no "false alarm". Mobile electronic communication and information technologies aren't going away...and I believe that they have only begun to change us.

That McCain could very well die in the next four years, and then we will have a pretty young lady whom nobody has ever heard of running our country, at one of the most crucial moments in our history.

I'm not saying I agree with that assessment, but there it is.

It's too soon to know for sure, but I'm casting my vote for "not the best choice, John."

Berk Breathed has accomplished what the greatest minds of previous generations would have only fleetingly, in their wildest fantasies, dared to dream of: he has conquered human mortality, and will live forever. The practically endless hours of free time afforded him by his success as a cartoonist have enabled him to develop a cure for death.

So that explains the comic strip.

Avi Steinberg's little article here is the greatest thing I've read on Salon in a while. Very funny; nice work.

It's one thing to argue that people die for no reason and that the stronger idiots dominate the weaker ones; that's been the brothers' apparent worldview since "Blood Simple" (and perhaps since "Henry Kissinger: Man on the Go").

I think the Coens' worldview, if there is one, is that there are no heroes and no villains in the real world.

Maybe you still can, but of course the magic of casting McDormand is that she somehow makes this self-centered imbecile, who unleashes a violent and chaotic chain of events, seem like a spunky American-movie heroine.

See above. She did a similar turn in Fargo, although most people like to remember her as an out-and-out heroine in that film. However, her Fargo character wasn't particularly heroic or likable either (you could argue that her shoot-out with the Swede was "heroic," but I would argue otherwise, and either way I digress.)

Like I said, their main point, and the magic of their movies, is that nobody is ever either totally good or bad.