The first act of a bully is to coerce the silence of his victim. The knife at the throat is matched with a hand over the mouth. All that is needed to ensure that cruelty and violence will prevail in human affairs is silence.

There is no sense in trying to appease those whose only desire is to silence all dissent, criticism, or heresy. Feeding the beast of such intolerance only gives it the strength of convention. The public square goes silent or fills with false propriety and fake piety. Soon, no one says what might arouse the approbation of the most brutal institution, whether it be the state, the church, the temple, or the mosque.

Freedom of speech requires us all to defend the right of others to speak offensively, incoherently, selfishly, and even hatefully, because it is better to soothe the offended than to strangle the philosopher, sage, or even the next prophet (as blasphemous as every Muslim must think that concept might be).

Deplore the motives. Raise your own voice in counterpoint. Draw your own cartoons, but do not attack the right to speak, to draw, or to act out of your own motives, or you might be the next victim of censorship, and we will are suffer from your silence.

More and more, it seems that observing the political leadership of this nation requires a flourishing and elaborate sense of irony. Bush's incompetence is matched only by the obsequiousness of his opposition.

...that are all the more notable in contrast to the usual blandishments of our "leaders," today.

Where have the great men and women gone? What has so sapped our culture that we no longer produce such vivid, passionate orators?

Thanks for quoting Dr. King. I'm always better for having been reminded of his greatness.

This little gem of an essay is inconsistent and poorly reasoned.

Light dimmers are not "rheostats," which are continuously variable resistors and are not used for dimming AC lights. As noted above, AC dimmers actually consist of electronic circuits that flash the light on and off very fast, thereby causing all kinds of havoc to the ballasts of flourescent lights. (This is also the reason that cheap dimmers buzz quite audibly.)

It would seem that the author really already knows enough information to realize this. He also seems to realize that his light switches can be changed out for newer (non-dimming) ones, with relative ease. Nevertheless, the mere fact that a previous homeowner installed them keeps him from switching to CFs, immediately.

Perhaps the author should go onto Craig's List and look for a handyman, who would certainly be able to change out a few light switches for him in a matter of a few minutes. Having more than one source of light in a room will also make dimmers unnecessary, as anyone's grandmother already could have told him.

With all due respect to the big brains who have warned us, for decades, that the political leanings of the demos can be reduced to class, toilet training, religion, birth weight, birth order, hair color, or sexual identity, there is simply no indication that conservatism or liberalism is either born or bred into the populace. Good, straight, Republican Christians will always have to roll the dice -- as my parents did -- sometimes, to give birth and sustenance to a good, gay, radically liberal atheist, like me.

The breadth and subtlety of Phillips' and Goldberg's sinuous intelligences are exquisite, but my revelry was made complete in having found such a beautifully succinct, perfectly resonant word: "kakistocracy."

Brava!

Trillin's essay is a clever seduction, calling forth the real shock and awe in life: the mysterious power of the beloved to breathe life into us, even in her absence. That he evokes such intimacy with someone I've never met, speaks beautifully of his own love (reverence, glee) as well as her enthusiasm for him.

Trillin has been a lucky, lucky guy.

Sorry, Farhad, but the blush of youth is fading. It's time to get over your adolescent crushes and face up to the truth: John McCain is a Republican. He'll kiss any ass that he has to for the nomination -- don't you see those oily smears on his lips? Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!

Not to get too personal, here, and I'll concede that I live well below the mean, but I spend about 25% of my very limited income on food each month. And I'm a very, very careful shopper, who buys fresh or minimally processed (frozen) foods, usually on sale. I cook all of my own meals, from scratch, about 90% of the time.

It is insulting to have some snob preach to me about how profligate poor people are, always wasting their money on "snack foods." That disgusting image is right up there with Cadillac welfare mothers, for absolute ignorant gall!!

Six dollars for a dozen eggs? Well, then I guess we stupid poor folks will just have to eat dirt!