Why should Salon lay off Democrats? It's true that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the Whole Sick Crew got us into this war. But they did only what everyone expected they'd do.

The Democrats were supposed to be the opposition party. They were supposed to challenge the Bush Adminstration when it did wrong. But they wimped out every time. They were spineless, accomodating suck-ups, partially because thanks to the Democratic Leadership Council, they were feeding at the same financial troughs as the Republicans. The rest of the part? They didn't truly disagree with the war or global warming, not enough to make any noise about it.

And yes, the Republicans stole votes, but for them it was petty theft. If Gore or Kerry had made a stronger case to the American people, instead of sticking to the DLC idea of an "inoffensive image," they would have had enough votes to make the Republican tampering ineffective.

A circular firing squad is not a bad idea, if everyone in the firing squad is guilty. And at this point, very few Democratic candidates are innocent of mendacity and incompetence.

And I know some of you hate me for harping on it, but as Peter Schickele once said, "Truth is...just truth. You can't have opinions about truth."

The Oscars ran 55 minutes over their scheduled run time. Most of that bloat is due to the Academy's insistence on trying to prove that motion pictures are a wonderful art form by showing its past triumphs, its charity projects, live action versions of special effects, and the awkward live entertainment from people who shouldn't work live.

So they showed famous clips from famous films, as if the entire audience was a middle school just learning about cinema as an art form. They showed how AMPAS is involved in everything from the Academy Leader to a museum under construction that will probably never be opened to internships that will get the interns nowhere in the business. They showed they don't need CGI to make boring effects, with a video screen that took fifteen seconds to raise or lower, keeping the attendees and us ordinary civilians waiting. The imitation Cirque de Soleil Pantomime people wasted even more time, and by evening's end were practically taunting someone to do a drive-by shooting on their silhouettes.

As for DeGeneris, her nonsequitur humor had only one good point; making Clint Eastwood uncomfortable in his seat. If it had been planned, it wasn't what Eastwood or his companion expected. DeGeneris might be superficial, but she knows how to improvise and delight, which puts her over seventy-five percent of the actors in those expensive seats.'

All this was an attempt to distract us from the truth about Hollywood 2007; it's all run by conglomerates that think "art" is an advertising slogan. At least it used to be a bunch of little companies competing with each other, and sometimes doing memorable quirky things. Now it's all AOL Time Warner versus News Corp versus Wal-Mart, probably, and the films are less important than the toys and merchandising the films generate.

Not even the Razzies looked interesting this year; they picked on Sharon Stone and the sequel they renamed "Basically It Stinks Too," giving it all kinds of Golden Raspberry Awards. Not even they could tolerate going to the lame, assembly-line films the studios put out this year, so they saw the one film, dumped the awards on it and went back to depression-fueled drinking. As should we all.

And the sun rises in the East.

Seriously, if it was proven that every fraternal or sororital organization was an active part of Aryan Nation, helping the racists sell crack and kiddie porn to support the coming Fourth Reich, nobody with half a brain and an acquaintance with college life would be surprised.

And would a Democrat - and one at the very top of the party, according to some estimates - ever admit that she was a frightened sheep in terror of Bush and Cheney? Even if there's enough evidence in her votes that a lot of people believe it?

It's a nice fantasy, Mr. Kamiya, but the only way this speech could be given would be if it included "This is my last press conference" and "You won't have Hillary Clinton to kick around any more."

And the tragic part is, the famous blogger Bartcop - a guy whose web site I support, and who I always find interesting and sometimes a lot of fun - has an unshakable conviction that Clinton is the best candidate the Democrats could run. Certain feminists, and even people like Bill Maher, believe it too. They believe there is no other woman in politics who could possibly be President. (Which is probably true, since the death of Ann Richards.)

...somehow I like your personal stories best, Ms. Lay. Which is something I also appreciate in the works of that other great cartoonist on Salon, "the other black cartoonist," Keith Knight.

Please, don't stop your Rod Serling explorations into human relationships and how lousy they are, but every once in a while, a look at your own place in the universe is soul-satisfying in a way that something completely fictional can't do.

I know it's supposed to be conspiracy minded, but damn, if you're going to talk in whispers, use subtitles!

I am fully behind sticking it to the conspiracy nuts, but they don't need whispers, they need shouting in their ears! They need a screaming Rush Limbaugh-type quasi-evangelist yelling their theories back at them.

Besides, you forgot to add the theories about JFK being shot from flying saucers hovering over the Grassy Knoll.