that could make all the rest of the media culpable for virtually ignoring the very real damning information, or amazing lack of service records refuting charges that Bush got preferential treatment and then evaded his obligation?

Journalism enjoys (or at least used to) a special place in our legal system because of its unique vantage point and focused dissemination of information.

As long as our government undermines and manipulates the advantages and obligations of a "free press" and lets Rupert Murdoch's and corporate cartels have near-complete control of the media....this is what we will get. Selective and propagandized accounts that allow a miscreant like Bush to be elected, and then re-elected even after the facts are known. And to virtually destroy this country in the process.

Good for Dan Rather. Although it is too little, too late...one can always fall back on "better late than never." If he couldn't help prevent the carnage, at least he may be able to peel off the flight suit and expose the grotesque hypocrisy and deceit of the man wearing it.

to convey the mindset behind the actions and words of this incompetent and egomaniacal blight on mankind. The real "axis of evil" is lodged somewhere inside Bush's thick skull.

By also casting himself as the "step-and-fetch-it" of the conservative right and George Bush, Thomas has lost any chance at credibility in his reflective role as the recipient of soul-searing racisim.

He doesn't believe in affirmative action because he relishes his "up-by-my-own-bootstraps" persona. Giving other minorities opportunities (to go to college, or escape lethal injection) would diminish his own rarified position, in the distorted world of his inflated and decayed ego.

I don't think Clarence Thomas is a sleazy, lying, incompetent black man. I think he is a sleazy, lying, incompetent man. One who did all that Anita Hill claimed, and more. The other revelations of his work performance were appalling.

If anything, the disturbing notion that criticism of a black man is simply racism, and the overly sensitized racial tone applied to virtually everything, is the sole reason Clarence Thomas survived confirmation hearings which would have torpedoed a white candidate. It would appear, that after all that came out in the hearings, Clarence Thomas is the ultimate recipient of the affirmative action he so loathes. And, as he ruled, he is, unfortunately, a testament to his own claim that affirmative action doesn't work, because those who enjoy its benefits fail to perform.

It's sad that he is devoting his time, like George Bush, to reconstructing his own history and trying to create an immortality wholly without merit or fact, rather than actually doing something of value for mankind.

to show up her book signings and ask real questions in front of the media. And wear stop the war tee-shirts.

Or do you need to sign a loyalty oath to get into a Borders when there is a Bush hyping her book?

"not to mention you just earned yourself a spot on an FBI watch list"....

if I'm not already there, I would be extremely shocked and disappointed.

When it comes to every domestic issue, from health care to education to social security, the conservative position is based on not "giving" the middle class anything at the expense of others. (never mind about the tax benefits for the wealthy and corporate welfare)

"Middle class" workers are increasingly now without employee benefits such medical insurance and retirement. At least partly because it is the position of conservatives that it is not the employers obligation to provide them, either.

Bush has frequently alluded to the fact that people with higher incomes might have children covered by SCHIP if we enact the increased coverage. He has likewise claimed that it is the responsibility of parents to pay for college without low cost loans and grants, and that social security is meant only as a meager supplement to a self-funded retirement plan.

Someone should sit this clueless product of wealth and privilege down at the kitchen table of an average "middle class" family on bill-paying day and teach him some math.

All this money that he thinks they can spend on $150,000 college educations, and minimally comfortable retirement isn't there. And health care? Could someone please show him what the average family would pay if a) their employer doesn't provide it and b) they can get it independently.

Better yet, tie him into a chair and make him watch "Sicko", and keep him there until Michael Moore does the same job on education and retirement reality.

They don't mind the rape of the environment, the lack of healthcare for our children, the guns on our streets, the assault on a women's personal choice, the Jesus-ification of our government, the carnage in Iraq, and the list goes on and on.

But on one issue and the inherent rights they demand in that quarter...well...they really get their briefs in a bunch.

It's completely astounding to me that people who so vociferously demand that everyone do the "right thing" by them, would be so indifferent to doing the "right thing" in virtually every other way.

And beyond that...how can they identify with a party that hates them and all they represent?

They really have fortitude when it comes to hanging onto their paychecks in the face of incompetence, scandal, and infamy.

If we could just bottle that up, perhaps we could eliminate unemployment in my lifetime.

It's what Republicans use to obscure the hypocritical corners they paint themselves into.

Welcome to the PeeWee Herman Playhouse franchise for fat, angry, blithering rightwing dolts.

There are so many lies and obfuscations involved in any 10 second Rush clip that it's just pointless to even try to refute him. He makes my teeth hurt.