Dear Cary,

May I use your words in my sig file? :) I'm a librarians' librarian (continuing and professional education designer/teacher) This is just about the loveliest description of the value of a book...(general concept reading) :)

"What is better, a book or a hamburger? Who takes a hamburger home and studies it and finds after spending many days sitting in a chair with the hamburger that her life has changed a little bit, that she is suddenly, like a person waking from a dream, seeking a magical vision she found in the hamburger? Who reads a hamburger aloud to a lover? Who falls asleep cradling a hamburger lovingly in his hands? Who takes a hamburger to a radio station and presents it to the world? Who takes a stage at a cafe and says, I just made this hamburger and I want to share it with you? Who runs into a friend on the street and says, I have to tell you about this new hamburger? Who remembers 25 years later the difference a hamburger made in his life?"

Yours Truly,

Di

http://www.kovacs.com

is depressing and makes me really wish I could recommend a good therapist to Ms. Paglia. The self-hate is so blatant it is almost palpable through a comuter screen. Does she really hate herself for being female? She hates Hilary, she hates any feminine person who accomplishes anything positive, and adores one of the least feminine - least feminist infamous figures our culture is currently suffering through. Why do we have to have this inflicted on us publicly through Salon?

As one of the old people here.. old woman... happy self-respecting old woman who thinks women rock and we are intelligent and self-reliant and we do not need men to write our novels for us ... well anyway. I feel very badly that Ms. Paglia is so unhappy with her self, her sex, and her milieus. I hope she seeks some self-identity of her own that makes her feel better at least. I recommend some yoga and a few long walkies before she writes next time. Maybe some really decent sex with someone she loves...

Why are some of you so afraid of Hillary Clinton? I am truly baffled that some of the men I expect to be most rational are having negative and emotional reactions to her candidacy. I myself have not made up my mind... we have two more years of Bush and the neocons to survive...we've better things to do than argue about how well one candidate reads poetry or if another needs a haircut.

This question is for those of you who are not right wing plants. What are you so afraid of? The name calling alone is a clue that the dislike and fear of Hillary Clinton's candidacy is emotional and not rational.. Shrew?, Soap Star?, iron-souled? A rational woman who is articulate and able to negotiate within a legal political structure is scary? Why?

The second question is for all of you. What makes you think that another president with only a single view of his/her world and completely unable to adapt and change as the world changes is a good idea?

I'm truly curious. Do you want a leader? Are you really looking for entertainment...how someone acts, dresses, looks...what does that have to do with their ability to lead our country safely and positively?

Are they 'anti-war' people or 'anti-reality'? I've been persuaded not to use a rather crude biological based analogy about what Bush and his gang have gotten us into in Iraq - suffice it to say we've gotten into a situation we did not want to happen and it has consequences we did not want to happen. Now we must choose carefully the way in which we withdraw from the situation. The consequences that we've already caused - failed to prevent because of our voting choices in some cases - are already part of the problem we have to solve.

Immediate withdrawal could be devestating for millions of people including us. This is not like Vietnam (at least read the wikipedia entry). This is as though we have our foot on a landmine that will go off the minute we remove our foot. It was incredibly stupid to put our foot on it in the first place but now we need to find a way to remove our foot without causing more trouble than we already have. Yes we need to get our ignorant foot off the landmine... but first... and so on. Think it through. The last thing we need is more sloppy thinking without reference to realities.

Instead of wasting their energies whining - yes whining - about how very wise people like Speaker Pelosi are carefully and thoughtfully addressing the problem, they should be making sure that other less-wise people are paying attention to the realities and will assist in making Speaker Pelosi's job successful.

There is nothing so useless in trying to solve a tough problem than a bunch of people telling you you can't do it right...aren't doing it right... over and over to make sure to ensure failure. So quit the bullying and get on with helping organize intelligent thoughtful support for what can and should be done.

Di