Let's see, there's the disastrous economy, the jobless recovery, the war in Afghanistan, and the imminent crushing of universal health care.

Any chance feminists are focusing on more important things?

I can't help but wonder how different the conversation about Polanski would be if he had been a poor or middle-class accused rapist who fled the jurisdiction to avoid facing trial.

Based on what I know, the prosecution in his case was hopelessly, irredeemably flawed. But unlike most of us who have to stay and face the music, Polanski used his considerable wealth and influence to avoid prosecution.

What kind of double-standard do we have when the elite defend a rich white man's choice to be a fugitive from the law while the state of Texas executes a poor black defendant who is actually innocent?

I find the whole conversation cynical.

I'm grateful for California's Major Risk Medical Insurance Program and its "graduate product" for those who have termed out of the main program, but I'm still being crushed by $10,000 a year in premiums and deductibles (yes, you read that right - $10,000 a year out of pocket = $700/month = $9,500 a year plus a $500 deductible).

What choice do I have?

I've been denied health insurance on the open market due to pre-existing conditions.

I'm backed into a corner and I have no choice.

It's crappy insurance, but it's all I can qualify for. I'd be better off if there were a public option that could help drive the cost of my coverage down.

I'm still a health care customer and the private companies should have to compete for my business. They make money off me because I take good care of my health, which is why my condition got diagnosed and treated in the first place.

The health insurance industry is evil and would benefit from strong regulation. This is a case where the law of the jungle (i.e., the free market) does not bring about the greatest good for the greatest number of citizens.

Maybe he should get a man-sized safe in which to hold all his "private" conversations.

Then if he doesn't want them to leak, he can lock his conversational partner inside and claim executive privilege.

She is a dentist as well as a lawyer. Surely this lends additional credibility to her assurances that the forged certificate is real.

Gary Kamiya is wrong about the enemy here - the real enemy is an intrusive and judgmental hypocrisy that has judged others loudly and on the public stage for years.

Mark Sanford is reaping what he has sown over the years with his cruel and holier-than-thou attacks on other people's choices including pro-choice people, gays, and liberals. When you build your public image on attacking others, you should expect to be attacked yourself.

His rambling press conference and lack of accountability for his actual actions showed that Sanford's only regret was getting caught.

To the best of my knowledge, Malcolm Gladwell does not actually earn his living as a fiction writer.

One of the important points you've left out of your article is the importance of fact-checking in the age of the web.

My problem is with the contradictory explanations I've received.

At first we were told this was a result of Amazon's new "Adult" material policy aimed at "protecting all of our customers."

Then last night we started receiving the explanation that the whole thing was just a technical "glitch."

So which is it? It can't be both.

It never ceases to amaze me how blind our country is about the dividends reaped by other countries' social programs.

Because they believe, as a society, these things are necessary and good, they organize work around them. And everybody there is better off for it.

Geithner is being forced to go through the ritual public spanking of all Cabinet secretaries, but it's made worse by the fact that his tax stupidities do appear at odds with his prospective responsibilities.

I imagine that TurboTax doesn't include a module for employees of the International Monetary Fund on self-employment taxes, but I also have to imagine that lower-level employees with fewer resources, education, and experience than Tim Geithner managed to figure it out and pay their taxes properly.

It's his combination of errors, foibles, big mistakes, and late apologies that doesn't pass the smell test for me.

If he gets hung up on these little details, how will he ever manage the U.S. Treasury?

In fact, I would go even further than this article, and say that the only way to afford healthcare for current workers, retirees, and all the severely disabled veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan at alarming rates is to put EVERYBODY in the country -- including the veterans -- into a common pool so we can balance the risks of care for these most vulnerable citizens with the care of the healthier general population.

When you consider the number of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) patients we need to care for, the only way to amortize their costs and provide them with the first-class care they deserve, is to blend them into a pool which includes all of us who are not traumatic-brain-injured -- those for whose benefit they served.

Didn't anybody else notice the coded message of Piper's "I HEART NY" t-shirt?

Was that her way of saying, "Help! I may only be seven, but I favor Broadway shows, gay marriage, the liberal elite media, and general tolerance of a diverse point of views. I need an education. For the love of pete, get me out of Wasilla!"

CNN! For its holographic interviews on election night.

What a butt-stupid display of senseless pyrotechnics.