Ah, teresa, I'm sorry to hear that, but I've read your letters and I know you did not let him get to you: Congratulations! And thanks for writing.

I dreamed about my own father last night, who died 22 years ago...my earliest memories are talking to him in the morning before he went to work, and I do believe his careful attention is why men like Dick Armey don't fluster me at all. I've always been listened to, and misogynists like Armey seem like the weirdos to me, not the norm. And I'm glad my daughter has a father like that as well.

Lots of women don't, but they figure out how to stand up for themselves nonetheless, like you did. Thanks for what you do.

Good point, auntie cairo. I also liked that he said this, to Brian Williams, who was trying to argue the Daschle situation meant "Washington won."

Obama: "No, the fact of the matter is, Tom Daschle pulled out today, and I'm here on television saying, 'I screwed up.'"

Silenced, that's very good.

E.A. Dawsoni, I think that's part of what happened to me on Sunday. I'm sitting there getting ready to do my taxes, just like all the little people, and I'm listening to people defend Daschle and Geithner and thinking, This is a new Democratic regime? I think a lot of us are sitting at our kitchen tables finding these debates about fairness are very personal these days.

Anonymust, I thought the same thing. For sure the NYT folks read Glenn...imho.

fishfry, is it catty because I'm a woman? I was harder on Brooks, btw. Please.

bernbart, we've been agreeing lately, but today, frankly, you've reverted to your 2008 role as an "Anything, Obama!" apologist.

Daschle doesn't need you, Obama does. This was a bad choice on Obama's part, and if I didn't say it clearly enough: It ain't about the limousine, although that looked like hell. It's about the whole revolving door, and about the fact that there was almost zero reason Daschle would deliver the kind of reform we need.

I could be wrong about that, I admit it, but the corporate/government revolving door, among Democrats and Republicans, seems like the biggest obstacle to genuinely populist reform of anything. If people think Daschle is the best Obama can do, well, I disagree. That's not what Obama promised. That's not why he got elected.

I do recognize that some people here were always simply Obama promoters, regardless of what he did. But not most.

And anyone who's doing their own taxes and nonetheless siding with Daschle, well, I hate to sound Marxist but that's a kind of false consciousness. If you've got a daily limo, provided by an employer/client, and you're self-employed (a lot of Daschle defenders have jobs and are pleading ignorance about what benefits might be taxable), and you claim you don't know your limo is taxable (oh, and, you were partly responsible for writing the tax code)...oh man, we have such lovely compassionate people on Salon. God bless you, really.

Puh-lease.

Calif Mike, did you miss my cover story yesterday about the economy? Please. I honestly don't envy Kristol's ability to be wrong about everything and still find MSM employment. Can you imagine that?

Happy birthday, gehgoeson!

Readerreader, thanks for hanging around, but really, why didn't George W. Bush raise taxes to pay for his wars and things? Please. Such double standards.

zoltan newberry, I can't sincerely say thanks for hanging around, and I always try to be sincere here. But thanks for not, like, I guess, hurting anyone with your ideas. Really! The things you say about me don't matter. But you probably should get some help.

gehgoeson...I always enjoy a birthday week or so, and I hope you do too.

artieshawjr, that's true: I never was and never will be a mindless Obama supporter. When he does well, I praise lavishly. But he was late out of the gate selling this one. If you're looking for someone who checks her judgment in the cloakroom with her Shepard Fairey sweatshirt and "Yes We Can" unbrella -- look elsewhere!

Absolutely, gehgoeson. You can also be an Obama supporter and still critique, even oppose, certain Obama decisions. There's been a demand for slavish and in my opinion mindless devotion, though, from too many bullies, going back more than a year. I just have low tolerance for that.

BruceRogers, I just deleted two of your posts. You can make those points and link to your blog for the names, you can count the number of economists and tell us how many there are, but you can't dominate the letters thread with a list like that. Not twice.

Bruce, don't be so silly. Make your points, don't mark my comment thread with hundreds of names. It's not censorship. Argue, don't browbeat us with names.

Calif Mike, thanks for the sexist commentary, comparing me to a schoolgirl. As many people on this thread can tell you, I've never been an Obama cheerleader. I've come to respect him; I'm also worried that he was late selling his plan. In another thread a reader accuses me of insufficient boosterism. I say what I see, I always have. Santos L. Helper will tell you that....

Thanks, artemis. Did you see what I said on Hardball? Come back and talk to me when you do.

Wow, assezmalicieuse, it's shocking how even progressive people like to point fingers and take a bootstrap approach to public problems.

Yes, we had a very, very active PTA and teachers' union, we vote for school bonds almost every year it seems, and our kids are no dirtier than other kids (!) and yes, we still had mice. I almost always agree with you, but this letter blew my mind.