Who would've thought that, despite eight disastrous years of Bush, 2000 Nader voters would actually be vindicated? I voted for Nader as a protest, in a safe state (NY) where Gore was a shoo-in, because he sold out by choosing a Republican-in-all-but-name as his running mate, and here we are--Lieberman has proven my point with flying colors. (Admittedly, Nader himself turned out to be an egotistical gasbag more concerned with feeling smug about his own righteousness than anything else, but, then, he was never actually gonna get elected anyway).

There's something about movies (or, more specifically, reading and talking about movies) that seems to bring out the gender essentialist in a lot of othewise intelligent people. Again and again I'm told that women like nothing but touchy-feely Lifetime network crap and wedding movies, while men like nothing but explosions. And yet, when I look at most of what's out there--including pretty much everything at the theaters I go to--I see that most movies, good or bad, seem to be made for hermaphrodites or eunuchs, as they don't fit into either the stereotypical male or female catagories. Personally, I love Meryl Streep, hate Abba, like superheroes, but tend to prefer movies that actually have a elements like plot, characterization and dialogue, and, overall, probably won't see either the Dark Knight or Mamma Mia until they're available on Netflix, if then.

After about a million instances of calling McCain a "maverick" and "straight-talker" without quotation marks or irony, not to mention giving so much more attention to Reverend Wright than to the numerous racist, sexist, and homophobic preachers standing hand in hand with McCain, the press is going to have do a lot more fawning over Obama before the Republicans have any legitimate reason to complain.

The Daily Show clip was funny, though.

Rather than passing judgement on this person ("gone bad" "selfish" etc.) or even analyzing her or the situation as so many here are doing (substance abuse, stuck in her '20s, typical of what happens to female friendships, etc.), it would be simpler simply to look at the basic facts: two old friends whose lifestyles and values have diverged to a very large extent, one of whom clearly isn't particularly concerned about the other's feelings. Shared memories are lovely, so maybe the two can get toghether once or twice a decade to reminisce before going back to their respective lives, but it's hard to see the point, based on what's in the letter, of trying to continue the relationship beyond that.

In the immortal words of Stephen Colbert:

"Reality has a liberal bias."

Obama's week would've been a disaster for McCain no matter what--it's now impossible to use "the troops" against Obama, as they've been so effectively used by both Bush's against Democrats, because we've all seen the troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan thronging Obama and treating him like a hero. McCain's big gaffe was in, as another poster put it, goading Obama into going to Iraq and Afghanistan in the first place.

Pretty much any piece of "information" coming from anywhere in the general neighborhood of Karl Rove should be viewed purely in terms of "what is his strategy in putting out this piece of propaganda" even if it seems to benefit Obama.

I'd say that, if you've got parents stupid or irresponsible enough to give you any of the ridiculous names listed in the article, the name itself will be the least of your problems.

Sincerely,

Forgot to Buy Condoms Jones

Obama should be up by at least twenty points. Sadly, the only argument I can come up with that's the least bit convincing for why he isn't is the most obvious one: there's still too much racism in this country for an African American candidate to get a solid majority of the population behind him, no matter how utterly lousy and ridiculous the competition is.

the message corporate America seems to have gotten from the fall of communism seems to be "we can got back to creating the conditions that made communism seem like a good idea to so many people in the first place!"

And 'round and 'round we go....

I say offensive things practically every day. I apologize for some of them, and am trying to say them less but, come on, buddy....

Perhaps Neil Young should get credit for the first Obama reference in a song by a major artist (in "Looking For a Leader" on the "Living With War" album)?

You're saying we should be efficient and responsible in our energy use?

Wouldn't that mean letting the terrorists win?

I'm sure George W. said that would mean letting the terrorists win....

"There is almost nothing straight left in the positions of the Straight Talker."

What do you mean "left"? Why do even progressive journalists insists on maintaining the fiction (clearly belied by his voting record) that John McCain was ever a "straight talker" or "maverick" rather than a conservative con-man who's managed to take a lot of otherwise intelligent people for a ride for the past couple of decades?

Hmmm...maybe I just answered my own question....

I agree with another poster, that the appeal of this is to naughty Christians who find violating their chastity pledges a turn-on.

And, to the person who asked whether this means non-virgin brides shouldn't wear white--actually, yes, the white dress is supposed to symbolize virginity. Then, if you look into meanings, most aspects of the traditional wedding ceremony are equally reactionary and sexist, from the father "giving away the bride" to "love honor and obey."

Videos of Obama's trip decimated standard attack that's been made on anti-war Democrats since Vietnam--that they don't support the troops--since, obviously, the troops thronging around and cheering him in Afghanistan and Iraq felt differently. Alas, the videos also upheld the Republicans' one hope of defeating Obama in November, and the reason he can't seem to get above the 50 percent mark--he's still black, and there's still a hell of a lot of racism in America.