May I say, that however absorbing and important the issues are that we discuss here, spending hours and hours in this space is no substitute for for more proximate friendships and being a part of local communities.

Believe me, I know what it is to be glued to the computer screen, constantly hitting the refresh button, waiting for something to keep me from going back to the sometimes anxiety-producing events and duties of my life. I have certainly used the internet as avoidance behavior. But have I tried to keep in mind that I have to have some kind of balance, or I will end up making the rounds at my usual online haunts until 3 or 4 in the morning every night, putting my schedule into chaos.

If anyone has that many hours to spend online in these kind of pursuits, then they also have time to do some good locally, no? At least, I have found that to be true for myself, and have used some of those hours to do grant-writing for a local no-kill animal shelter and organize some local animal and/or environmental education events.

I am not saying that it isn't a good thing to be politically aware and involved, and I read this blog religiously and often read the informative letters, but I think there is a point beyond which that does not become the real reason for being here. There is so much good you could do elsewhere.

but now it is rolling in its grave in complete agony.

Just when you think you've heard it all.....

why stop at one award?

How about a best and worst? E.g., Best: Funniest letter; Best poem; Best research; Best screen name; Worst: Worst cut-and-paste troll letter; Worst misreading of Glenn's blog (oh, there are so many of these); etc.

I can't help it--I like end-of-year lists!

The site says voting begins on Jan. 5, so I would check back in on that date.

In fact, this leter haz bin lovingly peckd by five blujays tat just floo outa Prezumptus Insec's butt.

Oh, these trolls, with their accusations of moral relativism. What? When this particular essay is nothing if not a critique of cultural relativism?

Talk about willfully misreading the text.

Oh, with what satisfaction I read this law professor's expressions of outrage! This is certainly the best news I have heard in a long time.

I look forward to hearing more about her actions in office.

Rockefeller and Feinstein? Well, first, neener neener neener to those jackasses. And second, what are they so miffed about, unless her critiques have hit too close to home?

derbig, darling, I wish you wouldn't discuss our personal paper folding adventures on a public forum.

Now, why is it that Republicans are incapable of discussing gay marriage without bringing up bestiality, incest, and polygamy?

It's because they enjoy thinking about bestiality, incest, and polygamy so much. It's kind of like what Keith O. says O'Reilly does: O'Reilly likes to complain about the immorality of lewd images of women on the air, because it gives him a reason to broadcast lewd images of women on the air. Similarly, for these guys, discussing gay marriage is just a gateway to fantasizing publicly about their real interests. Repression tends to take the strangest turns.

Wow. The power of name-calling. That will get you far in life. Good luck with that. Since your powers of argument only go so far as to demand that Glen do what he is already doing, you'll need it.

and I agree with most everyone else here. Obama owes Dean a lot, and this whole scenario is total bullshit. Just another slap in the face of the democratic wing of the Democratic Party. Dean is one of the few politicians during my entire lifetime that I have ever truly wanted to support. He has the makings of a great statesman, I think, and his ideas about broadening the base have been spot on. People keep saying Obama is smart. I am not seeing it--his actions have shown that he is very much a status quo-er, and this treatment of Dean is just more of the same. It's infuriating. I wish all the best to Howard Dean and will be watching his career with interest.

I love my dog.

David Duke loves his dog because his dog has "pure" blood and thus is a valuable piece of property; Duke also enjoys the control he maintains over his dog. I love my dog because she is a sweet and joyful companion, and I am happy to see her blossom in a good home after an early life of abuse.

David Duke and I both love our dogs.

Ergo, I must, like Duke, be morally unsound, backwards, and dangerous.

This has been today's lesson in logic from WinSmith.

I remember reading about what changes Jose Padilla went through in that hell-hole, Guantanamo. After years of torture, was confused and disengaged and he identified with his tormentors. He had permanent brain damage, the report said. He was a frail shell of his former self.

Glenn has some excerpts about exactly what kind of torture Padilla underwent here: http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/10/bush-administrations-torture-of-us.html

I can't imagine that any of the people imprisoned in that place have remained intact. Their minds are gone. Aside from the problem of evidence obtained from torture, doesn't this pose a big problem in bringing them to trial?