Denny, do I turn you on, at least a bit?

Now that I'm not so busy in Washington, maybe we could share Brandy Alexanders...

I gotta go get a towel

Coming back soon

LOL!

Maf54

Even my own brother does not really follow politics, because he believes he already knows almost everything. When I tell him the Republicans just made torture and dungeons legal, he thinks I am repeating preposterous overblown Leftie Cant.

So when Bob Woodward writes this stuff down, and goes on TV to confirm it, Bob Woodward is doing good work.

Please remember that Bob Woodward already has brought down one American President. Can any of you Woodward critics claim any such accomplishment? Hooray for Bob Woodward!

Just now, Foley's lawyer has told the world that Foley was molested by a priest, back when Foley was 13 or 14 or 15. What are we supposed to think?

Hey, King,

I sitting here watching the Yanks hammer the Tigers, and it occurs to me:

When batters try to check their swings, just about any twitch counts as a strike. BUT! When batters offer bunt, and then pull back, the umps always let them off with a ball.

Note, King, that I am an old man, and it seems to me that batters used to get more leeway on checked swings than they do now, in the brave new 21st century. So I believe the bunt-offer thing ought to be evaluated in the same light as checked swings. And maybe the umps ought to become more consistent.

Please file this away in your Rule Changes/Rainy Day Columns file.

But right-wingers and christianists who might read this stuff won't even get it! They only laugh at stuff they saw on TV a hundred years ago. "Cocktober Surprise" and "Cage Aux Foley" are just too clever. It just makes them suspicious. And somebody needs to explain the joke, and then they feel resentful.

Foley has earned The Pages of Sin, but the right-wingers still will believe in their black hearts that this whole thing is some sort of liberal trick.

But the rightwingers and the christianists don't even get it. Robert Frost would get it, though. Unfortunately, neither the rightwingers nor Mr. Frost read Salon.

"EEZ NAHTHINK." That's how vampires say, "You're welcome."

Has anybody interviewed any former pages yet? What do they say? What was their attitude toward Foley? Surely some former pages will want to speak.

Who would NOT speak with Foley as soon as this issue arose? Bad management. Bad judgment. Teenage fast food managers know better. Hastert may be a good guy, but he is a bad manager. The rest of them seem to bad guys AND bad managers.

All they needed to do was speak with Foley, and tell him to stay away from pages. Just a quick ten-minute talk, followed by a confirming memo or e-mail. That would have covered their butts. They could be telling us now (semi-truthfully) that Foley back-slid, and let them down, rather than all this complicated preposterousness.

We need to have an on-going catalogue of crimes, lies, and maladministration by the Republicans here on Salon.

On the Salon home page, every day, we need a list of outrages, so that we can quit flipping away from torture and dungeons to congressional hard-ons to whatever comes next. Please make a list of one-line sin summaries, and keep it up to date.

Please let us comment on it, and suggest additions, just as we comment on regular Salon articles. But keep it up there, as you have kept the Abu G. photos.

1. The talk of Rep. Hastert "stepping down" means resigning as Speaker of the House, no? Is there any talk of Hastert leaving Congress altogether?

2. I wish we had not banned fat jokes in this discussion, in view of the fact that Cheney used the word "huge" when he was discussing Speaker Hastert.

"Moe, Larry, cheese! Whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop.....!"

"I have my cell phone in my pants pocket, Mr. President. It's set on 'Vibrate,' and it feels great!"

"This, Mr. President, is my hometown: Rosy Palm Beach."

"Former Texas Rangers owner George W. Bush (center) arrives at Barry Manilow's benefit concert for Afghanistan with Arabian Horse Association President Michael Brown (left) and Gay Rights activist Mark Foley. Mr. Bush praised President Gore's successful initiative to promote peace and cooperation in the Middle East."

Two runners coming to the plate at the same time. If the first guy ties up the catcher, it is a good play. This sort of situation can happen pretty frequently in softball. We can prepare for it, and start doing it on purpose. It is a good way to get a run.

Yesterday, it was a mistake, but tomorrow it just might win a game.

This is not "Foreign Affair." I want to hear it one more time through good speakers, but probably after that, never again.

If you know where to get a DVD, with video, of Tom's appearance on Austin City Limits, please tell me. Please just go to the War Room thread here on Salon, and boldly post the info. I will see it, and I will buy two copies, one for me and one for you, if you leave some clue about how to get in touch.