As far as I'm concerned, Aaron Brown has long been one of the few watchable, bearable presences at CNN, and it sucks that they've squeezed him out of his show. I've never been able to pinpoint the exact source of his appeal, but the Broadsheet's "Elegy" explained it about as well as anyone. Brown does come across a little awkward, a little lacking in the "slickness" department. He's smart and nerdy and flawed--which is to say, real. Watching him, you see right away that he loves giving the news, loves just sharing the information. He's no mimbo, "acting" the news; he engages with it. I like how he often seems a little bemused by the world events he's relating; that feels real to me, and sane.

And I LOVE The Rooster. Long live The Rooster! Sure, it's uber-folksy to simply read us the next day's headlines, but it's a nice palate cleanser. In the 24-hour news cycle universe, the CNNs and MSNBCs of the world must keep themselves in a state of constant frenzy, trying to make every minute seem urgent and relevant. Brown doing The Rooster seemed to say, "What the hell, let's relax for a minute."

I actually like Anderson Cooper for the most part, so I'm not knocking him. But it saddens me that CNN apparently make room for both men, both styles. I know it's a ratings game, and I gather that Brown lacks a certain sizzle quotient. But by squeezing him out to make room for the more sizzlicious Cooper, CNN is needlessly tossing away its most warm, real, human presence. Aaron, you'll be missed.

On the basis of what expertise does Amsden declare such diverse conditions as adult ADD and generalized anxiety disorder "quasi-societal"? Oh, right. He sold prescription meds in High School to kids who needed to stay up late to study. That's the sum total of Amsden's expertise.

He could have troubled himself to do at least a little actual research into the validity of these conditions AS conditions, to lend his essay some faint air of credibility, but it was probably more fun to talk out of his ass.

I cringed when I read this woman's letter because I could see exactly the sort of firestorm it was going to set off. I also cringed because it's intensely uncomfortable-making when people speak the unspeakable. Clearly, there are a lot of people responding to this letter who feel like this woman is an inhuman monster who should keep her mouth shut. As troubling as much of her letter was, I think she did a valuable service by having the bravery to speak up.

I found her letter troubling because her attitude towards her step-kids didn't seem merely cool or distant, but something closer to active, angry dislike. Knowing how deft kids are at reading the emotional attitudes of adults--no matter how hard those adults fight to hide them--my heart sank. I'm sure those kids sense that their step-mom doesn't want them around, and it's awful to think that that's the environment those kids live in. This woman needs more support and a safe place to work through her feelings. Hopefully in time she can develop some respect and warmth for those children. The fact that she put her feelings out there in public--clearly knowing that those aren't feelings she's "supposed" to have--is a sign that she's sincere about getting help. It's a start.

As a step-mom, I recognized some of my own feelings in this woman's words. I feel warmly towards my step-son, but the feelings I have for him don't seem to bear much relationship to the feelings my friends who have given birth have told me they have for their children. The breath-takingly fierce, intense love my friends describe just hasn't happened for me in conjunction with my stepson. I like it when he visits and I usually enjoy his company very much, but he isn't my child in the same way he's his mother's child. When we don't see him for awhile, I don't feel like a hole has been blown in my heart--which is the feeling my husband seems to have during too long an absence.

It's a crappy situation in a lot of ways, being a step-parent. You feel a ton of pressure, and your role is both ill-defined and constantly shifting. You get a lot of blame and judgment if your attitude isn't great all of the time, and you tend to get very little credit when it isn't. But on the other hand, it's also an opportunity to have a rewarding relationship with kids to whom you don't feel "ultimately" responsible. You don't have to be involved with and agonize over their every move in the way that birth parents do. If you can re-frame the detachment that being a stepparent gives you, maybe you can identify the inherent gifts--for you and the child--in being something more like a caring adult friend in your step-child's life.