So what about all the doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, teachers, florists, nurses and hundreds of thousands of other professionals and service providers in America before Ford came along? They surely weren't upper class or working class.

For more accurate to say Ford expanded the middle class.

Andrew, I don't know if you've ever been to Tel-Aviv, but it actually is a Mediterranean city in its feel, look and food, so it's not just the filmmaker's vision. Tel-Aviv has the largest number of Bauhaus buildings outside of Germany, and you add the very upscale nature of so much of the place. I haven't been there in years, but I was struck by its chic, the blizzard of cell phones, its liberalism, its party atmosphere--and people kept taking us to restaurants that could have been in Italy or somewhere else in Europe. Tel-Aviv couldn't be more unlike Jerusalem.

It's been coming on for years, as Chalmers Johnson has shown in his brilliant trilogy: Blowback, The Sorrows of Empire, and Nemesis. We are no longer a Republic but a militarized empire with hundreds of colonies (bases) around the world. No major candidate ever talks about this reality, and how it's draining our economy and destroying our reputation.

Bush after 9/11 has led to the use of the military as props and implicit support by appearing with troops as his backdrop in various military-style jackets and constantly talking about being America's commander-in-chief. This has totally distorted all public discourse because that formulation is aped all the time. But no president is America's commander-in-chief. He or she is only commander in chief of the armed forces, according to that quaint old document the Constitution.

So in language, imagery and reality, we have totally changed the nature of this country--and how will we find our way back? Johnson isn't sanguine.

The traditional media has been trumpeting his "regrets" and "apologies" but the whole tone of his interview is oddly detached, as if all this happened to someone else and he had nothing to do with it. More disturbing is his simply not making literal sense (which raises the question--is he drinking again?). Here's a notable excerpt:

Gibson eventually followed up: "Do you feel in any way responsible for what's happening?"

Bush replied: "You know, I'm the President during this period of time, but I think when the history of this period is written, people will realize a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so, before I arrived in President, during I arrived in President."

Joan, Justin Frank argues in Bush on the Couch that the media has avoided any talk of his alcoholism over the last eight years (except to say "he gave up drink when he found religion") because they were afraid. What's your opinion? Even Salon seems to have steered away from the subject.

I think we should call in the best forensics team possible to exam the photo as carefully as possible and determine whether the hand in question was indeed cupped and groping or flat and its fingers spread out. Only then can we truly determine the severity of punishment necessary for either the perpetrator--or those who have risen in outrage against him.

Of course, on the other hand, it might be time to summon a psychiatrist to discuss CFFS: Cardboard Figure Fetish Syndrome. And then Favreau could do community service and share his shame with Oprah.

Why isn't there a companion piece--so to speak--about young men no longer shaving their balls and pubes? Does salon truly care about hair down there?

Why aren't they shouting from the rooftops that the GOP doesn't care about saving American jobs? That the GOP is committing economic suicide (or murder)? Where are the Democratic firebrands? Where's the passion and outrage and power? They WON the election and still react like losers. Reid has to go. He's no better than Deputy Dawg.

I didn't mind the steals from "The Andromeda Strain" and "Close Encounters" and even "War Games;" they were woven into something that felt almost new at times. But the script leached all the wit and tension out of the original. Gort's role is too weak, despite the special effects, and Klaatu doesn't get to deliver his message. Worse than that is the sloppy ending that says nothing and does so unclearly. How's that for a double whammy? Final Grade: C, because any remake that leaves out one of the most famous sci-fi lines of all time (you know which one I mean) doesn't deserve more.