What the Democrats need to learn is how to communicate. As Glenn Greenwald has pointed out, the Democrats have been screwed by failing to unravel the absurd and false assertion that defunding the war equals leaving the troops marooned without food or ammunition.

Failing to effectively challenge that formula is what left them powerless to stand firm and force the issue, at least in their own minds. They saw playing hardball as a losing proposition because of this dominant trope, even though the American public supports their ultimate goal. The Democrats allowed the mechanism for achieving that goal to be discredited. Galen inadvertently gets close to making this point by comparing the relative appeal of the formulation of "cutting Medicare" to that of "reducing the rate of growth".

To my mind, that's the lesson Democrats have repeatedly failed to learn. I know it's virtually a cliche, but framing issues is a White House strong suit.

I'm not offended by Galen's piece, it just doesn't have any value.

As dastardlydic points out, the Democrats' calculus may very well be to be seen as trying to do something, be thwarted by the Chimp, and leave the albatross around his and the Republicans' necks for 2008. Tactical withdrawal versus surrender.

Risky, cynical...yes. But perhaps ultimately more politically savvy as long as they can convince the public to see it their way: Obstinate Chimp still owns war over the protests of the citizenry.

But I have real concerns about the issue of high-school players, being that I'm a big college football fan.

I'm not saying that college football is a system beyond reproach, by any means. But I can't say that I'm keen for colleges to be competing with a nascent league for players.

One might argue that the kids would finally be getting paid, a fair return for the revenue they generate. And I don't know that I have an argument against that, other than to say that I would hope the college education/experience a lot of these players might otherwise miss out on has to be of some intrinsic value.

Needless to say, I hope this isn't something that becomes part of the new league's development model.

And being an Orioles fan who lives in Denver, I'd really like a way for summer football to work, since I don't have any baseball worth watching.

Lighten up people. Good lord.

There's so much projection going on in the negative letters. I'm a dad, and I dote on my kids, yadda.

But having a failed marriage is not synonymous with abandoning your children. Having a second family is not synonymous with narcissism.

Parenting is magical and arduous. Although Rose aimed for humor and missed a bit, the underlying truths are familiar to any honest parent.

This is why moms always used to say, "Go play outside!"

And if nothing else, let it serve as a cautionary note that raising a second set of children might be a slightly different proposition than raising the first ones.

I really can't explain why I get sucked into reading all these letters, reacting to them, and then posting one myself. I guess not having to buy a stamp facilitates the madness.

Anyway. Spoiler-haters: Get a life. Puh-lease. (I, for one, not intending to read the book since I find Rowling's writing laborious, simply wanted to know what happens. I'm disappointed to find no list of the various deceased. Oh well. I guess I'll wait for the movie, or one of my kids' friends to spill the other beans since my pair ceased being particularly entranced once they passed age 7 or 8. We saw Order of the Phoenix yesterday, and, hey, guess what? I found out that Sirius Black died.)

The How-Dare-You-Cover-Cultural-Phenomena crowd: Again, get a life. Culture, including pop, is a vital part of being alive. I think Salon devotes plenty of space to Iraq, Bush, and what all. Is ice cream evil?

The Laura-Miller-is-a-Lousy-Reviewer anonymous guy: It seems you have something to prove.

I think there were some other really annoying themes, but I'm losing my head of steam here.

Anyway, glad people (kids AND adults) are enjoying the books, and I think it's great that people are queuing up in a book-buying frenzy. I'm a little frightened by all the Wizard Rock devotees, the fan fiction and whatnot, but, hey, it takes all kinds of flavored beans to make the world go round. At least they have a hobby.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: Anyone expecting to find anything of value on CNN deserves to be pummeled by Potter-mania. I get more out of Glenn Greenwald in a day than I would in a year of watching the so-called Cable NEWS Network.