Actually, it could very easily be argued that we're losing the war because our soldiers don't speak Arabic. I couldn't agree more that we shouldn't have been there in the first place, but that's not why we're losing. We're losing because they hate us so much they are willing to kill themselves and each other to get to us, and I would argue that the main reason they hate us is our imperialist behavior.

Many generals, Petraeus included, have long since concluded that we lost the 'hearts and minds' battle from the start, a battle that is crucial when trying to restore peace in an insurgency situation. Don't you think at least speaking the local language would go a long way towards alleviating that situation? The importance of communication when you've got this kind of culture clash really can't be overstated. I'd be willing to bet that for every insurgent who wants to kill Americans because of our decadent imperialist culture, there are dozens who are pissed because they had a run-in with a soldier who humiliated them.

"Labor pain as a psychosomatic response to fear?" Are you kidding me? I haven't been through it myself, but it seems to me that simple physics would refute that one. Orifice roughly the size of a lime, accommodating the passage of an item the size of a watermelon? The word OW springs to mind. Repeatedly.

Admittedly I haven't been through all the letters here but it seems that Cary and many respondents are missing one HUGE red flag here, and that is the physical danger this woman is putting her husband in. If her judgment is impaired enough to sleep around this much, do you think she's always practicing safe sex? And even if she uses a condom every single time, there are plenty of diseases she can bring home to her husband that condoms don't protect you from.

Once upon a time, cheating was only a moral issue, but times have changed. Every time she cheats, she is putting her husband's health in danger.

The two main arguments I've heard from fellow progressives against HRC:

1. She's too centrist, too moderate, too hawkish, not pulling hard enough to the left.

2. She's too polarizing and will worsen the bitter divide between left and right in Washington.

Does anyone else see a problem with pairing up these two arguments?

When my Obama-supporting buddies accuse me of making my choice based on gender (not entirely true, as I'd never support a Republican woman), I remind them that it will be sexist to factor that in only when the following are true:

- We make 100 cents on the dollar

- We have more than 15% representation in government

- We have more than 5% representation at the top levels of business.

The same can be said for voting for an African-American based in part on his identity. Since these identities continue to present a barrier to participation in the highest levels of American life, business and government, I don't find it problematic at all to factor it in. It shouldn't be the only factor, of course, and I don't agree with Hillary on all the issues, but she is a damn smart woman, and she's a policy wonk, and we're well overdue for *any* of those characteristics in the Oval Office.

And Rebecca, if this helps your choice any... if you pull that lever for the woman, chances are you'll get both. If you pull it for the man, we're going to have to wait a long, long time for another woman to come around.

In the spirit of trying to understand the other person's POV, I was very reluctantly giving Fredell the benefit of the doubt... until I read her reaction to masturbation ("Oh, God, no!"). It is abundantly clear that all of her faux-feminist arguments and secularism are a cover for nothing more than an innate fear of, or disgust with, sexuality. (See also her reference to oral sex as "degrading and disgusting.")

If she were really just about abstinence as a means of enhancing relationships and avoiding disease/pregnancy, she should be promoting masturbation as a safe method for learning about one's body (in order to improve marital sex) and finding release from those naughty urges. She's not just promoting abstinence, she's promoting asexuality. Good luck with that.