I agree with you, Joan, that accounts of the Clinton/Lewinsky affair are boring and unnecessary! However, there was never enough (hardly anything) written about Clinton's sex addiction--which I imagine has gone untreated! (Meeting with Christian clergymen does not count as addiction treatment!)

The point is that sex addition, like many other addictions, is a serious problem in the United States--and elsewhere. Just look at the recent "problems" of David Letterman to get a clue! However, it is not talked about as what it is: compulsive behavior which is self-destructive and destructive to others as well--like alcoholism or drug abuse.

Nobody is above addiction--not a President or a famous late-night entertainer. And we should put aside our puerile curiosity to understand this!

..."The problem he ran into is that the Senate's usual way of doing things -- looking for bipartisan compromises, building wide coalitions to support legislation -- doesn't seem to be working on healthcare reform."

Ummm...not really! The problem is that Max Baucus is beholden to the big insurance companies--and their formidable lobbying groups! Is it $3 or $4 million dollars he received from them in the last election? What is a million here or there?

Bottom line: The man is from a small, mostly rural, state. He does not understand the intense healthcare crises in large urban areas--AND he is "bought off." Recipe for disaster. Which his bill IS!!!! He should never have been given the authority to craft a bill--and now Obama knows that!!!!

I wish to give a positive stroke to "DAMNTHATXANDU" for the wonderful comment about Bill Moyers (on the Bill Maher show last night)! I agree with everything he/she had to say about Moyers! What is so sad to me is that Moyers is aging (aren't we all?), and there really is nobody with his scope of wisdom and experience to take his place!

Also, a little shout out to "MIKEBUZZ!" You need to get a higher-level, more complete, political education and also, a life!

Why don't you just say it, Mr. Greenwald. Most mainstream, corporate journalists (right and left) are BOUGHT OFF!!! Maybe not by money--but certainly by access. That is what happened as we moved towards invading Iraq, and it kept going as long as the public was SCARED!!!!

Guess what, the public is still SCARED! Now it is about "killing Grandmother!" Nothing has changed!!!

This revelation is heartbreaking to me! Not because I thought Obama was above bargaining with corporations to get legislation he wanted, but because I see that he has caved in so thorougly--that his healthcare reform legislation will not only have no teeth, it will likely have very little impact!

I think we, the voting public, are culpable. We should have been (should be NOW) in the streets--demonstrating and demanding decent healthcare for us all! What is wrong with US?

I know you took this website from my comment, Alex! And there was NO ATTRIBUTION! I am contacting my lawyer tomorrow to discuss this insult! Isn't is a GAS???

If all else fails, you can get your own Kenyan birth certificate and show it to your "birther" friends!!!

http://kenyanbirthcertificategenerator.com/

This is what we have come to? A comparison of the sociopathic selfishness of two not-so-intellectual, but very ambitious politicans who are both completely out of touch with the world as it is? GIVE ME A BREAK--PLEASE!!!!!

And--a pox on both their houses!

There has been so much (too much) already written about this, but I have to add my 2 cents worth! I am appalled and beyond annoyed!!!! At GE, Richard Wolffe and at Keith, too. He is every bit as culpable as the others!!! And all of this for what? Why, what else--MONEY AND GREED!!!!!!!!! Ick, ick, ick!

August is upon us, and Congress has done nothing about healthcare reform--except to tell us they will do nothing before the August recess!

Many of us have spent hours writing and calling our senators and representatives--and other congresspeople as well. This is like spitting in the ocean--the ocean being the disgustingly wealthy and powerful insurance industry. Everyday they spend $1.5 million in media ads trashing healthcare reform--using that tried and true tactic, FEAR!!!

I am sad and discouraged not only about the wealthy insurance lobby, but about the ignorant and incurious American voters--who are more inclined to believe the drivel they see on TV ads than to read the actual facts about healthcare reform plans!

If they did bother to read and think about what they are reading, my guess is that about 99% of voters would insist on a Single-Payer plan!!!!!

Thank you for this--the simplest, shortest explanation of the differences between Single-Payer and private insurance! If, after reading this, anybody still supports the insurance industry, I will refer them to Paul Krugman's new op-ed, "Boiling Frogs!" Because that is what we will all be if the insurance industry prevails!!!!

Hello Mr. Keillor-

Loved your column about the insurance lobbyists! I hope President Obama (or somebody at the Big House) reads it and gets the message! I am sending it to him forthwith! I'll let you know what I hear--uh huh!

Kate Madison

Depoe Bay, Oregon

I find it both fascinating and appalling that our own little Congress does not really hesitate much in allowing billions of dollars for defense spending and making war--while niggling and piggling about funding Universal Health Care! I guess they find it more appealing and profitable (for them and their lobbying interests) to send our young people to War, and to fund the latest destructive weapon, than to help people who are sick and suffering and without recourse to health insurance!

Are we a sick society or what??????