I almost read this book thru in one sitting; the only reason I didn't was that I finally passed out at about 4am, and had to finish it the next day.

Now, I've been a fan of Bechdel's DTWOF strip for many years. (And always offended that it's been ghetto-ized into the "Gay Lit" parts of the world; it's as good as Doonesbury at Trudeau's best, and deserves much broader exposure. She’s superb at explicating just how the personal is political, and vice versa. And her take on 9/11 was one of the best I've seen in any medium.) So it's possible the story was more moving and engaging to me than it would have been if I hadn't already come to love Bechdel's work, and eager to see more of the artist behind it.

But I doubt it. Ms. Bechdel is like your most intelligent, interesting friend, endlessly showing you, as the reviewer noted, "unexpected connections" in the world, and doing so with a gentle and ironic wit that are entrancing. Even more impressive when you realize that such a sensitive, brilliant, and seemingly sane mind and soul can have come from a background that could easily have led to a life of struggle and pain. The story (and the comic-book – sorry, “graphic novel” – presentation) are not only entertaining, affecting, and insightful, they're also inspiring.

...beyond an honest day's work for your pay.

It seems that there may have been a time when the social contract in this country was a bit different. You would go to work for a firm, and give them the best you could do, in exchange for which, you were reasonably assured (barring collapse of the firm or other events beyond management's control) of having a job for life if you wished one -- and maybe even a pension at the end that, together with your Social Security, would allow you to survive in modest comfort.

Those idyllic days are no more -- if indeed they ever were. (Reports vary.) And it was corporate management and governance -- with a generous assist from a government that has spent the last couple of decades working against all the gains of the labor movement that permitted this middle-class paradise -- that chose this path. You and I were given no say in the matter.

So they require that you take a test -- whose validity, reliability, replicability, and predictive value, if any, are sketchy at best -- to secure a job? Fuck 'em. If you have anything like the 3-digit IQ you seem to have, you can readily show them what they likely want, and be satisfied that you have done no wrong. They're almost certainly not going to be going out of their way to take care of you.

And no, of course I would never let them see anything like this antagonism and hostility back when I had to fill out such tests; I was just the sweetest little thing y'ever did see. Seems to have worked; I never got dinged for any job I wanted. Now I own my own company -- and my employees, who are paid far better then my industry's norms, don't have to take any stupid tests.

Incumbency and money are just two of three advantages the Republicans hold -- if not four.

It should now be painfully clear to everyone that the mass media -- print and television -- are a wholly owned subsidiary of the RNC. (Literally: NBC is owned by GE; Disney owns ABC; Viacom owns CBS. These corporations are NOT on our side.) Fox, CNN, and MSNBC; Rush, Imus, and their ilk; as blatant and damaging as they all are, are secondary. It's the networks and major national papers -- the New York Times and the Washington Post -- that are the issue here, in that they still determine the agenda of the news industry. Even a cursory analysis of the coverage of campaigns, and politics in general, demonstrates that the media are putting their collective thumbs heavily on the scale in every way that they can, from the portrayals of the candidates and parties; through decisions of what stories to cover and which to ignore -- which means, in effect, to suppress; to the furtherance of the underlying themes and memes favorable to Republican candidates at all levels.

Until the left invests in its own media outlets, we will be stymied at every step, even if we do, thru some miracle, manage to retake one or both houses of Congress.

And then, of course, there are the questions of whether the elections are at all "free and fair," or whether Republican efforts to disenfranchise Democratic voters, and/or possible hacking of voting machines, are significant enough to change electoral outcomes.

We should be so lucky as to have only Republican incumbency and money to worry about.