You won't catch him in hemp underwear beating a bongo drum in prayer circle.

Al Gore is a techie with a serious interest in the environment. This is a perfect move for him, and good for him. Society needs its bongo-drum players and it also needs people who can work with industry for real change. You won't get companies to go green just because it's the "right thing to do." You get them to go green by showing them cost-savings and new revenue sources. Al Gore can help make that happen.

The Catholic Church: love it or leave it?

Hey, every religious sect needs its heretics. In fact, were there no heretics, there'd be no sects.

I say, more power to them.

The Catholic Church offers a unique path to God not found in Protestantism: the pope as a leader of structured hierarchy, the emphasis on Mary and the saints, a heightened sense of mystery, and a rich art and cultural heritage. You can want to retain some of these unique aspects while being disappointed by and working against others. That just makes you a thoughtful and questioning believer.

So long as your requested changes don't contradict the core of the faith (Jews for Jesus? Um, that the Messiah has NOT yet come is kinda a big difference), I say go for it.

You'll be belittled, dismissed and/or expelled. Just like all of the other great church leaders.

I don't have a problem with politics being "the family business" if family members 1) don't feel forced to take the path, 2) don't become overly-insulated in their narrow world, and 3) still engage in robust debate. Which sort of goes for any family business, I guess.

Meanwhile, isn't it time to can the whole notion of Red State vs. Blue State? I know reductionist categories make it easier for us to talk about these sort of things, but geez. If a state really were "Red" how could it turn "Blue" from one election to the next? Don't most of the same people still live there (exceptions, I suppose, for certain cities)? I think "Red State vs. Blue State" was created just because it looked good in PowerPoint.

We all live in fundamentally like communities in the U.S. We're mostly the same. What makes us different are very small points. These points give pollsters a job and incite some lively debate, but human beings have entirely too many variables to be neatly confined to two distinct categories.

"So, when democrats promote a surveillance state in the name of public safety, it's OK?"

Red light cameras are far less invasive than the security cameras in stores, at ATMs, etc. These cameras capture the faces and movements of anyone visiting an establishment or in the public streets in their vicinity. Red light cameras, when working properly, capture one thing only: the license plate of someone breaking an MPH law. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/red-light-camera.htm

Red light cameras certainly have their issues: whether they're programmed properly, the money made off of them, whether other traffic changes should be made to discourage speeding, etc., but privacy is not the nost compelling argument against the cameras.

Women like Rose Marie Hudson and Elsie Hainz McGrath could see themselves as saving Catholicism, not profaning it.

The U.S. Catholic population has grown to keep pace with the overall U.S. population (holding at 23% since 1965). However, even though the Catholic population has grown numerically, the number of priests and seminarians have plummeted. Currently, over 3,000 Catholic churches (17% of parishes) don't have a resident priest! And Mass attendance is dropping. To survive, the Catholic Church needs more priests to minister to their flocks and perform the sacraments.

http://cara.georgetown.edu/bulletin/index.htm

Slackie Onassis, this point is dead-on: "the reactionaries won't listen to the liberals, and the liberals won't stand fast on what principles they still hold dear."

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Newsflash: in their leisure time, people tend to gravitate towards pleasing media that confirms their beliefs. Shocker.

Conservatives (who broadly prefer black-and-white ethics and notions of rugged individualism) like conservative news sources, reality television and action/adventure movies.

Liberals (who broadly favor a more nuanced approach and see positive power in governmental institutions) like liberal news sources, artsy media and convoluted dramas.

With the internet and hundreds of television channels, people can segment themselves in ways they never could before. It's possible to consume lots of media and have it only be media that confirms your beliefs. Great for niche groups to be able to find each other. Bad for divergents to find common ground.