I guess you are "former" yella dog Dem because you have turned blue from holding your breath. Be sure to stamp your feet, too, to get the full effect

Say, for the sake of argument, that oil dips to $80 post-Labor Day. Then what will happen? My guess is we ditch the bikes, abandon the train and start the party all over again.

And woe to any candidates who tell us we should really maybe impose a tax that keeps the price high, motivating lasting change. Said candidate is outta here.

"just one more hit!" says America....

You can almost see the smoke and hear the gears grinding as the swiftboat/slime machine gets in gear.

Please God No

Several here are already worried about this format favoring McCain. Perhaps. Obama's team should of course negotiate an agreement that is to his maximum advantage. Like, please God, not 10 of these meeting things.

But Obama must take a calculated risk and press his advantage even if it takes him into areas of perceived discomfort. He must aggressively pursue the Presidency. Don't ever fall into the trap of sitting on a lead, or it will surely evaporate.

Let us know you really want the job. Think of how small things like the Gore sigh or the Bush 41 watch-check helped sink them.

But it's not his fault. It's the fault of those who voted for him.

We've been running on economic fumes for decades, the artificial residue of a few years of real prosperity and productivity after WWII, when American was indeed a Colossus astride the world. We've been pretty good at figuring out ways to borrow against the future and shovel various accounts around but now it looks like we're out of tricks.

So now what? We sink for a while, maybe a long while, maybe a very long while, until we get tired of sinking and failing and begin to rebuild our lives and our country.

So we stop buying imported gewgaws to distract ourselves from meaningless lives and embrace core virtues again: hard work, thrift, discipline. We stop worrying about which celebrity's little sister is pregnant and we begin to revere inventors and scientists and smart people. We educate ourselves and invent things and make things again.

It will take decades, if any of that can ever really happen at all. It would only happen if the pain gets very, very bad, human nature and all.

I used to fly if the distance was > 500 miles. Now it's at least 750. For purely personal travel, I'd only fly (from Maryland) overseas or to the West Coast. Even with gas at $5+

Flying has become nothing but painful, at best barely tolerated with gritted teeth.

I've only read vague poorly-written explanations here and there regarding this search engine.

Why exactly is it better than Google? What about the search algorithm, presentation of results, etc. is better?

Looking at cuil quickly, I'm underwhelmed. My first reaction: So what?

I used to laugh at people who would say "if so-and-so is elected, I'll have to make plans to leave the country." I may not leave, but I'm not laughing anymore.

McCain at one time might have been a fine president (I actually liked him in 2000, especially compared to FratBoy) but now the disconnected, disoriented, tired or maybe just too-plain-old thing is more than bothersome. It would be disastrous.

Think of how vulnerable we would be, again, to the Rovian-types and other assorted thieves that have preyed upon us for years through the manipulation of a frontman who is too stupid, old, or evil himself to even try to stop it. Or even to be aware of it.

These are not idle concerns. This is end-of-empire stuff.

The thing where Hillary's supporters will be "mad" if another woman is chosen - what is that?

So the theory is that all these women would pass up a chance to elect the first female Vice-President because of some perceived slight or lingering resentment? All of which ended months ago?

And help put McCain in instead?

I don't buy it. Saying that would happen only reinforces the awful stereotype of women as petty, foot-stomping...uh... bitches.

Homey looks like a nut to me.

If I were Barack, I'd throw the damn thing. Who'd want to be President now?

Market goes up a bit, gas prices come down a little or a lot, that's all it will take. Since the average American has an attention/retention span of about 5 seconds, that could un-piss enough people off at the incumbent party. That, and some germinating seeds about Obama, could be enough.

Laffer's supply side, trickle-down voodoo (thanks, Poppy Bush), even if true, may no longer apply even theoretically in the United States. For the theory to work, of course, you need to have an economic environment that enables and encourages production. We've been pretty much consumption driven for the last quarter century or so, and I'm wondering where all the money flowing to the well-off from the Bush tax cuts has gone?

Anybody seen lots of new capital-intensive infrastructure or manufacturing facilities being built? Not in my neck of the woods. All I've seen are new strip malls selling imported crap and offering subsistence jobs.

I really, really can't remember when I have ever not felt either skeevy, scared, or simply unsettled when I've seen a President interviewed during my life - until now. Maybe Jerry Ford was OK.

My cultural memory goes back to LBJ.