This is precisely the insightful, summarizing, historical perspective of current events reporting I want and expect from Salon.com. Kudos to Mr. Blumenthal for writing it. I also appreciate the War Room blurbs, and razor analysis of Mr. Greenwald. Please, editors ... more of this. Become the thought leaders on these subjects ... report the events as they occur, and put them into perspective for those of us who are concerned and active around these issues, but lack either technical skill in thoroughly understanding all the nuance of the chess move bureaucracy that is our modern political government ... and also who lack the "time" to data mine, investigate, analyze, and conjecture at the level of scrutiny needed to really grasp all of this. I will do my job: I will be smart and read, understand, and take action through voting and other activism. I request that you continue to do (what I consider) your job: to *actually* perform the function of checks and balances that our forefathers intended. Most reporters seem unconcerned about this, or unwilling to risk their livelihood as they are fed by the corporate machines that have too much interest in what is being reported. More, more, more!!!

... has been helping these GOP thugs. MAYBE Feinstein enjoys electrocuting baby seals in her spare time, and Rove has the intelligence on it. MAYBE ... this is the true nature of such surveillance activities. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I have to tell you I do not understand this absurd vote by these spineless Dems.

Maybe your sarcasm would have been more clear if you called him a nappy-headed ho'. I know that's a biting comment (a sarcastic one) ... and I want to temper that by saying that I do really, really like the stuff from War Room. It's my "most valued" salon pieces, aside from Greenwald. This humor ... sarcasm ... I felt, is at a time when Hillary's machine seems to be "working" it's spin on a man that I believe is actually capable of leading change in this country. So, yes ... I'm sensitive too. Maybe something like ... "how ridiculous" at the end.

Joan,

I believe that many this administration's mechanisms are motivated almost exclusively by chess-move style legal ass-covering. I cite: Gonzales' extremely specific language during congressional "testimony" (referencing "the program we are talking about" so much) the administration's unbelievable ability to get democrats to pass the FISA legislation (which i presume will help them in months or years in the future to be able to say "the democrats passed this law, how could what we have done be seen as illegal or political"). My point is this, there is no way Rove would quit this job unless it is somehow to his advantage to do so. Please send your attack dogs to figure this out: where is the advantage & why. Salon is the only news outlet with the skill and indepedance to do this.

... are adjectives that I find too easy to pin to people of my generation (Gen X) and younger. Salon editors ... if you want to generate more revenue for this site ... provide cutting edge journalism ... do a service for your community, I humbly submit that the way to do that is to actually invest in reporting. Funny, quirky, interesting news all has it's place. Having a laugh is smart, important, and healing. Actually reporting the news ... the real news is also smart, important, and healing. Insightful, independent, provocative, uncovering news is so much better than ... this article. Comedy Central gets great ratings, and those in my generation flock to John Stewart and Stephen Colbert. I think what they are doing is helping us blow off steam ... and demonstrating, akin to Andy Kaufman's brilliance, how absurd much of the seriousness and posturing of our government, and those that report about it, is. They are breaking down certain constructs and walls, and they do it well. This is smart, important, and healing. I believe they understand their mission, and the role they are playing in this country's transformation ... which is also why they appeal. It isn't just about being a smart-ass ... or being glib and disaffected. Mr. Scherer is a good writer, and has marketable skills, I'm sure. I find most of the things I read that he has written leave me feeling annoyed for the reasons I've just described. Where's the beef? ... as an icon of my generation once asked. My humble advice: use this forum and the power you have in a more purposeful way, please.

This story makes me feel very sad for that young girl. She should be able to play however the hell she wants to ... and hopefully the pedicure loving boys will ge their shot too.