...but here's another point to add to the mix. As a nation, we simply have no idea what we ought to do instead. There's no effective left wing ideology to counter the prevailing ideology of right wing belligerency and bluster.

The American left has put all its marbles in the idea that corporations run everything, hence we will only get out of Iraq when our corporate masters decide to give up. Hence it also follows that there's nothing anyone can do but wait for our corporate masters to make their decisions. This is a doctrine of futility and passivity which ends up conceding power in America to those would who take it, which in this country is the right wing.

All those demonstrations START with the idea that nothing will be accomplished by the demonstration. So the demonstrations just turn into venting exercises and opportunities for street theater and clowning around. No one behaves seriously in the demonstrations because no one believes that the demonstrations will be taken seriously. As a result, the country sees the demonstrators as having nothing to say to them--and the country is right. The left wing doesn't believe the public has a say in our government. The left wing believes that American democracy is a joke.

We need a new left in this country, one that doesn't treat American democracy as a joke, but as a reality and as an opportunity. If American democracy is not a joke, we can then begin to take charge of our own lives and assume responsibility for what our government does. We can start thinking in a realistic way about what kind of country we want to be and how we want to behave in the world. With a clear vision, we could speak effectively to the public and present a real alternative to right wing ideology. As it stands now, there is no serious alternative to the right wing, and so the right wingers keep winning half or more of the elections.

I really believe that if we really had an effective American left, then we would never have invaded Iraq in the first place. There would have been a clear alternative to the invasion, if the invasion had even been thought of at all. In fact, I doubt Bush would even have been president. The right wing in this country is only strong because the left wing is weak.

They took a pretty lady as she is and turned her into an impossible beauty object. Yes, they started her without makeup, but you know, that's how women come.

Now, 'impossible beauty object' is not a loosely used term here. If you actually saw a women walking down the street looking like the final product, then you'd run away in fear, because she would be so obviously freaky and inhuman looking. Because of the context, however, and because we're so used to seeing pictures like this, we normally don't see anything odd about it. But in fact it is extremely out of the normal and it does present a false vision of beauty that no real women can possibly live up to.

If you don't believe me, think about what would happen if every women in America tomorrow decided not to wear her makeup. You'd be stunned at the sight and we would all be. We expect the makeup and we don't even think about it.

Conversely, what if you lived in a world where women didn't wear makeup and were transported to this one? You'd be stunned as well and you'd probably think every women you saw was a clown. What you expect to see has a way of hiding what is really out there. And this video is good because it reveals exactly how unreal glamor photos really are.

How would this war have played out if progressives had actually "supported the troops?" (meaning, supported the war).

Longer, joe. But not better.

...only he called him Floyd R. Turbo.

...the hard part will be getting the ear right.

...is shaping up to be a tough and competitive race. There are going to be a LOT of candidates and all of the candidates are going to be facing some very tough questions after the disaster of the Bush presidency.

For someone like Obama, with relatively little experience, this is going to be a sink or swim moment. And I have to admire him for just jumping right in. He seems to be fearless and that's a good attribute right now.

...and I don't see what the complaining is about.

The thing about Captain Ahab is that we're all stuck on the boat. There's no way to get off the ship in the middle of the ocean. We might get rid of the captain, but that's a highly unusual circumstance, fraught with danger. We might just all end up being hung on the yardarms for mutiny.

Is Captain Ahab nuts? Yes, but that's no assurance that the next captain won't be just as nuts or even worse.

Captain Ahab wasn't unusual for his time and Bush isn't unusual for ours. Bush was the consensus choice of the American/Washington/media establishment and even today much of the establishment is utterly blind to his faults and failures. He's still the nice son of George & Babs to many a Washington pundit and poohbah, just like Captain Ahab probably struck your typical Nantucket ship financer as exactly the right sort of person to run a whaling ship. Bush, like Captain Ahab, is not exceptional. He's probably just typical. And that's the really sad thing.

...to what you will.

Bush is at 30 percent and sinking. Democrats have just taken back the Congress. Bush has all but admited the war in Iraq is a lost cause--which he will still pursue regardless. Which means that even Bush is starting to get the idea that he's not doing so hot.

Is this a personal insult to you? In a way, yes, since I've just pointed out that you're 100 percent wrong.