is more of a Democrat than Chris Matthews.

1. Charles Graner deserves to be in prison, in some fashion.

2. Those in the administration, from Bush through Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Yoo, all of them right from the inception of the torture-is-acceptable policies need to be held accountable.

3. Charle's Graner's mode of incarceration seems to have elements of overkill that do resemble the more benign end of the system exercised on prisoners at Abu Ghraib. It is excessive and unnecessary.

4. He is unequivocally a scapegoat, even though a guilty one.

Making prison life easier or non-existent for Graner is not the issue. Punishing those who were truly responsible for this deplorable stain on our nation's integrity and honor should be an issue. And while we can't afford a full-out assault on these people given other priorities, they should not be allowed to skip scott-free into their big book deals and reconstructed memoirs.

Here and particularly around the globe, he is wildly popular and respected (Monica not withstanding).

Hillary will serve us well, for all the obvious reasons. Having Bill along will be a two-fer for which we should be thankful.

Publicly saying he is proud is reasonable and appropriate and cynics should apply themselves to much more deserving targets. Saxby Chambliss?

Not every solicitation you receive says "give money". Even though the intended result is exactly that. No rampant program added the donate button. It was the sole purpose of the e-mail. And you know those informational e-mails you get from charities and other organizations? They are priming the pump. Three "cultivation e-mails", then the solicitation...it's e-fundraising best practice.

Alex...I got the same e-mail and regular Hillary solicitations and messages, and I did not sign up to support her campaign. You didn't really need to explain. But I can imagine why you did. People looking for signs that aren't there.

There was nothing in Biden's speech, or the fact that he deviated from the typescript, that was newsworthy or worthy of cheesy sniping.

Biden is intelligent, capable, experienced and a strong presence. Hillary's nomination doesn't supplant him, or cow him in the slightest. And to imply that you have the amazing ability to read his thoughts is just, well, amazing. And idiotic.

And the idea that we can't have both these talented people in the Obama administration without someone being diminished is pathetic.

Slow news day? Curdle your tomato soup?

Our Congress has become our own House of Lords. Those who don't claim hereditary rights ease into the mode of elitist benefaction just the same. Hence the Cunninghams, Stevens and others who view their position as a plum spot for exploitation and personal gain.(compare second son, Church of England, 19th Century)

Then there are the Larry Craig's waving their Senatorial business cards at arresting officers.

Hello. We're back in England, just after the Revolution. Who needs the history of the Churchills, or the Barchester Chronicles. All the same stories unfold daily on Capitol Hill. I just wish the costuming was authentic.

Nice report. Really.

Nice post. Well said.

2002: Beginning in 1992, a series of tax laws combine to create large tax credits for certain Hummer buyers. By 2002, the New York Times reports that, thanks to changes in the tax code during the Bush administration, an eligible buyer can deduct $34,912 of the $48,800 base price of the Hummer

Add to that abomination, the lack of incentive for efficient cars, or alternative fuel, and the insistence on holding back controls on emissions and....I think we have a winner.

The GOP has positioned irresponsibility and greed as the preferable choice over 'tree hugging" environmentally concerned Americans. They should all have to reach into their own pockets to bail out Detroit.

Irresponsible enablers. Joyfully engaged in it for years, but never more so than during the Bush administration.

will start raising hell about this. "He bought the election", etc. Unfortunately it takes money to fight the kind of negative advertising done by the right. And it needs to be pointed out that Obama's fundraising success was chiefly the result of all us "other" folks getting fighting mad and ante-ing up some donations, in cash and kind, knocking on doors and getting people fired up and turned out.

Here's a word they don't understand: grassroots.

We are actually being substantially overrun by lunatics. And the idea that they will launch a concerted effort to waste time and taxpayer money at a juncture when we need to move in positive directions is just downright nauseating.

The nut who was denied a Michigan law license because he was paranoid and delusional... well that should be enough to keep him out of the legal system and out of the media. It's the dark side of democracy.

The most salient point is that celebrities get confidentiality agreements from people who are intimately admitted into their PRIVATE lives. They are trying to avoid exposure of PRIVATE acts. Applying that same standard to pull the curtain on the business end of the presidency doesn't just promote secrecy, it keeps the president from being seen in the act of doing his job, by the very people to whom he is constitutionally accountable. At least last I looked.

As long as the accounts are true...and there are journalistic and legal measures in place to assure that, why would anyone need a pre-nup? There are already measures in place to keep memoirs and other books from exposing anything close to national secrets. Security is covered.

If it's something your staff could rat you out about....maybe you should consider some alternatives.

is what Wright wrote to Obama after the election, as reported on the video.

Who exactly does this jerk think he is? Honestly. The media needs to refuse to give Wright his self-assigned spot in the news as the champion of whatever the hell he thinks he is the champion of. Now that the election is over, so is his role of spoiler. He is a backbiting opportunist. Nothing more.