Glenn, thank you. I have been checking for your updates on the Comey story first thing every morning. You have rapidly established yourself as one of my daily must-read journalists on a, sadly, very short list. Your prose is an example of what Orwell described as "window-pane clarity" in "Politics and the English Language." I cannot think of any higher praise than that.

By the way, everyone, trolls are like tribbles: If you don't feed them, you don't have a problem with them.

Canuck, I hear you. I am an American who went to the University of Toronto for graduate work, and when I went to the doctor I didn't have to wait long, the people were kind to me and gave me the time I needed to discuss my health issues, and it didn't cost me anything, even though I wasn't a citizen.

What a difference from my recent experiences with the health care system here. I recently went to a cardiologist for a consultation. I waited and waited and waited for him, and when he arrived, he was in a mad rush, he didn't listen to a word I said, and he immediately demanded that I undergo an invasive and dangerous procedure to determine if I would need further treatment. I wanted to discuss alternative non-invasive procedures but he literally sneered at me and simply cut off the conversation and left. To add insult to injury, he charged me twice what he was supposed to for the consult. I had called the hospital a number of times before my appointment to ascertain the cost, seeing that I would have to pay a large chunk of it, but ended up being billed twice what I was quoted.

This doctor is part of a system that, because of the exigencies of profit, recklessly minimizes the amount of time a patient gets to talk to a health-care provider. And in my case, there was a very obvious tendency for this doctor to push people into particular procedures that were related to his field of research and practice. That is, rather than provide what was best for me or even consider the vast array of research (which I studied before going to the doctor) that has shown that aggressive treatments of certain heart problems fared worse over time than less invasive treatments, this doctor was clearly trying to pressure me into doing something that would keep the profit flowing in his area and turn me into an data-producing object to justify his continued existence. It was utterly dehumanizing.

This is an aspect of medicine in the U.S. that I hope Moore covers in his film. There is a self-perpetuating aspect to specialized fields that does not allow for change for the better. When people spend years learning certain skills and institutions spend millions on related equipment, they have to get their money's worth out of these investments and become closed to other methods of treatment--particularly alternative, inexpensive treatments that enrich no one but the patient--no matter how much they benefit people.

Meanwhile, I think that it is crucial that patients educate themselves before they go to doctors. It is a dangerous thing when the welfare of the patient is competing with so many other dehumanizing elements. Sicko is precisely the word for this system.

I have to agree with other posters. I don't see what was over the top about Keith's comments.

My god, the carnage, the casual destruction, the lies. Someone needs to be angry. Someone needs to rage.

As always, Bill, your anger provides a salutary influence on our overburdened, weary, and harrassed psyches.

Again I am flummoxed by the insanity of our public discourse. What the fuck is Carter's problem? I mean, doesn't he put himself out there as a man of honesty and integrity? But now he is lying his way out of a jam.

And there is no reason for it. What does he have to lose, after all? And he was right, he was right, he was absolutely right about Bush. It's an open secret, for chrissakes, that Bush is the king of vicious bunglers, an idiot without the savant, and the very worst thing that ever happened to this country. And we ALL know it, except for a few jesus freaks and oil men.

How many more of these sickening capitulations can we all take?

So thanks, Bill. I am really looking forward to your documentary on religion, btw.

You wish.

Doc, I think all of the HBO shows are like Bill's, with shorter durations and non-network-standard seasons. We will miss Bill until August, but it's not like he's really vacationing. I know he has been working on a film where he spoofs religion, for example. I also see his writing all over the blogosphere. And then there are his books. And standup. And HBO specials. Damn, he gets around.

I saw Real Time last night and just want to say, as much fun as it is to read New Rules here, you really need to see these lines delivered by a master. The indignation that Bill brings, the timing, everything--he just kills. And when he caps it off with "Blow me," you'll be roaring with laughter at the same time that you're raging at the assholery of Carter and the Capitulation Brigade.

Yup, huge, unabashed fan here.

Heh heh, that's what I am looking for, a discussion of the fantastic Lost finale.

I was also hoping to hear about that beautifully rendered pool suicide and rescue scene in The Sopranos. One of the most memorable scenes in the whole show for me.

Those freaky aliens and their arbitrary belief systems! Thank goodness that most of us on this land mass bow down to the correct diety and are the only ones who can properly interpret his celestial texts. After all, we are at the center of the universe. How can our ruling class be wrong?