The Clinton campaign claim to fame seems to be the promise of universal health coverage. But no one is talking about the fact that the means to attain that coverage require draconian measures such as requiring everyone (no matter whether they can afford it or not) to purchase a health care plan or have wages garnished, or pay a fine, or be criminally prosecuted. That is not the same thing as single-payer universal health coverage that is enjoyed in many European countries. This is draconian measure that will penalize the poor. Hillary's plan is virtually indistinguishable from what Mitt Romney did in MA (which is criticized precisely because it has not actually achieved universal coverage). It does virtually nothing to ensure that health care is affordable. It is a giveaway to the health insurance industry at the expense of people who can't afford health care. Doesn't anyone else find this disturbing?

Unless my vocabulary is limited (which is possible), I think you meant "tongue" in the title - I've never heard of a "tounge". :) Maybe this is a new word that was just now made up - "tounge: a falsity spewed by a presidential candidate."

This warrants one big sarcastic, "Really?!" At least people are coming out and saying something... FINALLY! Where the heck were they in 2003?!

This strategy just simply doesn't work, and although it is a temporarily satisfying payback for some women, it will not end the cycle of cat-calling. :P

Anyway, what is actually irksome about this is that the girls got reprimanded for their behavior. But who reprimands construction workers when they cat-call? Do their supervisors pull them aside and give them a warning?

I can't understand the point of this article. Obama has always been centrist. Reaching across the aisle for agreement is one of the cornerstones of his campaign. He and Hilary may have described their positions with a different narrative, but the substance is nearly identical. If we think of Obama as a liberal godsend, we will be sorely disappointed. Just look at his dossier of advisors - loaded with centrists, (and fairly hawkish centrists) from the Clinton years.

This is the age of the Internet people. Get past the glossy marketing campaigns and do your research.

...which means, of course, that no matter how fast you move towards it, it always stays the same distance away. That's brilliant - no - awesome!

Is there any other newsworthy thing happening in the entire United States besides McCain's pick for VP? You gotta hand it to the RNC - getting on nearly every article on Salon for a couple of days? Great - their strategy worked. Can we change the subject now? Please?!!!

Thanks for not writing yet another article about you-know-who... :)

I grew up there - good to see. It has a highly educated, and fairly liberal-leaning demographic, however. It would be nice to see something like this happen in a place with a more conservative demographic, but I am not holding my breath for that day to come.

I assume Glen knows this, and most posters, but some of the comments here STILL don't get the quote in context:

After saying the "lipstick on a pig" line, he elucidates further - "You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still going to stink after eight years."

People, get a clue about context! I grew up with a single mom. Obama grew up with a single mom. I know that it is not possible to have anything but awe and respect for women after such an experience. It was the politically shrill ultra right wing that read Sarah Palin into it. It is people who drew the Palin-Pig connection all by themselves who should be called out as misogynists.

The Republicans should be worried about how they are going to win over urban voters. I'm sick and tired of hearing about how small towns define America. Maybe that is the unfortunate political reality, given the inequities of the electoral college, but that still doesn't change the fact that the majority of Americans live in cities or in the sprawl around them. What makes New York City less American than Wasilla Alaska? Or Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, Cincinnati... The question should be - how are Republicans going to win over the vast majority of Americans? How is a creationist, anti-abortion, book-banning, loyalty-letter-gathering person who doesn't have a clue about Bush's pre-emptive war policies going to speak to the rest of us Americans? We don't learn everything we know about politics and science from the local mega-church. We primarily graduate high school and go to college and work white-collar jobs. We actually have neighbors who are very different from us, and have to work with people who are very different from us, and we actually have to live with and get along with them. We pay the lion's share of taxes, and get the lamb's share returned to us. If it wasn't for us urban "elitists", the country wouldn't have enough money for Republicans to do their war-mongering.

America's big cities are at the highest risk of terrorist attack. The last thing we need are a bunch of bible-thumping idiots declaring a holy crusade against Islam.

...and frankly extremely offended. If being American equals being a Republican, which in turn means advocating torture, pre-emptive invasions of other countries, spying on innocent US citizens without a warrant, denying people that you are politically opposed to basic civil liberties, then yes - please call me unpatriotic. But I was born and raised in the U.S.A. - and the above GOP platform planks have NOTHING to do with the country that I know and love.