Juan Cole draws a distinction between anti-Zionist and anti-Semite. Well, Mr. Cole, I can tell you that Hitler didn't distinguish between the two. A Jew was a Jew was a Jew…

As the daughter of Holocaust survivors, and someone who lost her grandparents to the murdering SS, I find your oh-so-objective, intellectual, and naive portrait of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad upsetting and insulting.

Neville Chamberlain chose not to believe Hitler's plan for world domination. And guess what? The Third Reich gobbled up most of Europe. It must have been the fault of the translators. They were deliberately wrecking Hitler. All he wanted was peace and prosperity for all.

Forgive the sarcasm, but you strike me as very quick to dismiss the verbal and written threats of the Iranian president, and the fact that his country circulates the Protocols of Elder as truth and the Holocaust as false.

The Jews established the State of Israel in 1948 with the hope of unifying and becoming a democratic force in the Middle East. The state had many visions and goals. One was to never be destroyed again. Never again, Mr. Cole.

Kudos to you, Stephanie Zacharek. I absolutely loved your story on Paul Newman. It was beautifully written and the perfect paen to a great actor and humanist. The line above: Gorgeous, sure, but it was Paul Newman's sly spark that made us love him——captures the essence of Newman. That he was married to Joanne Woodward for so long and conducted himself with such grace and goodness, elevates him to celestial status. Can't say the same for some of today's bad boy actors who need to check into clinics for sexual abuse. There are so many great Newman movies: Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, Hud, but Exodus is probably my favorite. Maybe because the story is near and dear my heart. In any case, there is a wonderful moment (among many) between Ari Ben Canaan (played by Newman) and an arrogant British major (played by Peter Lawford), when the major says something like: I can always spot a Jew from miles away. Ari, who is masquerading as an English soldier, pretends to have something in his eye and starts rubbing it. The major is looking right at him and misses the truth. The twinkle in those mocking baby blues tell all. Newman will be missed.

Right on, Joan! McCain is losing it. Shall I count the ways? When he repeats "my friends" over and over. When he refers to Obama as "that one." When he condescendingly assumes that a young African-American questioner doesn't know what Freddie Mac or Fanny Mae is. When he can't look Obama in the eye or shake his hand. When he and his running mate Ms. Joe Six-Pack rile up the crowd with false accusations of terrorism and incite bigots to scream, "kill him." I have to agree with Maureen Dowd. The scenario of McCain choking on a pretzel looks more and more likely.

Why do so many journalists feel compelled to defend Palin, encouraging her to get tutored the next four to eight years so she can make a comeback? I agree with those who say she should have been more knowledgeable from the start. Sarah Palin's college degree in communications is from the University of Idaho. Does the mention of Idaho, home to right-wing nuts, raise a red flag for anyone else? Here is a woman who uses God to blind people to her political goals. When I look into Palin's eyes, I see shrewdness, charm and ambition. She is a modern-day devil. Drill baby drill yourself a hole and never return!

I think the TV journalists have bent over backwards to be objective. Encouraging Palin to study government and world history/geography for the next four to eight years is excellent advice. She is playing on public pity that she was mishandled by the RNC and the press. Who asked her to accept the vice presidential bid when she was so grossly under-qualified. Go Katie! Keep hanging tough. Palin's interviews, speeches and debate reveal an ignorant, manipulative, provincial, ambitious, charming and hollow individual. She uses God's name in vain. She is the devil in disguise.

From the moment I saw the trailer and heard Cruise's Von Stauffenberg speaking without a German accent, I groaned. There went the authenticity for me. This is the kind of powerful WWII movie that could have been great. I know European actors like Tom Wilkinson, Kenneth Branagh and Carice Van Houten could have played their parts with pitch-perfect German accents. But not Cruise. He lacks the depth and finesse. Sure he has talent. But he should stay with Americana. He's out of his league here.

You're right! To do this movie justice, it should have been done in German with English subtitles like The Longest Day, a film about D-Day, which used all German actors speaking in their native tongues. That would have shut Mr. Cruise out. A German accent could have possibly helped his credibility in this serious role which was a reach. But then I remember Billy Crudup's faltering French accent in Charlotte Gray, which he seemed to lose halfway through movie, and that just might be worse than no accent at all.

And I agree Cruise has limited emotional range and lacks subtlety. I saw Magnolia. But I liked him in Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire, so as I said previously, he needs to stick with Americana and play to his strength.

As to the lady who accuses many of us of pontificating. Hell yes. We are. But isn't what blogging is all about? I don't think you have to see the movie to have an opinion of Tom Cruise. I'll wait until it's on DVD at the library and rent it for $1.00.