I, too, find the omission of Al Green somewhat disconcerting... and I guess Camille has gotten over her Madonna thing.

..it's a short term view. I think most readers will agree that there is no more important short term goal, though, than handcuffing the incompetent Republican criminals calling the shots until we can get them behind bars (terribly likely?) of voted out (even less likely?).

Given the easily manipulated, jingoistic mindset of just a tad too much of the American voting public, it wouldn't take a lot to lose any democratic Senate majority the election after next.. just too much going down to be sure of anything.

Be careful what you ask for... you might get it. But for now, hell yeah!.. filibuster!

As an aircraft maintenance professional (30+ years at 2 major airlines, about to retire), I cringe at all media reporting of aviation events. Inevitably, they turn to pilots and airline executives for explanations of the unfolding disaster. I would, for once, like to hear the perspective from someone who actually understands "how" the airplane works, i.e. an aircraft maintenance professional. Pilots know "what" the airplane does: they rarely know "how".. airline executives tend to know nothing but cost figures.

Commercial airplanes today, while admittedly more advanced than the crop of 30 years ago(the 727's, DC-9's and -10's, L-1011's, 747-100 thru -300), are basically crude machines that do what they do with only marginal improvements in efficiency than their earlier breathren. The greatest economies have come from the automation that allowed fewer cockpit crewmembers (eliminating the flight engineer)and eased the intense workload of the two-man crew, as well as jet engine improvements that heightened fuel economy marginally. To an airline that operates thousands of cycles of day, marginal improvements add up to big bucks. It unfortunately sets up an environment that when problems occur, the pilot is forced to deal with the problem, sometimes of his own making, then accurately report to maintenance what happened. This often results in "operational issues masquerading as maintenance problems" and it is this description that hits the media and makes the first impression, only to be unraveled months, if not years, later in the official accident report, generally out of the public's earshot.

I still remember the pilot (and media expert) interviewed on CNN during the American Airlines A300 crash in November 2001 authoritatively stating "the pilot was obviously dumping fuel." A300's of that model have no fuel dumping capability.

..now run the show. Watching the exercise in fascist hegemony the Gonzalez testimony was, I can't help think back to sitting in college classes in the late '60's. There, when some "conservative" student expressed his views on Vietnam, welfare, minority rights, "Trickey Dick" Nixon or any of the other burning issues of the day, these disciples of William F. Buckley and his ilk were met with howls of outrage and derision from most students, virtually all faculty and eventually enough of the American public to put this country roughly back on a democratic track.

To watch the "grilling" this sycophant and minor league corporate lawyer received at the hands of the Senate committee and hear the same smug non-answers repeated (not that we should have expected anything different) and not challenged, or stand a good chance of being challenged in any meaningful way, makes me believe the "dumb kids" now think they can get away with absolutely anything in the name of "national security."

Someday, when the average American understands the inter-relationship of rights, security and the law and that no man, not even a president, let alone this dangerous incompetent, is above the law, there may be an outcry to restore Constitutional guarantees. Whether this will take a new, miraculously independent media, a messianic anti-leader or, (perish the thought) widespread civil disobedience, I wish I knew...

I'm disturbed by Mr. Smith's last paragraph that seems to excuse the bullying behavior of airport police (and dare I extend to police in general?). Police exhibit bullying behavior when 1)it makes there immediate problem go away 2) it psychologically validates their life choice and 3)if they are in a situation where they think they can get away with it without review or retribution.

None of the above have any direct connection to the letter of the law. I could not agree more with the previous letters that such behavior, more prevalent now than ever, indicates a downslide into Orwellian authoritarianism.

I believe this article and some the responses to it so far have already been preconditioned by the Republican Spin Machine... anytime we take a stance, left or right, we expect to be easy fodder for the smack-down. Hillary, especially...

The next elections will not be about beating a party. It will be about beating the corrupt electoral machine this party has spawned beyond all historic proportions, one that can isolate marginal states and make untraceable "adjustments" in the vote count as necessary. Bush and Co. should not have a prayer (no pun intended) of winning the national popular vote.

It is not unrealistic to expect the Democratic candidates to proclaim a platform that will resonate with the average voter in one of those "marginal" states, be it Pennsylvania, Missouri, Indiana, Florida or Ohio. A strong stance on national security, even if it's just campaign hot air, will be required, along with anti-Bush stances on the domestic/social issues that are actually most important to the electorate.