"People focus on what a dick that person is, rather than what an idiot he is."

Wow! Isn't it curious that the people who have all the criticisms of how Glenn runs the comments section of his blog; the ones who provide suggestions on how to make it "better';" the ones who want "rules," are the very dicks who drove Ondelette to another web site. It's all Glenn's fault! We dicks, need more direction from the leader to control us from being total assholes.

Glenn needs to baby-sit us, don'cha see?

That video from the Colbert Show was great and very effective!

Your question was great and the response absolutely ludicrous in the example they showed.

I think they almost picked the most egregious example of Todd's inexplicable prattle. The 30,000 feet bit would have had much more of a satirical effect. However, all in all, it was very satisfying for me.

I also noted that Stephen called you a journalist and not a blogger.

"Understanding why Americans no longer take an interest in the fabric of their national life may help answer the question of what we can do next."

I couldn't agree more. It's a great question. The only problem is that Americans would never, never be interested enough in finding out about something they really don't care about. As long as their own life is OK, then screw the world. It's not their business. That's why they elected the politicians. So that they use their judgement to protect us and keep us safe and if they go a little overboard, so be it.

It seems to me that the only people who "really" care about the fabric of their national life are the establishment-elite who have written the laws to be enforced on the lower-classes and break the law themselves with impunity. They pay dearly, with their hard-earned dollars, to congress to screw the less fortunate of the country. They are well-organized.

The country has deteriorated over the last 9 years to such depths I would have never considered possible. But no one cares!

There was a discussion in the comment section of the NYTimes about the Stewart/Williams interview. Not one comment was directed to the fact that Gregory was ass-kissing to get people to come on his show. Every comment related to that facts about how quick-witted both gentlemen were in putting each other down.

To the vast majority of people, caring about war crimes and a completely biased M$M, and the greedy bankers, and the outright incompetence of the politicians ruling us, is just a waste of time.

Regrettably, I am hard pressed to argue against their criticisms of my naivete.

In 2002 I did the same thing as I did during the Vietnam War relative to protesting the upcoming Iraq War and it was a completely different. Crowd-control had evolved into something extremely powerful, effective and sophisticated. The press was being controlled by corporations and the MIC. The protesters were powerless and the protests fell upon deaf ears! And since those experiences, the feeling of powerlessness and the strength of government has only increased with the advent of torture and the use of war for political purposes. It is a different kind of world than when I grew up, and is getting more terrifying every day; making the complete apathy of the average American citizen very distressing.

On top of that, with the immense power of the intelligence agencies and murky opaqueness of what the government is doing, makes me realize the futility of such "democratic" efforts in changing the government of the people.

I have never understood the attacks that are made on you. In fact, I find them deplorable. Your posts are informative, interesting and worth reading. I share your frustration and congratulate you for holding off for so long before making an issue of it. I am glad you did make an issue of it instead of just ignoring it and going to another site.

This whole area of blogging and commenting has a long way to go before there are enough rules to make it a little "fair."

I am profoundly cynical and therefore understand that there are people "out there" who are not very nice. What motivates them is beyond my comprehension.

Anyways, hang is there! I appreciate your comments and your considered points of view.

That was remarkable poem. Well done!

Continuing O/T...

I am not sure what the answer is and don't pretend to know. But today I observed 2 boys about 12-14 years of age riding ATM vehicles through a residential neighborhood, loaded with tots playing in the streets. The speed limit is 25 mph. They were in excess of the speed limit. It is a common occurrence. A catastrophe waiting to happen. No license plates, It seems to me their parents are responsible. What happens if their ATM vehicle hits a toddler?

I suspect their parents think they are in the woodlands.