The McCain vetting of Palin reminds me of something that happened awhile back in West Virginia. The McCain campaign claimed it had been endorsed by a major Democrat. The major Democrat turned out to be a man known here as Icky Frye. Mr. Frye married an immigrant looking for citizenship. She, a fairly attractive woman, got a job in state government and then had an affair with Gov. Bob Wise. Mr. Frye, who is, let us say kindly, a bit disheveled as well as a loose cannon, decided to run for governor to get revenge on Mr. Wise (who has since left politics). Icky Frye, the prominent Democrat, got one or two percent of the vote. He is considered a joke. This is Sen. McCain's prominent supporter.

I'd say the same people who vetted Icky Frye vetted Sarah Palin.

Lots of gray hair maybe. Not much gray matter. Not if you respect the fascist Bill O'Reilly and his lies.

because any one's death diminishes all of us, as Donne said more memorably.

But this was not a great writer. So sad that he killled himself. But he was not a great writer. He was totally disconnected to the world as it is. We need writers who understand history and politics and who connect to them. Wallace was a blank. Perhaps he understood that at the end. Sorry to be so blunt. But I am angry about the abdication of of modern American fiction. It reflects our culture.

I have no moral problem with the act of gambling in and of itself. No problem with people having a friendly poker game, for example. But the history of the gambling industry is also the history of terrible political corruption. Just read a history lf Las Vegas, for example. From its ties to the international drug trade and money laundering to its corruption of local politics, the gambling industry is poison. To say this is no big deal is to stick your head in the sand. And McCain's connections are troubling indeed.

By the way, its not just Native American areas that are involved. The gambling industry preys on poor states, rural states, post-industrial states, who are desperate for revenue. It owns politicians in those places lock stock and barrel. Also gambling revenue is a regressive tax, taxing those who are least able to pay. We need to turn back to the old fashioned way of raising revenue -- taxing the rich.

Amen sister.

What a load of BS she is selling. If this woman gets elected I'll be trying to find ways to get out of this country.

Could it be that Tina Fey will be our salvation?

I hope all the people who have bashed Appalachians in general and West Virginians in particular as racists will note that this came from California. I hope you will apologize and admit that racism is everywhere.

I cannot imagine this would be acceptable in West Virginia. It would be considered, if nothing else, impolite.

I live in West Virginia. If there is ever a way to develop "clean coal", you can kiss the Appalachian Mountains goodbye. The most diverse eco-system in the world. Kiss it goodbye.

I've given several $25 dollar donations - probably between 200 and 300 dollars all together. Come and get me!!!

Oh man, this is brilliant! And it raises the question, why hasn't the so-called mainstream media covered this? This should be shown everywhere.

I'm afraid to get too excited about poll numbers. I thought Kerry was ahead too and look what happened. A McCain/Palin presidency would be too scary to contemplate, but it still could happen. Here in West Virginia in three counties now early voting Democrats are having their votes switched to Republican. And the Republican secretary of state says no big deal, just be careful when you vote. Are you kidding me? The Republicans are going to do everything possible to steal this election.

I'm still scared to death the Republicans are going to pull something out of their hat in terms of fraud, or that the polls are wrong etc.

Here's one small sign of hope. In my toss-up state (West Virginia, leaning slightly to McCain) my fundamentalist Christian Republican brother can't stand either McCain or Obama and also dislikes Palin for her lack of knowledge and (I suspect) because she is a woman. He is writing in Huckabee as are, he says, many of his friends. If this is true for many people, its as good as Nader in 2000. As long as people don't push the McCain button it helps Obama.

I'm scared to death too -- of idiots like these Palin supporters having another four years to run our country into a rathole, on top of the eight horrific years we just survived.

Let's face it, SNL is basically the best comedy Republicans can come up with. No wonder McCain and Palin were let on. As for sending up Olbermann, how about taking on a real target like Bill O''Reilly. But -- oh yeah!-- Stephen Colbert, a real master of satire, has that one covered.

Why so jittery? Because the last two were stolen and this one could very well be.

And Katie Couric

IQ anyone?

The freepers think Obama is planning a 250,000 person private army. Can you believe those idiots?

I don't believe this article doesn't mention mountaintop removal. What more wicked, incredibly stupid, appalling environmental sin could there be?

Can Palin improve in four years? As a college professor, I can tell you -- if she can't speak intelligently by now, she's never going to learn. Most of my students do far better.