It has been established--and corrected by the NY Post--that Michelle Obama was not even staying at the hotel in question, therefore did not order lobster, caviar, or champagne. Get your facts straight and quit spreading false rumors.

A donation to Tinklenberg.

...that Barack is going to see his grandmother this weekend?

For many reasons, personal and political, I was moved to tears and reflection by this article/interview. I have an older brother I admire and love, whom I would speak of much the same way as Maya does toward Barack, and yet we've had to declare a moratorium on "political talk" between us because we're not thinking the same way. My husband has an older sister who would speak of him much the same way, yet without the political dissension. I love our country and fear for our country, and each day I reach for sustenance and hope amidst the atrocities of this "campaign." I worry about my level of anger toward the atrocity-mongers, and the level of anger simmering and seething around us. I have to keep the faith, I says to myself.

Thank you, Maya.

I'm going to try reading myself into a book into sleep now. I don't want to be here if trolls/dissenters descend. Not tonight.

I just sent it to my niece (35-year-old recently divorced struggling working mom with deadbeat ex) who never bothers with the "process" of voting. Shame on her! (I love her dearly, but shame on her!) So, she'll get my loving guilt trip with this ;) Also sent it to a good friend who is genuinely undecided. (Ahem. An unimaginable state for me.) She votes, but today was engaging with me on which way she should go. She knows my opinions. She's a smart, accomplished 50-year-old woman and asked smart questions. I figured this email promo would be an extra nudge toward the light...plus, given her professional background in major advertising agencies, she'll get the humor.

I wasn't bugged by the auto-replay--as someone else noted, I just hit "mute volume."

Leave MoveOn.org? Watch their talking-moose ad before you give up on them. May be time for a strategic revamp or whatnot, I haven't felt as much of their impact this election cycle (perhaps because Obama was SO well organized with his campaign's grassroots efforts) but this is creative thinking. And very funny.

Yes, I mostly know people who will vote and aren't undecided. But then I thought...how funny to send this to those I know are voting, and for whom they're voting, because they'd laugh and then maybe reach this out to others they know who may not be thinking about voting or are not "decided" yet...

This posting will probably never be read, at this point in the thread. Just sayin'.

off the home page now???????

I hope you continue to visit and *contribute* to Salon.

I like hearing your take

on those who throw steak

not.

....We doctors know

a hopeless case if--listen: there's a hell

of a good universe next door; let's go

[Excerpt from e.e. cummings, #73 in his "100 Selected Poems"]

Now moving to check best-bets-internet for alternate universe relocation should Mac&Pleez prevail.

I'm not in the business of defending Dr. Rhymes nor his posts, but as I understood what he wrote, especially the story about labor pains vs. stubbed toe, he followed with explaining that his classroom got a bit of a wake-up call, but he was not trying to minimize anyone's pain of any kind. It seemed to me, in fact, to be precisely a story about learning, gaining another perspective, appreciating different world views. But, that's just how I read it.

You wrote: "There are those who have not lived your experience, but want to understand....so they read, they learn, share their stories and LISTEN."

You just described me (well, at least a big part of me, and certainly that on these threads). I thought Dr. Rhymes added to the smart discourse here today: made you/us think? react? but in a forward direction?

Anyway, I'd like us all to keep exchanging and learning. And you "advanced me" with that today, too. Thank you.

I'm worried neither by bears nor Obama's "coloration" [your term]. I have a true affection (no scientific explanation) for polar bears, but apparently Gov. Palin doesn't. Damn. I soooo wanted to vote for her; she is, after all, a woman, and, by your creds, not related to any of that "bad" Kennedy clan. Anyway, now, please inform us more about how and why T.S. Eliot, my second favorite poet, came to be treasonous to his country of birth. I'm sure you have all the gritty details. I know quite a few points myself, but surely you are more into the mire. Waiting on pins & needles across The Pond!

"In the room the women come and go

Talking of Michelangelo..."

It's like having speed-dial set to "Dial a Diatribe"--with free bonus insults!

didn't he say

he was going away?

Amen.

Thanks. Great post, great points. And I'm with you entirely on wishing someone, anyone, would ask Palin to define "socialism."

[Breaking News: The latest addition to Palin's stumps is "Tito the Builder."]

the Energizer Bunny.

hate blows a bubble of despair into

hugeness world system universe and bang

--fear buries a tomorrow under woe

and up comes yesterday most green and young

(not my words, but my sentiments)