Thanks for bringing this level-headed appraisal of modern American intellectual developement to our attention in such an even-handed fashion. I think there is more to it and I'll anticipate the debate continueing in the comming months are the drum-beat of culture war quickens.

I am curios about one thing mentioned; the The Great American Awakening in the early 19th century that brought us a number of remarkable indigenous movements, not the least of which would be Mormonism. I've heard this also referred to the "the Burnt Land movement" where the burning refers to the burning sensation in the soul, but an historical examination draws attention to the fact that this place and period was an area (upper New York state's argicultural hinterland) that had been simultaneously de-forested and was suffering the effects of a series of famously cold and wet growing seasons as a result of volcanic eruptions in Asia which created the conditions ideal for the proliferation of ergot in the food supply. The spiritual awakening taking place was frequently one in which visions of firey apocalypse and visitations from other terrfying realms seemed real and widespread. Only natural that a failed writer in the nascent science-fiction genre, a follower of Edgar Allan Poe, would find an audience eager for an explanation to all that they'd been witnessing in their own communities, with their own eyes, archaeological remnants of which they would un-earth with their plows and by the agency of Treasure Hunters like Joseph Smith who were bilking the public by selling treasure hunting books and maps, and desperate in search of an answer to bring their perception of reality into alignment with their scriptural beliefs.

The "fact" that W hates McCain, whether it's true of not, is a smokescreen in my opinion. The fact of the matter is that the Bush family is not done with the whitehouse yet. Jeb, according to the accumulated wisdom, is the main act, and W merely a surprise. I suspect that McCain and super effective Jeb could squash the Obama Clinton machine when push comes to shove, in such a way that it will appear to be a fair fight, though with the continued layering on of issues and regulation and election shenanigans, I wouldn't trust much of the process the way it's run.

I wish it weren't so, but as long as dems delight in acting hysterical over the slightest difference in the individual candidates' positions, the less likely they are to make their erstwhile supporters and other GOP haters to unite in a solitary effort to oppose the extension of this era of corporate influence and corruption, if only to replace it with theirown brand of it.

As long as we have an endless supply of fear we will have and endless supply of that kind of logic, if that in fact is an appropriate use of the word. Of course the way to dispell fear it to learn something about that which generates our fear, but then, we'd have less time for religion, sports and celebrity scandal. Perhpas we're getting the government we deserve and the consequences that are sure to follow.

...Manjoo's coverage of the issue was nothing short of dumb, the kind of pseudo-intellectual and politico-speculative kind of chit chat heard at a martini bar and having more to do with the NYT's science section and book of the month club selection than a look into the ulterior motives and methods that actually drive this sort of high profile developemental spy technology. But then, this is Salon. Who the heck want to know about particle accellerators or hig frequency atmospherics unless it has an impact of metrosexuality and eco-panic over where to vacatin next year.

Stick to what you know and you'll less like an ass.

I see the previous posters are kinda down on her, but I am impressed. To say that she isn't as beautiful as MM is to rely too much on the obviously subjective nature of beauty. To deny her MM-ness based on their life expereince is to ignore that simply being treated like MM doesn't make one MM.

Objectively,however, she has the physicality needed and from the standpoint of objective aesthetics (not always a contradiction in terms) she is very close...and most compelling, her public personna is quite close to MMs. I don't know if most readers know this, but MM was widely ridiculed by the same sort of wet blankets that would today deny Lindsey the sort of attention she attracts now. The real question is can Lindsey handle the attention and its debilitating effects. Perhpas if the nasty comments hurled at her so thoughtlessly by those who claim to love MM were not so cruel we might see her evolve into the character that MM would have been herself.

I think the issue of mercury in our environment is a serious one but realistically nobody's gonna take their burned out or shattered CFL to a better alternative. Why not see that every CFL and every consumer battery for devices (they contain a number of toxic ingredients I'd like to see eliminated from our waste stream) is produced and sold with an envelope into which the old one can be placed and put into a mailbox. As 1st class and advertising mail is replaced by more and more use of electronic communications, it would be a wise thing to have our mail carriers do the needed task of seeing that these particularly troublesome products make it back to their sources before they contaminate the waste stream we hope one day to be the ground upon which we live.