Yes, I have read "Devil in a Blue Dress." Your point? You are still stereotyping.

I enjoy Walter Mosely and think he is a writer well worth reading. However, not having read him does not make one illiterate. You paint with a very broad brush. Right now I am sitting in my living room surrounded by 5 bookcases filled with books. Downstairs in my study are 6 more bookcases filled with books. Just a random sampling of the books in my living room that I can see from where I am sitting: "Daniel Deronda," "The Last Chronicle of Barset," "Everything is Illuminated," a biography of Cromwell, a biography of Alexander Hamilton, a biography of Oppenheimer, "King Constantine's Sword," "Hamlet," "Idoru" "Pattern Recognition"(William Gibson), "Atonement," "The Quiet American," "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles," Three Complete Novels by Isaac Bashevis Singer, "Emma," several books by Thich Nhat Hanh, "The Blind Watchmaker," "England under the Tudors," "Bleak House," "Our Mutual Friend," "The Russina Debutante's Handbook," "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," "Middlemarch," "King Lear," books by Henning Mankell, Elizabeth George, P.D. James, Grisham, and, yes, Walter Mosely. So, there you go, at least one Salon reader is not illiterate. Does the fact the 1st three seasons of "Lost" are sitting on my coffee table cancel out my claims to literacy (egads! TV).

Ummmm - hate to quibble but McCain beats Obama or Obama beats McCain is not history - history happens in the past this will happen in the future.

You say: "It's tactics like this which are increasingly alienating her supporters from Obama." Uh, aren't her supporters already alienated from Obama?

The petition is not a low tactic and those who began it are well within their rights to circulate it. Many people believe that Clinton can't win the nomination. Others disagree. Those who think she can't win are suggesting that she withdraw because her continued presence in the race is damaging to the Dems prospects for gaining the White House in November. No one realistically expects her to withdraw from the Tuesday primaries. But the reality is that she does have to win very impressive victories on Tuesday to remain viable. This petition is simply an appeal to Clinton's better angels - please think of the good of the party and of the nation. Do not put your ambitions above the more important task of getting the Republicans out of the White House. Clinton does not have to withdraw, no one can make her but is it not the very essence of public service that one puts the public good first, ahead of one's personal desires and ambitions?

What exactly is your point? For 8 years we have lived with a President whose motto is "that's my story and I am sticking with it." As Dr. Phil would say, how's that been workin for ya? I admire people who are not too proud to admit that they were wrong as chhabili did. Why are people so bothered by this? Maybe you should spend more time listening, really listening to, chhabili's reasons for moving to Obama. Or are you afraid you might have to question your support for Clinton and, god forbid, admit to a mistake?

Have you heard about the bully, Alpha girls trying to intimidate other woman into voting for Clinton? Not only have I heard of it, I have been on the receiving end. And it wasn't pretty. But enough vitriol.

KateTex, my son is a senior in high school. He's waiting to hear from colleges. He is a pretty cool kid. He knows that probably some disappointments will come his way on April 1. But he's been able to avoid the "gotta get into Harvard" hysteria that is prevalent where we live and knows he'll get in somewhere and his life will turn out just fine. Maybe you should take a page out of his book. Calm down, take a deep breath, gather yourself. I know that you really, really, really want Hillary to be the next President and I understand the disappointment you must feel (if Obama does not get the nomination or win the general election I know I will be incredibly disappointed). But this anti-Obama hysteria, as if he is the Devil incarnate, has gone too far. Only a united Democratic party can beat the Republicans. Isn't that the common ground upon which we all stand? Hysterical anti-Hillary-ism and anti-Obama-ism certainly will do nothing to unite the party.