The problem is that the Democratic National Committee wants to do exactly the same thing as the Republicans. They want that money and power. They pay lip service to various causes like environmentalism, racial justice and an end to the war, but gleefully ignore it when they get into power.

Has any Democrat seemed to demonstrate principles, beyond the idea that they have to be "nice guys" and seem cheerful all the time? The Republicans, at least, can fake dedication to principles, and in pursuit of their real goals (oil, wealth, subjugation of the average man) they show genuine dedication.

I live in Orlando, and often go to The American Adventure in EPCOT. There, an animatronic figure of Franklin Roosevelt delivers part of his inaugural speech, the "fear itself" line. Can anyone imagine Hillary Clinton saying anything that dynamic and dedicated? How about Obama? Edwards? The closest was Dean in 2004, and the party was embarassed by anyone who would yell about anything; it would sound too much like passion.

On the other hand, I can easily see them making the same stupid photo-op speeches that Bush made during the many disasters of his Presidential career. The best we could hope for is that they would make the government function better, no matter how many times they posed on top of rubble, but how much proof do we have that they could? (For example, when Katrina happened, did they do anything like raise a stink about it? Complain? Speak out in Congress? What were they doing during Katrina, shoe-shopping in Manhattan with Heather Havrilesky and Constipation Rice?)

It's going to be a long, frustrating campaign, and all of our hearts will be broken at the end.

And you'll have to search through Salon to find it. Instead, let's talk about the other posters this week.

First of all, strevor, go ahead and use your full name: Steve Trevor. We know you're pissed that Wonder Woman dumped you, and as a result you're angry at American culture. (She isn't really American, dude; she's Themyscaran, derived from Greek culture. You should be upset at Zorba the Greek.) Watch those cultural pretensions; they can turn and bite you. (Maybe Diana dumped you because she used her golden lasso on you, and discovered those pretensions.)

Second, for the person drawing a line in the sand between "science fiction" and "sci-fi"; when you deify the name of Heinlein, you are celebrating the interesting ideas he buried under the deadfall of bad characterization and right-wing military fantasies. For every trite "space western" you can point to on the screen, there's at least one poorly-written science fiction novel. There are far too many people insisting on the superiority of the written word over media presentations, and that's also pretentious.

This probably won't make you happy, but many women began writing careers as science fiction authors, creating compelling and emotionally satisfying science fiction...after they wrote short stories, as teenage girls, where their female protagonists made love to Mr. Spock. Video and film, sometimes even the awful stuff, has convinced many people to read the literature. And quite often to create the next generation of the literature. If it wasn't for the entertainment media, and the way it popularized the concept of future fiction, the science fiction selections in your bookstore would be about half a shelf long.

Finally, the quoting of an American pop song in Battlestar Galactica troubles some people greatly, not only because it broke the fictional environment the series worked to create all year, but because it was lazy writing. It is an unfortunate incident, but it could be forgiven. How many people remember the Star Trek episode where a cult on a planet was discovered to be Christianity? And Kirk talked about Jesus visiting the planets of the universe? This was awful and unfortunate, even though it's the only episode of the show the Southern Baptists permits its members to see, but Trek fandom forgave Roddenberry for this lapse into provinciality and lazy writing.

You second-generation Galacticans could forgive your show its lapse, too, if you cared enough about the series in general and had forgiving hearts. (I'm almost tempted to say that Jesus should visit the Galactica and talk a little about forgiveness, looking pointedly at the camera as He does so, but I won't go there. Besides, He's busy planning His return to South Park right now.)

Please forgive me for adapting the favorite phrase of Salon columnist Heather Havrilesky for the subject line.

There is such a thing as artistic ego. It bothers some people, but it's part of the talent package. I deal with it when I talk to my friends who perform comedy music at science fiction cons. I deal with it at work with the news anchors and field reporters (who, let's face it, are really just actors).

But there's a difference between a standard artistic ego and the stuff I've seen several posters threw here. They apparently see music as THEIR exclusive right, and anyone else who doesn't devote their entire life to music is a pretender who should be machine-gunned on sight.

There is nothing wrong with people trying to play a musical instrument for their own pleasure. It's admirable. It's something I wish I had the time to do. But to sit like Severus Snape and condemn anyone who hasn't played Carnegie Hall yet is fascism, pure and simple.