Anonymous said: we'll just be content to sell them [the ignorant South] Coca Cola. Well, Coke is from Atlanta, even though, like ignorance, it's ubiquitous nowadays.

I agree that a 50-state strategy is the way to go: there are too many good Democrats and yes, even liberals, here in the South to abandon to the whims of the rightists and fundies. Besides which, given the demographic trends that are expected to hold, the South will a) become home to a lot of Northerners and Midwesterners, many of whom just might be Democrats and more importantly b) because of the demographic changes, will gain more electoral votes with every census.

it seems that D'Souza is advocating, when he talks about Planned Parenthood giving birth control to Muslim women, the kind of multiculturalism that he and other conservatives made careers of criticizing. What happened to the idea that American, and Western, culture is superior to non-Western cultures, which used to be the bread and butter of the Right? Conservatives like D'Souza are amazingly adaptable when trying to make arguments to attack the left, but otherwise are unable to adapt to the world around them.

Sorry if I picked up a theme already mentioned.

The Reagan years were rife with limitations on the power of individuals and the states: raising of the drinking age and Ed Meese's war on pornography just to name a couple. One thing that Greenwald doesn't mention--though I think he would agree--is the amount of influence on domestic freedom-limiting the religious right has had. The fact that Reagan catered to that crowd enabled it to grow in power to the point that they are embedded in the power structure.

Perhaps, though it can't be proven and it sounds paranoid, the ultimate goal of the business/religious/moralistic "right" is to establish an economic and social system based on the China model, in which the economy is allowed to flourish while personal and intellectual freedoms are limited. The emphasis on economic development and the disciplines that support the so-called knowledge economy while simultaneously undermining rational thought, criticism of the government, and personal freedoms exemplifies this.

I lived in Michigan for six years while going to grad school at Michigan State. I was right there in Lansing when GM announced the eventual demise of the Olds brand, and drove by R.E. Olds' crypt every day on my way to campus. Several early writers have mentioned tourism and luring other businesses to the state, and I agree to a point.

I now live in South Carolina, which thrives on tourism and the luring of new business. This state, too, went through a similar contraction (still ongoing, unbelievably) when the textile industry moved offshore, but smart leaders actively wooed foreign companies (BMW and before them, Michelin) as well as domestic manufacturers to boost the economy. Tourism, of course, has been a major source of funds since, well, I don't know how long. (That said, it's amazing how many Michiganders I met who vacationed in South Carolina's Myrtle Beach.)

A word of caution, though: if you look at SC, the major industries in the Upstate, as well as major research initiatives from Clemson University, are related to the automotive industry. There are some high-tech firms in the state, and innovation in nanotech and biotech, but the auto industry still rules. My word of caution is to really think beyond the next 20 or even 50 years when you try to develop new industries, because they won't be new for long.

I remember a press conference Knight held following one of his tirades in which he "apologized" by saying, "I'm sorry if anyone took it the wrong way," which of course means "I'm not sorry I offended anyone, it's just that your taking offense represents a failure on your part." This is typical of people who refuse to take responsibility for their own actions and instead blame others when confronted with their own lack of character.

A hearty "Well said" to King Kaufman. Amen, brother.

On another Knight matter: which network is going to be first to get him on their studio team or as a color man?

If he's on CBS during the tournament, I may have to watch figure skating. Ugh.

namely, a supporter of Obama who is threatening to take his ball and go home. I'm this way because, up until last weekend, I would have gladly voted for Clinton if she were the nominee. But her attacks against Obama have moved from his record (which is fair game) to his character (which isn't, unless he gets caught with a dead girl or a live boy, as the saying goes). Witness her "as far as I know" comment re: Obama's alleged Muslim-ness or her ranking Obama third behind herself and McCain in the supposedly crucial experience category.

That said, I agree somewhat with the comment by jbklyn saying that Clinton is stronger in the traditional blue states, even though I think those states would be likely to go for Obama anyway and that he could bring more purple states to the Democratic side. But then you have comments like those of The Notorious, threatening to hit Obama with a baseball bat. Lovely.

I'm all for a cooling off period. In fact, I think both candidates should meet, with no aides or advisors, and with only a mediator like Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd, or Howard Dean and hash out a way to save the party, because you can't save the country if you can't united the party.

the nowhere else to go comments were asinine, and insensitive, but MSNBC is not the most biased network by far, and as far as I know, Matthews/Olbermann/Abrams aren't news programs. They're opinion/punditry, and there hasn't been anything I've seen in which they claim otherwise.