Here is what I hear from my local christianist radio guy:

1. Bush was not a true Conservative. He was not Conservative enough.

2. We need to restrict American civil rights and freedoms even more, to fight the terrorists. (Newt Gingrich also, chillingly/laughably, is exploring this line right now.)

The hard-core political christianists' reaction to the 2006 election is to get tougher and more extreme. They will alienate more of their own people as they follow this course.

Please remember that these people believe that only a smallish fraction of the human race ever will get into heaven. They transfer this attitude to politics, where they believe only a small number of "true believers" actually are fit to lead.

They actually are more comfortable as an out-of-power minority. They want to be Holier Than Thou and More Certain Than Thou (and usually Richer Than Thou), rather than More Powerful Than Thou or Wiser Than Thou.

They will give up on the rest of us, and leave us to Satan, and cease to be a major political force, thank God.

Al Gore has worn well since 2000. I wish he would tell us why he gave up so easily in 2000, but what the heck?

Ten years from now, after two Gore terms, Hillary R.-C. still will be in her sixties (I think). She will have a good chance to become President then. Sadly, she has no chance now.

There is no point in staying. If insurgents and militias keep us from rebuilding the Iraqi government, economy, and infrastructure, we are doing no good.

Our departure will be ignominius at best, but staying would be worse. Maybe other nations can help Iraq. Maybe we can help in the future. Now we need to leave.

Making fun of the way rappers talk is like making fun of the way George Dubyah Bush talks, or people from Minnesota, or Valley Girls.

It is not racist. If you believe rapper patois is Black Speech, do you also believe all white folks talk like Ozzie Osborn?

Chee-uhl. Don't go noo-cyoo-luhr.

P.S. Either way, it's okay... but do the Wiggles really talk that way? I am far out of it, and I never have heard them.

In case you do not understand why Webb reacted as he did:

Bush has no right even to mention Webb's golden son with his (Bush's) bloody lying, cowardly weasel-mouth.

George W. Bush damn well better never say anything about my mother.

I just heard NPR interviewing retired General MacAffery (spelling?). He spoke practical truth, and he savaged W.Bush and Rumsfeld.

Maybe Gore and MacAffery? I still believe we need a general, and I am giving up on General Clark. When was the last time you heard anything from or about Gen. Clark?

MacAffery rocks!

We waste time and energy excoriating the lackey Tony Snow.

George W. Bush is the Kaiser Wilhelm of our time, or the Tsar Nicholas (Wilhelm II of Germany or Nicholas II of Russia, the losers of World War One).

These men were twits who had charge of great nations, who ran their great nations into the ground.

Please, let us figure out a way to prosecute our George II for his war.

What do Baker and Hamiltion say about Afghanistan? Do we still have a chance actually to help the Afghans, and to leave them better off than before we arrived?

We had justification when we went to Afghanistan. And we have had some success there. Can we pull back some of our troops and resources from Iraq, and put them to effective use in Afghanistan?

Plenty of people called BOTH Joe Fraysuh and Ali gorillas.

Ali is a great American. For my father's generation, he is The New Joe Louis, and they love him. For me, he is the Coolest Guy In The World, and I love him. And for my nieces and nephews, he is Hercules, a living super hero.

Joe Fraysuh! Joe Fraysuh! In my memory, I can hear how Ali used to talk. And I can see Joe Fraysuh's stone face and lava-pit eyes... All part of the myth.

Don't weep for Joe Fraysuh. He's okay. Don't weep for Ali. He's The Greatest.

1. English is not in danger. It thrives everywhere. People speak English to me everywhere I go (e.g. Europe and Latin America.) All the Asian and German people my wife works with speak English all the time at work. The Germans even speak English to each other at the corporate headquarters in Germany.

2. And, what really is "English?" Texans pronounce "eyes" the way I pronounce "Oz." Bostonians laugh at the way I say my own first name: It sounds to them as if I am saying "Tarm." And the way they say my name sounds like "Tohwawm" to me.

In England, they say "con-TRO-versy" and "DIS-tribute." And my own niece says "dih-ee-unh" instead of "didn't."

We do not need to legislate, and legislation never would work, anyway. Maybe we could pass a law against bad grammar, though. I would support that!

Andrew Leonard, you post more good stuff than anybody else on the www. And you elicit great responses from thoughtful, intelligent readers.

You must read mountains every day. You must read at the speed of light. Are your eyes holding up?

Cheers from one of your thoughtful, intelligent readers!