Instinctively, we can agree that Maryland law has got to be wrong. Something is amiss when you can't withdraw consent for sex and demand that that decision be respected.

But does the penalty for rape really fit that crime? I don't think so, just as I don't think forcing sex with your wife is really the same as traditional rape.

Among the reasons we have for making rape a serious crime is that it often is done by a complete stranger and thus is terrifying. Even date rape is typically done by someone with whom the victim has not consented to sex with before.

But where consent is initially given, or has been given so many times in the past that sex with this person is a very familiar thing, the circumstances just are not as outrageous as typical rape.

I think the answer in such cases is to treat the act as some form of misdemeanor battery, still punishable as crime, with some sort of jail penalty available, but not as felonious behavior with a long prison term.

And if the unconsented sex is accompanied by violence beyond forcing penetration, that can enhance the penalty, perhaps into a higher category altogether, such as aggravated battery, which can be felonious itself if bad enough.

I hope there can also be some way to cut just a little slack for the poor guy who is given consent, is highly aroused and has penetrated and well on his way to orgasmic bliss and is given the bad news that he has to stop. That happens all the time for a variety of reasons, such as some external surprise, or a baby crying, or phone ringing, or whatever, and men have to deal with it. But when it's just a change of mind, can he not have at least a minute or two to discuss it without withdrawing and without being criminalized?

I am reminded of one of the games from "Games People Play" called "Rapo" in which a woman entices a guy to do something (sexual or nonsexual) and then turns on him for it. That doesn't apply where the turnabout is sincere.

But it is so close to the present situation that it reminds me that it is not a good idea to place major penal sanctions on one side of an intimate situation like this, commenced with consent and without violence, normal in every way except for a unilateral change of mind. We cannot let lives be ruined upon such fleeting whims.

This is a fine article, and I agree with it completely.

My hope is that the old Democratic professional like Bob Strum, who holds the strikeout record for losing elections, will be sent quietly into oblivion and Young Turks like Rahm Emmanuel will gain some respect for Dean.

What happened in this election was that both Dean's and Emmanuel's strategies got support from the party rank and file, and both contributed to the victory. The DNC and the DCCC competed for funds, and both got them.

Let that be the resolution of the debate as to which strategy gets how much money. But what I mean by that is that it should be assumed that the DNC's fundamental mandate is to continue the effort to build the party in every state.

I just do not understand how anyone capable of reason can quarrel with Dean's proposition that to abandon any area of the country is a recipe for permanent minority nationally. Politics is indeed local, and parties are built by persuasion, person by person, neighbor by neighbor, over years. A lot of nasty campaign ads for a month before an election just will not cut it.

Dean's vision is so clearly right, and so basic to the survival of the Democratic Party, and so crucial to its replacing the droolocrats and the kleptocrats and the fascicans with reasonable, truly compassionate but responsible Democrats is going to take a lifetime of talking sense in the red states.

Now that effort has begun.

If you live long enough, life lets you form opinions of people based on impressions and instinct that usually turn out to be right. My impression of Feingold, borne out by his actions, is that he is altruistic, motivated by service rather than ambition, compassionate, honest and reasonable. He is altogether a very fine man. I trust him. I think the nation would be lucky to have him as president. I am sad that others like him over the years have stepped aside from the madness of a presidential campaign for various reasons. It's very hard for Senators to get elected anyway, so maybe he's better off not running. But I don't think the nation will be.