I'm genuinely looking for some clarification, so please don't think I'm being snarky or smug.

Slackie wrote: "It's the difference between a cleanly, clearly communicated idea, and noise."

Is that last comma, between "idea" and "and," technically allowed to be there? Under what justification?

I put it there for a bit of a rhetorical pause -- Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) 15th edition, section 6.36 ("if in doubt, use a comma to indicate a pause"). I thought my often-used emdashes deserved a break, and ellipses seemed too melodramatic, so I went with a comma. It just feels rushed without some kind of break in there.

And: "Editing's an invisible art, and, sadly, appears to be going by the wayside..."

Since that's a compound predicate (IS an invisible art and APPEARS to be going...) and not a compound sentence, why is there a comma before the conjunction?

CMS 6.30, parenthetical elements -- "commas set off parenthetical elements if a slight break is intended." It probably would read better as "...invisible art and, sadly, appears...." -- I just think I paused real-time while typing it, trying to figure out where I was going with the thought, and relied on the comma to buy me a breather.

Pretty good piece, Professor Schaller. One thing...

With the GOP one defeat away from being reduced to minority status at every level of government,

Except the Judiciary. They've still got a lock on the Supremes, where they can hunker down for a long, long time. And Bush/Cheney(Rove) planted plenty of reactionary judicial appointees out there in the lower courts. How fitting that the least democratic branch of government is where the GOP will remain strongest.

Is David Brooks right about Fred "Leatherface" Thompson? Meh. Brooks tells bedtime stories to reactionaries, weaves little fantasies and sophistries out of the ether and declares them national trends. His status as a pundit has always been a source of shock and awe to me.

As for Romney the Robot, well, I hope he wins the GOP nomination. Mitt the Mimbo would be decimated by Obama or Clinton, and would probably even have a tough time against Edwards.

The most horrifying thing remains how much the GOP base loves Bush. I don't know if they'll be able to find a truly sociopathic candidate soon enough to really fill his shoes -- Tom DeLay, maybe? After the un-American radicalism of this rogue presidency, everybody else will seem tame.

Hope it helps, Woodside -- although I'm a comma-lover, so watch out for me! I'm not a fan of Samuelson's views in general, but I had to sympathize with this column of his about the poor, disappearing comma...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19762074/site/newsweek/

I'm surprised the Bush League hasn't come up with a "final solution" for the prisoners -- but I guess even they figure it would look bad to arbitrarily execute prisoners without trial in secret prisons (in the name of freedom and democracy, no less).

Maybe the US should clear everybody out and give back Guantanamo Bay to Cuba? Just a thought, like baby steps back into the justice system. I'm sure that'll happen sometime in this century (rolling eyes). Then again, the American gulag serves such a handy purpose, I doubt we'd ever part with that base, or the detention area, all of that, even though the whole history of our internationally-questionable leasing of Guantanamo Bay from Cuba is bizarre, points to our kind of "do as we say, not as we do" approach to sovereignty and treaties in general.

So, the Gitmo camp is kind of the icing on the cake, really. A symbol of lawlessness by the corrupt cop on the world beat.

At least once he gets his new pacemaker battery installed, people won't be able to call Dick heartless, anymore.

Is an American Dickover actually in the works? Could this honestly be for real? I mean, I know he's been Shadow President since '00, but still, it's pretty creepy, even by the GOP's already sickoid standards.

If the Republican Party is the party of personal responsiblity, then Bush voters, being party members, are personally responsible for Bush.

I love that! Too funny, and too true! For all the soreness aimed at Naderites and Gore's tepid 2000 campaign, the real blame for Bush belongs with the folks who freakin' voted for Bush, for sure (including the Supreme Court justices who disgraced themselves in their kingmaking). Oh, and the lickspittle GOP Congress that enabled him, and the mainstream media who curled up at his feet.

But definitely the elephant's share of the blame goes to those Bush voters (and the independents and moderates who were cowed into voting for him not once, but twice -- what the hell, people?) And a big chunk of those people still think Bush did (and is doing) a helluva job.

Not like anybody has any doubts about Arlen Specter's allegiance, but, from the NYT...

President Bush was accompanied on his visit to Philadelphia by Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee. Mr. Specter has been as critical of Mr. Gonzales as have the Democrats, and he told reporters that he might talk to the president today about his concerns, The Associated Press reported.

Later, after returning to Washington, Mr. Specter declined to discuss what he and the president had talked about. Asked whether he supported the call for a special counsel, which was led by Senator Schumer, Mr. Specter said he did not.

...so, for all his stern words and admonishments, he's continuing to work his master's business on the inside.

Maybe he'll just declare himself Dicktator and be done with it, saying that, on account of his heart, running for President would be too stressful, so, by stroke of a pen, he becomes the Unitary Executive. But who would his VP be? Condi Rice? Karl Rove?