Please stop focusing any more attention on this pathetic woman and her sidekick. I'm with the letter-writer who wants to read more about Obama and the exciting things he's up to. Don't you think the RNC gets enough publicity from its own toadies?

McCain: you can put lipstick on him, but that won't stop him from patting you on the head like a good little woman.

Another Ohmygodheresabigfirewheresthefireengines!article about this boring drab person.

One word: Forgettable.

Can we cover something interesting and newsworthy now?

Here was a great chance to actually give some air time to an organization which has something interesting to say. Not just something interesting, but something. Anything. Do you know how rare that is these days?

It's clear that the people who have been made rich over the past decade are not going to vote Democrat. Not unless they see how close they are to losing all of it.

You almost did it, Salon. You almost had an article which wasn't about the Republicans. You are trying really hard to get them elected, aren't you?

At least you have Obama's picture up. At least his name comes up once or twice in the story. But it still isn't a story about Obama and the Democrats. It is still a story which defines him in reaction to people about whom I, as a reader, have no desire to read. Moreover, you want to define the candidates who are interesting, who aren't shrill, who actually have something to say and contribute, against a standard which isn't even worth the keystrokes.

My time is valuable and I can only devote so much to reading, especially about politics. I guess Salon isn't the place to find my information.

I, for one, am pleased that Obama isn't being saddled with the burden of that one.

It isn't just the economy. The only place I'm likely to read a paper nowadays is at a coffee shop, and I was never in the habit of reading sex advice or columns in public places anyway. What if it turned me on? Do you expect readers to do something about that right there? Might make for an interesting column though ...

Your checklists make me want to disconnect my phone, too. Start discussing real issues in an open, intelligent, and analytical fashion like you're talking to a human being instead of an answering machine, and you might, not only persuade a voter, but make a friend.

Repeal every other abhorrent law.

What a terrific idea, Glenn! Get the worst out of the way right from the start.

While I agree with other readers who said that it isn't time to conflate Michelle Obama's stint as First Lady with what the press chooses to cover at this point when they haven't even moved into the White House, I certainly agree that stories about what she wears are disappointing. That isn't because of what she wears, but because the content is "dumbed down" and boring.

I do take exception to the idea, however, that choosing to be a mother is somehow choosing a lesser occupation. Like any form of work, it's the quality of energy that gets put into it. Many full-time mothers I know are also community organizers.

Yes, the rest of the world is celebrating, or at least heaving a huge sigh of relief. We look forward to seeing what shapes up in terms of US foreign policy, the environment, and trade agreements. Much of our own prosperity and health depends on building a sustainable future together.

Jerzy Kosinski wrote "Being There" in 1979. This tendency to romanticize and attribute more intelligence and political "street-cred" to the dull and ignorant has been around for a long, long time.

This is probably the last post I will ever write on the subject of Sarah Palin. Let her die! She never had anything interesting to say when she had political life. Don't think this is going to change now that her campaign nose-flopped with gusto. There are so many more exciting and even attractive-looking politicians: ones with real things to say. If you have a deadline, start looking for them, and interviewing them. I'm tired of reading about undeserving nincompoops.

A commitment to the child is all that matters. Love them, and look after their food, shelter, clothing, and teach them how to look after themselves and their community. The rest is choice.

What makes Graner's imprisonment cruel and unusual is that others who share the responsibility are in prison as well.

What makes Charles Graner's imprisonment unusual and cruel is that others who share responsibility are NOT in prison as well.

Thanks, Andrew. Although I would normally not recommend anecdotal evidence to support conclusions--too often used to set up a smokescreen, as Noonan did---I think your example is perfect because you actually list the airlines which pulled out and why.

So vampires aren't my kink.

So it doesn't make sense to fall in love with leeches. Who ever said fantasies are rational?

I get really nervous around folks who think that fantasies should conform to logic. I like to keep my fantasy world and reality nicely separated and distinct, a time and place for each. The funniest thing for me about this whole vampire craze is watching people trying to rationalize why people are attracted to fantasies.

As though a person could ever come up with a sound reason for that.

As though they actually should.

It isn't just the NYT. This is pretty standard now. I've noticed a number of editorial decisions to print interviews verbatim in which people blithely and blindly expose their full monty in front of readers, so why should writers who go for autobiographical anecdotes be exempt? Where was it ever written that editors are in the business of protecting them? Sometimes it's most effective to pay out that rope and let them hang themselves. That's part of good storytelling, too.