While the original pardoy idea ("Cheney's Got a Gun") is brilliant, the toon falls short of that mark. It has too many distracting juvenille things (for example, why is Cheney's fly open? And why does he throw his head back in that monster-movie-like fashion?), which make clear that, for some people, this is about releasing pent-up venom, just like the far-righters say it is. Likewise, the inclusion of empty beer cans make an assertion that certainly isn't proved and in fact has only been speculated about wildly.

All of which takes the edge off a clever paradoy, in my opinion. Believe me, there's more humor value and national import to this story than the right-wing media wants to admit. But we don't need to descend to the kindergarten playground to find it.

I do love the Elmer Fudd-esque rendering of the Vice President, though.

With respect,

The author askes,

That is the enigma of John Yoo: How can such a seemingly nice guy be so unaffected by having been the legal enabler of what normal Americans would call torture?

Historically, this is exactly the sort of person who can contemplate the unthinkable: He's no wild-eyed fanatic. He's just smug and arrogant and close-minded. Having decided his ultimate goal was good, he closed his eyes to anything that might detract from its holy goodness. It's precisely the same mental short-circuit that allows people calling themselves the vicars of the Prince of Peace to launch crusades and inquisitions.

Those of us in the reality-based community often don't realize this: These guys don't need evidence and they don't respect it when they have it. They already know all the answers; why bother checking the math? As a firend of mine once opined, "It's stupid to check your work. At best, you'll confirm your result, in which case it was redundant and you've wasted your time. And in the worst case, you'll discover a flaw and have think all over again, this time without a safety blanket." He was being facetious. These guys feel the same way, but they're serious.

God save the United States, 'cause Yoo and crew are doing all they can to destroy it.

Amen on Firefly . I guess we can "thank" Fox for sparing us the horror of watching it go into decline, by making sure it never reached its greatness first...

It's not even news anymore. After having his vice presidency stolen from him, Joe Lieberman has decided to sidle up and play nice. It's as pathetic as a dog looking for approval from an owner that beats him. I don't know if Lieberman thinks this makes him more "centrist" and thus more electable but his day is over: Democrats aren't looking to elect a DINO (Democrat in name only), and Republicans aren't going to vote for a Republican-lite.

Which, come to think of it, was his primary problem in the national campaign, too...

Does no one see the irony of ending a piece with "the only answer they have is yet another personal attack" when you kick it off with "Loathesome, vile, and disgusting - their contempt for civil behavior surpassed only by the emptiness of their own souls."?

I mean, come on. That's just absolutely brilliant.

How Keystone Kops is this? Trying to steal a march on the Republicans in the realm of security, the Democrats can't even manage to keep their plans secure?

Gah. As a lifelong Democrat I feel like I'm out in the tall grass wondering when my party was replaced by dim parodies...

... and War Room shouldn't lump it with the "petty" fights. I am a lifelong Democrat and try to support my party, but let's get real here: She punched a peace officer in his proper execution of his duties. She should get the same treatment anyone else would who punches a Capitol Police officer.... no more, no less.

It's a little silly to see people saying this is a petty fight, and to note that some of them were calling for Cheney's head in the whole buckshot thing. Personally, I think the Vice President _also_ should have suffered the consequences any citizen would, which would have included at the least a real investigation. But you can't hurl bricks at the Republicans for being "above the law" and then call a Democrat hitting a cop a "petty" dispute.

... is revealed by lines such as this:

Indeed, looking back at my own education, the teachers I most admired were rarely pictures of professionalism; they were energetic, emotional, passionate, open.

As a teacher of ten years, I fail to see any necessary conflict between professionalism and passion. It is possible to make contact with students without crossing even the blurred grey lines that haunt Ms. Karnasiewicz. But just as I would tell my students, there's no imaginable way where the situation is made worse by simply being aware.

Don't you get it? The advantage of having God on your team is, you get to define what is "right". And the advantage of having Alito, Gonzales, and other Acolytes of the Unitary Executive on your team is that, via "signing statements", you get to decide what is "legal". It's win-win for everyone...

... except the American people, who get to watch their once-great Republic sink into the muck of history.