I didn't see a debate, an opportunity to compare and contrast ideas and proposals between two candidates. It was an insult.

"Senator Obama, even though no measure of a candidate could be more worthless than a willingness to pin a ceramic flag pin, probably made in China, to your lapel, you won't do it. What's the deal with that, Dude?"

"Senator Clinton, same question: Why do YOU think Senator Obama refuses to wear a flag pin on his lapel?"

And so on, and so on, to the weary end of the world.

Joan, I am very disappointed with Salon's coverage of this election as you consistently beat the drum for Hillary's nomination no matter the cost. You support her. I get that. But I so rarely see any articles telling me why I should vote for her or what makes her the best candidate, or addressing the serious reservations I have about her; however, I do see many articles trying to scare me out of voting for Obama. Throughout several letter threads I've tried to politely engage several Hillary supporters, and generally elevate the discussion beyond the Obamatron/Hillarybot sniping. I've exchanged a few pleasant posts with Hillary supporters, but still don't have the answers I seek.

A website like Salon should be leading the charge in elevating this debate. Instead of talking about Obama's alleged stumbles, you should be joining your voice to those who are rightly voicing frustration at the insipid questions, the last chance we have as voters, to listen and cast informed votes for the candidate who seems to best represent our philosophy and outlook toward the problems facing us. If Hillary and McCain were debating, and the first hour was devoted to asking Hillary questions about "likability" and "Bosniagate" and "Why didn't you divorce Bill? Are you a doormat, or just a dumb sucker, or were you afraid of losing access to all that built-up political power?"-- if that was the case, Joan, I don't think you'd be writing a column about her "stumbles." You'd be livid at the pointlessness of the questions; you sure as hell wouldn't be running around the next day suggesting she should just get "out of the kitchen" if she didn't like the questions.

Bottom line: I recently renewed a subscription to Salon using money that I really can't afford. I've been holding off on canceling that subscription in the hopes of seeing Salon take its place at the forefront of leading a helpful discussion of the where we stand as progressive/liberals, but so far this has not happened; I still have hopes, however. Hillarybots/Obamatrons: We do have a common enemy, do we not? Remember McCain? He of the Shia/Sunni what's the dif? foreign policy? Who thinks the Surge was all about cutting senseless slaughter by 30 percent and everything is just great? The guy who is actually being painted by the media as a MODERATE alternative when in reality he is nowhere near being a moderate?

Time's running out, Joan. You are perfectly positioned to assume a true leadership role in the coming months, but you can't achieve this by endlessly trying to tear down someone who should be viewed as a valuable ally in the greater war.

The only thing that has scared me the last seven years is the reality of what the Bush gang as been doing to the country and the constitution. The only thing that scares me on the horizon is McCain carrying on more of the same.

I think the thing Hillary fears most is that she doesn't get to be President.

I wonder - if Obama had won last night do you think that Clinton would be bowing out today, acknowledging that the writing is on the wall for her 2008 aspirations? Given that her only remaining strategy is to take it to the convention and hope the Superdelegates give her the victory she has been unable to earn through the primary process, did Obama ever have a chance of "closing the deal?" I think it's a fair question considering the obvious slant of the headline. If he'd taken 75 percent of the vote, but Hillary still stayed in the race, I bet you'd be running the same headline.

When Obama wins North Carolina, I wonder how Salon will be spinning that one. I bet it won't be "Hillary unable to gain ground on Obama." No, it will be just another spin job about how if you factor in this or that, Hillary actually won in a landslide.

I wish you had been the moderator of the last debate. All your questions are right on.

At least I think they are. I can't tell unless I first know if you were wearing a flag pin when you wrote them. That's the important thing.

Well, laugh all you want but I'm betting that the next time those guys start to hate us for our freedom, they're gonna think twice, long and hard.