Many of the blogs I've seen on this reference an article by ESPN writer - have any of you bloggers actually read this article? Generally, Caple seems to think this event is just a bit of naughty but let me enlighten you as to some of the more fun and frivolous happenings in Sturgis:

"...but then I thought about the conversation I had with Pearl Gulbranson, who was working at the Crisis Intervention Center for domestic abuse... 'We average three or four 'contacts' a night," Gulbranson said. 'And a lot of women get abandoned here. They get left behind with no way of getting home. So we're here to help."

Domestic abuse -- what a hoot!! And...

"Buffalo Chip has a reputation for that sort of thing. It holds a Miss Buffalo Chip contest every night, which is essentially a topless beauty pageant. And occasionally bottomless, too. During a drenching rain Wednesday night, the contest broke up into smaller groups and one woman wound up dancing naked on a bar top."

Until she was dragged off the bar by her angry husband.

Good times.

This is not a trivial matter. Sadly, I noticed that most of the writers who think this is a joke are women. (Girls: sanctioning the doings at an event like Bull Chip ain't bein' "sex positive" - quite the opposite.) Good example, NYT blogger Kate Phillips writes in "The Caucus" that McCain's remarks about his were "good fun" just a little "joshing."

Wrong.

John McCain's appearance at this event and his remarks about his wife raise serious questions about his fitness to be president: his character, his attitude toward women, his judgment, his disdain for the dignity of his position as a US Senator, the presumptive Republican nominee, and possible future President.

Look, I get it you need readers. Who's going to plod through a dreary analysis of what McCain's behavior says about his character, his capacity to be President, and his attitude toward women. No, they'd rather report this story as just some more silliness from our favorite maverick, John "Mc[Lov]in'." And any woman who takes this thing seriously is just a stuffy, uptight, old school, sex-hating, man-hating feminist. But not the girls at Boardsheet - how cool are they? They don't get all hot and bothered by a little naughty fun like you menopausal baby boomers.

Unfortunately, people just don't get it. Not the Salon writers, not the posters here. As I asked on a previous post: did anyone F@#CKING read the article about Buffalo Chip - it is by Jim Caple and can be found on ESPN.com?!!?

Have we all become too lazy - including "journalists" (so-called) - that we can't be bothered to gather all the facts before we weigh in??

To Broadsheet Bloggers, Hepola, et al please go back to the drawing board, thoroughly research Buffalo Chip, THINK I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here - I'd like to think you'd write a completely different story.

I just re-read your paragraph. I think you do recognize that McCain's remarks are not trivial.

Apologies.

With respect to offshore drilling:

Offshore leasing can't begin until 2012 because of existing moratoriums. And, even once leasing begins, there will be a significant period of start-up before drilling can begin. According to the Department of Energy drillng in the Pacific, Atlantic and Eastern Gulf wold have little impact on fuel production until 2030. Given this time line, offshore drilling is basically irrelevant now.

If Obama is willing to accept what is basically a McCain/Republican gimmick (even McCain concedes that there will be no real immediate benefit only a "psychological" one) and "allow" offshore drilling that is fine with me. Obama has a very detailed energy plan (which can be viewed on his website) that includes ramping up R&D on alternative energy sources (solar, wind, etc) and making them more commercially viable. It would take too long to outline the rest of the plan but I am sure you'll go to the Obama website to look at it and his energy policy speeches. A compromise on offshore drilling gives away very little. In return Obama, when he is President, will implement his plan to wean us from foreign oil by aggressively developing alternative fuel sources and green technology. He gives a little to get a lot.

One of the reasons I support Obama is that I have high hopes that he can bring back the political art of compromise. Only through compromise is progress possible. The alternative is to keep fighting each other until our country ends up looking like the final scene in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. The art of compromise involves a mutually respectfully and dispassionate discussion between two parties in which both sides make concessions. A skilled compromiser can generally walk away from the table having gotten more than he/she gave. Compromise is not dishonest. It is the only way to move forward. We are stuck in a stagnant, putrid swamp. Stay there if you wish. But, I for one, want a better future for me and my children. This is the change I have been waiting for.

Yes, I understand - Linda Hirshman is nuts and so are her conservative enemies. Pay no attention and maybe they'll go away. "From my mouth to God's ears."