Back from the Online News Association, where I was on a panel about "social media," getting your content going viral, etc., and I talked about how important our letters are in building engagement from readers and relationships -- between writers and readers, editors and readers and especially readers and readers. It was fun. Thought of all of you, especially virt!

Took that test, can someone explain my results to me?

Economic Left/Right: -7.75

Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.36

Am I closer to a Social than an Economic authoritarian? I think it was one honest answer that did me in: Something about accepting the norms of the establishment being a sign of maturity. Sigh. You accept them -- and then you work against them your whole life! They didn't have that question!

Oh well, only TV I'm watching is Mad Men, I'm still enjoying it, surreal as it is.

Hope you're all well, Diable4 so sorry about your partner, it was a HOT day, too. I am just across Market in the upper Castro, we will have to meet one of these days!

Just looked at others' test scores, wow, we're scarily close...but not surprising. It was a fun test, a real assortment of issues placed together in surprising ways (as in, you had to think).

Thanks, Uncle Fester, I am reassured about my basic nature!

Diable4, I'm just off Market, a few blocks beyond Castro. We would each walk down from our respective hillsides to meet in the middle. Have you gone to the Castro Farmer's Market yet? I think it's on Wednesdays?

Stay classy, farragut. I've never been to the Oval Office. Keep your sexist idiocy out of my comments, please.

Wow, I'm enjoying the understanding, at least about TV and movies, some of us have reached here on this thread. We might accomplish something here.

To somebody way up thread: I am plowing through at least partly to see what Branch can say about repealing Glass Steagall and the other moves that empowered craven speculation etc. I am just at the point where Clinton appoints Robert Rubin to Treasury...portentous.

Also at the point where Clinton is wondering if he should have pushed health care so soon -- maybe he should have educated folks about his balanced budget work so they understood what he accomplished. Instead, he got rapped for two "big government" efforts, when in fact, the balanced budget was supported by business, even if health care reform wasn't. Really reminds me of Obama's semi-successful stimlulus plan -- which should have been larger! -- but which is being conflated with TARP on the one side, and HCR on the other, and all of it's being wrapped up by those who know better (along with some low-information voters) as socialism.

I still think Obama was right to try it this year, since next year they will all be cowards in the election cycle, but...so interesting to watch Clinton regret it in his first term. I really hope they talk to one another regularly, even if Obama rejects Clinton's learning as representing the politics/stalemate of 15 years ago, which may be possible. It is frickin' chilling for me to read, however.

I tried to say it wasn't too late to go OT, since it's Friday, but my browser crashed, so maybe I was wrong! I'm sick so I won't be up with you very long, but I'm glad I was able to pull this together! At any rate, it's nice to see you all here, whatever you talk about. I'll be around a little while, then in the morning. And someday Diable and I will meet at the Squat and Gobble, Home or Thai House, with our laptops to include the rest of you.

We do this over on Open Salon somewhat regularly, though I am not trying to get you to leave here. A lot of my favorite LWs did go to Open, and I have to say, I still miss them...

Thanks to those who pointed out Robo-Joan posted the same letter FOUR times in this thread, including this a.m. Will take it up with our tech folks, that was weird. And likewise, I know he WON the prize; will fix nominated.

Thanks to those who hung out last night, and Old Joe, I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. Glad we can be here for you.

I just deleted a lot of filth on both sides. Some of you seem to have neither parents nor children, nothing to make you aspire to anything higher, your ambition in life is to clobber your opponent in the most foul way possible. I'd feel bad for myself if I were some of you.

Um, Nathan Coker, if you click through to the Media Matters story, every SINGLE quote has a citation, most of them mainstream media outlets and many recordings of his OWN show. But you're too busy arguing that Jesse Jackson's a racist to let the facts get in your way.

Lots of smart letter writers in here, including some conservatives, thanks. There are plenty of conservative NFL owners, but Rush isn't a conservative, he's a provocateur, and he'd be bad news for a league with a sizeable black star base and fan base. Because he IS a racist, no matter what he says.

Remember, I'm the Magic Honkey, and I know about these things.

Hey, it's a busy night, but Mr. Bilek, again, there should be some basic bar for writing a letter. Did Bill Clinton start on the Middle East belatedly? Is that why Arafat and Rabin won a Nobel Peace Prize for their very serious, slightly surreal now, accords that CLINTON BROKERED in 1993? Fella, please.

You can ding Clinton for many things, including/especially welfare reform that didn't come along with major expansions of the basic social contract, but inactivity on the Middle East isn't one of them.

Sometimes it hurts to read these letters. Not the insults, just the ignorance.