" I remember his previous tour and how repubs(I speak with many people as per job) would say nasty things about his politicizing the music they love."

I attended one of Bruce's "Seeger Sessions" concerts in Northern Virginia where there are a lot of administration people last summer. It was sparsely attended. When he sang the song "Bring Them Home," I think that is the title, the silence was deafening. It is a true dilemma for the repubs who like Bruce.

Times are changing. Contrast this year with last. Verizon Center was sold out on Monday in 3 hours even after an additional concert was added.

As Paul Krugman says it is much easier to be against the administration today than it was, say 4 years ago. Today we have Kieth Olberman, Steve Colbert, Ciny Sheehan, et al.

When I was protesting during the run-up to the Iraq war it was common for the repubs to threaten me and report me to the FBI and CIA. I am sure they did and I think these agencies were receptive to the reporting. These guys also assured me that I was headed to Gitmo to be tortured. Back then, I was convinced I was going to be arrested and was constantly questioning whether i should continue protesting (dissenting). I determined that I wasn't accomplishing anything except annoying the repubs, so I stopped. I was also very concerned for my safety. I thought when the facts came out, the American people would be horrified.

How wrong can a man be? Wisdom doesn't come with age!

Glenn Greenwald is the tops and seems to always address topics that bother the hell out of me.

I get so annoyed at the Times columnists. Brooks who keeps on trying to tell me that Bush is an avid reader, that he is intelligent, wants the best for most Americans, that he is personable, and that he is a good guy. He also keeps saying that Hillary is the shoo-in for the Democratic nominations. He was, along with Friedman, Safire, Gordon, Miller and Bumiller lapdogs and stenographers for the administration. His "most Americans believe" annoys me to no end because i always believe just the opposite of what his "most Americans" believe.

I read the columnists all the time and feel he follows to the letter Rove's and Kristol's and Kaplan's neocon talking points.

Friedman annoys me much more because of his strongly supportive columns of the Iraqi war and now the fact that he wouldn't appear on Moyer's documentary about the press and its coverage of the run-up to the war.

i truly enjoy Dowd and wonder why some posters on Glenn's blog have stopped reading her?

I have been reading the Times and doing the crossword my whole life and it's hard to change. Even though they seriously screwed up the war issue.

I think Karl Rove, almost single-handily, but reportedly in cahoots with Vice, is responsible for the degradation of the political process in the U.S.A. He is the quintessence of the political animal that wins at all costs. A protege of Lee Atwater, he is the reason that the candidates pay money to political consultants because of the results he gets and the republicans are realistically much better at it. I know that he is still endeavoring to make HRC the nominee and he is echoed by Brooks and rest of the lapdogs. I can believe it. I can't understand how anyone could vote for her. The poll results are amazing to me, but that is normal because I can't understand the passivity of the citizens. We are going to see her supportive pro-war speech many times in the future. She makes Kagan appear rational.

The girl who kept telling Gore how to speak, stand, enunciate, gesture, etc. was at least partially responsible for his downfall. He came across as stunted and stilted. He speaks and acts so much better by being normal.

Wofson also appears to be a "thug." Just a meandering thought.

Kerry's advisers told him to ignore the slime job on his heroic war effort. He did and if he couldn't stand up to, nor beat that bogus rap, he didn't deserve to be president and I couldn't vote for him.

I want to ignore the political pundits and normally do a good job of it. However I do watch and listen to them more than I care to admit. The most repulsive are those supposedly democratic analysts who go on Fox News and then are used as foils to make the questioners appear to be so much better than they really are. What fools! What dolts!

"For one thing, the idea of setting an action-thriller against terrorist activity that's all too close to real-life events is simply opportunistic and creepy."

It seems to me that realizing the futility of changing the Middle East or occupying a sovereign country isn't easily learned. The French learned their lesson in Algeria yet they were fooled again in Vietnam.

The Bushies evidently never read any history. It seemed like a valid point to make; the Middle East is complicated

I'm no fool and realize that the great majority of Americans don't care about the people being killed in Iraq.

They only read the tabloids, watch the soaps and sitcoms, and go to the movies.

What's wrong with "real-life events," if they somehow educate the masses even a tad?.

"Regardless of any debate over typewriters, the ink is already dry on history's judgment of the Bush years.

What remains is the autopsy of that rotting cadaver curled up in the corner--what we used to call "the press"."

-- readin'&writin'