This guy thinks that the most important lesson that boys aren't learning is that if they're not careful they might be falsely accused of date rape? Did I read that correctly? 'Cause I don't think that's the problem, certainly not the biggest problem. Let me put it this way, I know two women who have been victims of date rape. It's not something they talk about casually, only after being close friends for years would they bring it up. It took years and years and years for them to get over it. So I expect there are a lot more women I know who have been raped by men they thought they were safe with. I know exactly zero men who have been falsely accused of date rape, or any other kind of rape. I'm sure it happens, and I don't mean to belittle it, but in terms of numbers and total damage, I think there's much more at risk on the women's side.

I do think that teaching this in a co-ed setting is probably best. Teacher should stand up and say - "NO MEANS NO. Full stop." and make sure the boys understand and that the girls know that they have the power always to say, "No"

When you start a war that is in part based on a moral position, it becomes imperative to hold the moral high ground. The war in Iraq was started with sketchy evidence (let's not say "lies") that Saddam was in cahoots with a global terrorist organization and that he was close to being able to provide WMDs to use in the mid-east or even against the US.

When those stories proved to be unsupportable by facts (let's not say "lies") it became very important to be able to say that we had unseated a tyrant. Saddam was a monster. He tortured, he killed Iraqis, he destroyed civil rights. He broke his agreements with the UN.

If we lose the moral high ground, we cannot make those claims.

"America - not nearly as bad as Saddam!" just doesn't have that Henry V inspirational ring, does it? If you claim the right to invade based on a moral absolute, once you start grading on a sliding scale you might as well pack it in and go home. You'll probably lose the war, and you've already lost your honor.

Prosecute the bastards. Go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

We need an independent investigation commission for the US involvement in torture. They need full subpoena powers to pull in anyone from either side of the aisle. If anyone resists the subpoena they go to jail.

If they discover that Pelosi should have taken action to prevent the torture, then Pelosi should pay the price. If they discover that there was no torture, then Cheney et al should be exonerated.

If, as is more likely, they discover that Cheney (and to a lesser extent Bush) actively broke US laws and treaties while creating a bogus legal cover, and lied to the American people about it, they should pay the price.

Pelosi should be using this opportunity to call for an investigation, not just declaring her innocence. If she's afraid of an independent investigation, that's another matter. Obama certainly should be calling for an independent investigation.

Was that so hard?

This could be (one of the) epitaph(s) of the Bush administration, and if Palin stays in the spotlight it is something that will clearly dog her.

Her quitting makes questionable strategic sense for a 2012 run for her to quit the governors office. Nor does it seem likely that it's good for the state of Alaska for her to step down. She could bring national attention to Alaska's problems. She could be a very un-lame duck, with full ability to threaten, cajole, and wheel and deal. What's more, she wouldn't need to invest her time in campaigning. On the contrary, she's already been gallivanting around the world doing exactly what she claims a lazy leader would do. What's more, she's known in several instances to tell the convenient lie rather than adhere to the whole and nothing but.

Which all adds together to make the official story not very believable and leaves us asking, "What's the REAL reason she's quitting?" (Just like we're still asking, "What's the REAL reason Bush was so determined to invade Iraq?".) People are likely to come up with all sorts of stuff, some of it sensible, some of it ridiculous. As long as the alternatives aren't wildly less probable than the given reason they will be taken seriously, and even the wildly improbable ones may seem nearly reasonable.

In short, if you don't give people a credible reason for your actions they will make one up.