Elephantman, sorry to be so late in getting back to you, but after putting in a long day at work so that I can pay my fair share of federal taxes, I went home and spent some quality time with my family. Given my numerous family responsibilities, which I accept with pride and joy, I rarely have an opportunity to review comments or post while not at work (and at work only during my brief breaks or my lunch hour).

I was not trying to convince you to vote for Obama, but instead trying to engage in the substantive debate that you asked for. Your response to my last post reveals that you are not serious about an actual substantive conversation about all of the candidates. Your subsequent posts regarding the reasons you vote for Republicans show how completely divorced your priorities are from what the Bush Administration has actually been doing these last seven years.

I do have a few questions, however, that I hope you will take the time to answer: (1) Were you always for John McCain, or did you decide to vote for him only after the other major candidates dropped out? (2) If you were not for John McCain originally, what caused you to change your mind? (3) What has John McCain said to date to lead you to believe that his policies are in line with what you profess to believe? (4)Do you have any reservations about John McCain as a candidate and/or president? (5) If not, then aren't you guilty of drinking the same brand of Kool Aid that others accuse Obama supporters of drinking?

I myself have serious reservations about all three remaining candidates, and as you will note in my last post I discussed all three candidates. I still have not made up my mind who I would vote for in the general election. Although my strongest doubts revolve around McCain, I still hold out hope that he would actually be a more moderate president and that some of his talk during the Republican Primary was just instrumentalism in order to secure the nomination.

As another poster asked, do you live in Cook County? You list the names of several democrats whom you accuse of being corrupt and/or lazy. However, you do not mention anything about DuPage County Republicans and the problems they have caused in the state of Illinois. I also find it odd that you lump Rezko in with the Democrats, since it is common knowledge in Illinois that he is an equal supporter of both the Democrats and Republicans in Illinois. Indeed, one of the people whom the Federal Government has alleged was involved in some of Rezko's dealings (although not currently indicted) is Robert Kjellander (pronounced Shell-an-der), the former treasurer of the Republican National Committee and a good friend of Karl Rove. I advise you to read the columns of John Kass of the Chicago Tribune if you have not already. This is the reason why the Republicans are not going after Obama with the Rezko case, because it would boomerang and hit them ten times as hard.

If you are in Cook County, I would be interested in meeting you and discussing these issues further face to face. Suggest a time and a place and let's see if we can't work something out.

Glenn, I look forward to reading your new book, as well as working my way through your previous two efforts.

A few months back John Yoo wrote an Op-Ed in the Philadelphia Enquirer (IIRC) regarding the civil lawsuit brought against him by Jose Padilla based on the torture memo. It will be intereting to see how the release of the actual memo affects the case now. At the time I searched the DC, Virginia and California bar associations to see if he was licensed to practice in any of those states. I could not find any current or former registration in any of those jurisdictions. However, I would encourage all lawyers in California to lodge complaints with the California Bar Association and the Berkely law school regarding Yoo's employment as a law professor.

I would also encourage all lawyers in DC and Virginia to file complaints against David Addington, who I believe is licensed in both jurisdictions, as well as any of the other lawyers in the Bush Administration who have actively condoned torture by their "tortured" interpretation of the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions. Perhaps DCLaw1 could take the lead on this.

Finally, I the American Bar Association annual meeting is set to take place in New York on August 7-12, 2008. The ABA has been quite outspoken about the rights of lawyers in Pakistan, but to my knowledge has been fairly quiet regarding abuses here in the United States. It does not appear that the agenda has been set as of yet, so I would encourage all ABA members to try to draft and introduce a resolution condemning these individuals and their legal interpretations, and stripping them of their membership in the ABA (assuming they are members). I am willing to work on this with anyone who is interested. If you are not a lawyer but know someone who is and is as outraged as I am, please pass along this plea.

As always, thanks to Glenn for his work and for providing this forum.

Actually, Yoo emigrated to the United States from South Korea and grew up in Philadelphia. I have wondered if some of his latent anxiety/fear vis a vis North Korea is at least in part to explain for his views on the Geneva Convention. Perhaps he hopes to one day crush the genitals of Kim Jong Il.