Major Payne... you seem to be hoping that, if it becomes clear during her confirmation hearings that Ms. Sotomayor will seek to interpret the constitution in ways that provide and protect the right to justice of all our nation's citizens rather than just conservative, rich, white men, the nation will be so shocked and appalled at this usurpation of what you and your friends regard as your rightfully privileged position that it will rise up against her.

You are wrong.

We've had thirty years, more or less, of seeing what government by, of and for rich white men and their business and banking interests gets us. More of the same in any part of government and especially on the Supreme Court is the LAST thing the American public wants now.

As we watch what happens to my Governor, the boyishly charming - looking Timmy Pawlenty who, though he projects the image of Tom Riddle in "The Chamber of Secrets," acts like Lord Voldemort in "The Halfblood Prince." He's just about finished with destroying the State of Minnesota at the behest of GroverNorq and his rich buddies to whom he sold his soul about a decade ago.

How much clout the CfG still has will be seen in whether and if they're able to lift their "boy" Timmy out of comparative obscurity to overcome all challengers and become the Republican Candidate for president in 2012.

Whatever his fate, the majority of Minnesotans will be deliriously happy to see him gone. It will take us decades to rebuild/replace what he's torn apart and defuse all the ticking time bombs of state budget deficit programmed into the future by his outrageous borrowing, accounting gimmicks and general financial slight of hand, all designed to leave the state in the hole for years to come just so he could keep the CfG types happy while he was our gov.

IMHO it's perfectly possible to be healthy while making your living as a prostitute - especially when you're not hiding anything from anyone and have kept your wits about you and your head on squarely.

On the other hand, risking your career to pursue what can only be described as sexual behaviors and compulsions kinky enough to indicate serious psychological dysfunctions beneath the surface while belonging to the lily white party of rich old men who constantly proclaim to the heavens how much they want to protect straight marriage and how much they believe in purity and morality brings you to a level of hypocrisy that means you simply can't be trusted.

Seriously, I can't help but wonder who has more salacious goods on Vitter than we've yet become aware and what political favors he's already granted and what more would he be willing to grant to protect his image from further damage?

An honest prostitute or a sociopathic, provably dishonest, sex-crazed politician? Not too difficult, is it?

But we're also talking Louisiana.

Who lead their congregations into doing the true work of God as taught by Moses, or Elijah, or Jesus or Mohammed or any number of other key religious figures going back through history. Despite his noisy, controversial sermons, Rev. Wright was always among these leaders.

BUT SUCH WORK IS NOT NEWS! IT GETS NO AIRPLAY!

Religion, on the whole is far too much the stuff of good news, of peace, of decency and harmony for the news media of the world to pay any attention to it.

For every whackjob of any stripe who shoots a doctor who provides women with reproductive health services, or demonstrates with hate-filled signs at the funerals of soldiers or gay and lesbian folk, or shoots up a holocaust museum, there are millions of wonderful people doing the amazing work, founded in their religious beliefs (and some with no religious foundation), that forms the backbone of society.

Sadly, we get more of what we are led to pay attention to. Until we turn off the MSM and start finding better news in other places, things are only going to get worse...

Let's see what was that old pseudo-religious phrasing? Oh, yeah, the news media, as it's currently constituted, is taking us to "hell in a handbasket" and we're giving them our eyeballs, our attention and, hence, our money to do it to us.