Come on -- do you really believe this? After what you've just described, you REALLY think that Hilary or any woman has any shot whatsoever of becoming president, in THIS culture?

I'd love to believe we're advanced enough to elect a woman, but if it happens in my lifetime (I'm 38) it will be the single most stunning event I have ever witnessed.

they're taking a long time to get here, no?

We've been hearing this same bullshit since Sept. 12, 2001, and I'm still waiting for someone, anyone, to explain: if Al-Qaida (or whomever) is planning on continuing attacks on U.S. soil, WHY HAVEN'T THERE BEEN ANY MORE? Just waiting for the right moment, are they?

Of course as soon as I hit the 'publish' button I remembered the anthrax thing, which often does seem to get forgotten these days. But yes, your point about the sheer volume of illegal drugs, etc., getting into this country is exactly right. It seems obvious that the terrorist threat has been vastly overblown.

Those of us who understand what a sewer the news media has become would go completely insane were it not for the insights of the very few REAL journalists, such as Greenwald, who dare to speak the truth.

Thank you, Salon, for continuing to publish his very important work.

and almost everybody gets through it. It is, admittedly, the hardest thing in the world to believe, though, when you're in the thick of it as Ms. Glembocki is right now.

You feel like you can't do anything right. Obviously you are so incompetent you should never have had this baby. But then one day, sometime during those first weeks, something clicks into place, and it's like you've been doing it forever. And then the months go by and they smile at you. And then they talk to you. And they laugh. And it is wonderful. You have turned into Mommy, for real.

My 3-year-old, while occasionally driving us nuts with the general 3-year-old misbehavior, will turn to my husband and me with her gigantic brown eyes and her fetching smile, and say, "I love you Mommy. I love you Daddy." And at that moment you can't stay focused on whatever the latest little thing is she's been doing wrong.

So take heart, Ms. Glembocki -- those days are coming.

Attempting to smear their opponents for a lack of "manliness" (whatever the hell that is) is what these people have done, seemingly, forever, so no surprise there. The big question is how long the American people will continue to fall for this crap and vote against their own interests.

We're spending $12 billion a month in Iraq. Meanwhile our schools, roads and bridges are falling apart, we're consuming toxins in our drinking water, and we're not even trying to address the catastrophic damage we continue to do to the environment. How stupid can people be, and for how long? Will this finally be the year that the voters wake up and realize that the conservative "dream" of non-functioning government has had horrific consequences for our nation?

As always, massive hypocrisy is just dandy if you're a Republican.

That being said, though, Spitzer is still a clown. How do they think they're not going to get caught? They ALWAYS get caught in the end.

And also -- what the hell do the wives have to gain by standing there like human props during these excruciating press conferences? Just once I'd like to see the wife storm off stage giving her insincerely-apologizing whore-monger husband the finger. Or better yet, I'd like to see one of these women let the guy stand there and twist in the wind on his own.

As someone who slogged away at traditional reporting jobs for a decade, I can relate to the letter writer's dilemma. It is damn hard to break in to the field initially, particularly if you don't have clips. It really is critical to get those first clips somehow -- even if you have to do some work for free. However, I would suggest that the letter writer consider other types of writing jobs, such as reporting for trade magazines, or corporate communications writing jobs, that offer several advantages. They pay WAY better than newspaper reporting jobs. Also, the hours are more regular. The downside is that you don't get to be as creative. But I found that even in my newspaper jobs, there was often way less opportunity for creativity than I would have liked. Best of luck to the letter writer -- I hope it works out for him/her!

You know, hanging out with your friends and family. Getting outside and exercising. Reading a BOOK. Having actual life experiences, instead of crouching in your basement in the dark like a psychotic, committing "virtual" murders.