I really appreciated your frank discussion of how anger can get out of hand with small children. I have done things similar to the cheek squeeze, and I sympathize. I think a lot of the people who have come out in the all-parental-violence-is-criminal camp have never been a sleep-deprived primary caregiver for a toddler. There is a reason they use sleep deprivation as torture, and I have said and done insane things in the middle of the night - when everyone acts like a toddler. Maybe that is why I don't think the state should interfere in every little parenting decision. Mothering - and I didn't say "parenting" on purpose - is the only job on the planet that our society expects a human being to do 24-7, without breaks, for five years. Add in any further stress - sleep deprivation, hormonal fluctuations, marital problems, money problems - and you end up with a nearly deranged person. Like the pro-spanker who talked about the hurricane kids, I had a spirited nine-month walker, and then I had my second baby when he was 14 months old. I tandem nursed them pretty much constantly. I let myself get very, very sick trying to keep it together because I didn't think we could afford a babysitter.

Incidentally, this is why he had the second wave of feminism. Women were sick of being put in this position. This is not what motherhood is supposed to be about.

On the subject of this law, I would not say it's totally unreasonable to re-define abuse to include anytime a person uses an object to hit a child - but I still don't think it's necessarily reasonable either. Someone mentioned a fly swatter, which was an instrument of choice in my house as well. I was also beaten with a shoe, a wooden spoon, a belt, and a hairbrush. This is why I don't lay a hand on my kids when I'm mad. I inherited my parents' temper, and I know better than to touch them. But I still think that legislating against certain kinds of discipline is tricky, and family court in most places is *already* a mess. I'll be interested to see what kinds of cases come out of this if it passes. But thanks for the clarification; like several people, I got on my soap box before reading the source material.

People often make the same argument for fiction - that by reading made-up stories, we come to understand a deeper truth than just living can teach. And I have always agreed with that argument, actually. But that argument relies on the WILLING suspension of disbelief. So I'll be in favor of giving Giuliani a pass on his fictions when he starts labeling them as such, so we have the choice to suspend disbelief.

Y'all can poke fun all you like, but this man is an excellent example of how our prison system has replaced any semblance of mental health care in this country. Regardless of his political views, he sounds like a desperate, confused, and very sick person. So where does he get to go? Prison.

and taking hostages so you can demand cigarettes and Pepsi is NOT normal. That is evidence of a disordered mind. You don't have to be an expert to see that.

How about breaking free from credit card debt and your parents' house? I am not impressed.

I hope this kid is not really the best representative you could find of an idealistic Ron Paul supporter. My stomach hurts for him.

I don't like the tactic of pulling quotes like this out from random speeches and trying to make a big deal out of them - even if you were doing it to people I really hate (say, Guiliani) rather than people I'm just deeply ambivalent about (like HRC, Joe Biden, etc.). During a campaign, the term "all-nighter" is more relevant than the term "one-night stand." If she starts saying it routinely, I'm all for overanalyzing it, but please don't join the MSM in scrutinizing random bits of campaign detritis!

Oh, if only! Nice zinger, though!

Why would you intentionally get yourself all horny and distracted in a public place while you're trying to eat or get a haircut? It doesn't bother me that places like Hooters and Knockouts exist, but it does mystify me. Any guys here who can explain the desire to mix ogling beautiful, half-dressed women with mundane public activities?

I think it's not so much a women's issue as a more general gender-role issue. Personally, I think it's awesome if what another writer disparagingly called "primping" is becoming more mainstream for men. I have never actually paid for a haircut myself, and I don't know anyone of either sex who's into the whole hairdresser-as-lover thing. BUT, I don't think men and women will ever understand one another if their interests and priorities remain radically disparate. Women in the military, men in the salon. Yay!

I will just have to take your word for it! :)