It's the 89th minute of a thrilling 2x2 deadlock between Turkey and the Czech Republic. Nihat Kahveci eludes a defender, and takes an exquisite shot that flies over Czech 'keeper Petr Cech...and crashes into the wall on the line that marks the boundary between goal and not goal. Which is it? The referee can't tell. He decides it isn't a goal. The Turkish manager charges out of his dugout and kicks turf on the referee. The call is discussed well after the tournament is over. So the powers that be decide they are going to end this malarkey once and for all. Instant Replay! they say.

Fortunately for all of us (and especially for Turkey) Kahveci's beautiful shot hit the underside of a physical crossbar, entered the goal and hit a physical net, making it instantly obvious to one and all (and the referees) that he had scored.

The solution to MLBs problem is simple: if a home run is when a ball leaves the park between the foul lines, then make it leave the park between the foul lines. No more painted lines on a wall. What a concept.

(Sorry about trashing MLB. Since as a soccer fan I have to endure jibes about players playing possum, I thought I'd throw in my $0.02.)

Calling this a "compromise" is a gross abuse of the English language that should itself be severely punished.

Ever since I sat in my sister-in-law's living room watching the 2000 Florida recount unfold (all the while enduring the shouts of their idiot Bush supporting (now ex) son-in-law--"they're trying to steal the election!"), I thought I'd seen it all. But no. Surely I didn't hear people openly advocating the use of torture... Surely they won't attack a defenseless country... Surely they won't detain a US citizen indefinitely with no charge on US soil no less... Surely they can't be so brazen as to set up a conveyor belt from the treasury to the pockets of the war profiteers who pal around with those who run this government... Whoa! Did they just do away whith Habeas Corpus? The list goes on and on and on, sinking us to new depths on an almost daily basis.

Is this the death knell of our Democracy? Tell me why not? Tell me how we can survive these "representatives" doing whatever they damn please in secret, in contravention to the wishes of their constituents and all sound principles of Freedom and Democracy? If what they are doing is so right and honorable, why not do it out in the open? And this is the "opposition" party! Giving this War Criminal president (according to Gen. Taguba) every little thing his heart desires instead of the impeachment he so richly deserves. And then insulting us by calling it a "compromise."

Compromise my ass. It is our freedom democracy that has been compromised.

When the Government tells you to do something, I think you all recognize, uh, that that is something that you need to do.

I too heard this, while driving my car. Almost ran off the road. Man, are we retro or what? Sig Heil!

BTW, I was quite dissatisfied with the NPR story. Standard he-said-she-said, without much explanation of the issues. At least they quoted an ACLU spokesperson.

That Fiore cartoon would have been perfect if Mark had changed Knuckles last line from "Oh, well, we'll always have rendition" to "Oh, well, we'll always have the Democrats."

"Give me liberty or give me death!"

--Patrick Henry

"... and secure the Blessings of Liberty"

--preamble of the United States Constitution

"Live Free or Die"

--New Hampshire state motto

"O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"

--lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner, by Francis Scott Key

Our ancestors wanted Liberty, and they put it ahead of their own security, for they took the most extraordinary steps of all to obtain it: they undertook an insurrection. What is less secure than that, when you don't even know where your neighbor stands, or whether he or she is an informant?

It is time to grow a spine and stand for our principles. It is time to stop being swayed by fear-mongering fools, and time to stop tolerating those who are. Before we hand over our rights to our government for the illusion of "security" we should consider that history has shown us again and again that it is our own governments that we should most fear, not any shadowy bogeymen. Shame on all Republicans for exploiting in the most unpricipled manner those who are afraid of their own shadow. And shame on the Democrats and on Obama for craving power so much that they are afraid of standing up for our principles before our citizens and electorate.

Tell me, how are we "on the left" supposed to support Ron Paul in the Republican primary process?

I for one wished him well, but here in WV I wouldn't have had a chance to vote for him unless I changed my registration to Republican, something I couldn't do even if I held my nose.