To assert that Democrats need to embrace or emulate NASCAR in order to win elections is absurd. As the author accurately notes, NASCAR and the Republican ethos are essentially indistinguishable. Noise, garish consumerism, pollution, use of a dwindling fossil fuel resource for nothing more than the modern day equivalent of the Roman circus -- who needs it?

If the Dems want to win elections, their best hope is not to be seen as Republican wannabe's, but rather as an intelligent alternative to the destructive and unfair policies the Republicans pursue.

Let the Democrats articulate this message to the best of their ability. If Joe sixpack doesn't get it, so be it. Let's not lose our soul just for a victory.

Good on Larry Wilkerson. But where are the cries of outrage from the rank-and-file right wing Christian zealots who helped Bush et al. to victory in 2004? Are they all just ditto-heads? Where is their righteous indignation over the torture, lies, undermining of social protection for "the least among us", and all the rest that's explicit in the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld agenda? Surely their avowed devotion to the Prince of Peace must be inconsistent with the policies of this crew?

And while I applaud Mr. Wilkerson, where's his old boss? Why isn't Colin Powell out there, in the public eye, expressing outrage, indignation -- whatever -- over the way he let himself and his considerable prestige be used by these war criminals? History will record him as a water-bearer, an Uncle Tom for these fascists. He should speak up. As a good soldier, he owes it to the country to do so.

As for the previous letter-writer's last assertion: If the US doesn't renounce its current policies, and reacquire the progressivism we promoted in years past, then the rest of the world will be substantially better off if the US slips off its dominant podium in global politics. (Kurt Vonnegut fantasized about a future in which the US "was balkanized as a threat to world peace". Maybe not such a bad thing.)

I love Garrison's rants as well, but this was a fun, domestic, apolitical yarn, and I really enjoyed it. It reminds me of a time -- long ago, in my youth -- when I was trying to transport two mountain bikes attached to the roof of my first-generation Geo Metro. Naturally, when we got on the Interstate (I-70, outside of Ann Arbor, MI), the bikes blew off. I remember looking in the rear-view mirror after hearing them rip away from the flimsy roof mount. They looked like they were floating. A guy ran into them (it was a Sunday morning, so traffic wasn't too heavy). He was driving a station wagon with his whole family (two little kids in the back). He had a rough landing in the ditch beyond the Interstate berm, but nobody was hurt. Still, I was at fault. The State Trooper who eventually arrived to assess the damage was incredulous, but the other driver was actually apologizing to me -- for running into my bikes. Which were AWOL in the middle of the Interstate.

And that's the end of the story.

Cheers.

I started to doubt that the author knew what s/he was talking about the third time I came across the use of the word "specious". The article was long on style but short on substance. I agree with a previous letter that complained the author seemed to be deliberately using $10 words in order to mask his or her lack of a clear understanding of the subject material. "If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, then baffle 'em with bullshit."

I enjoyed the sentence about "Man-dorks", and I'd be interested to hear exactly why the previous letter-writer found it objectionable.

As for Nakamura, I have this to say: Iceland, w/ a population roughly equivalent to that of Dayton, Ohio, was willing to take Bobby Fischer in. This, despite his paranoid problems in latter years, and all because they recognised a genius and appreciated that he should be honored. In the dollar-dominated moral economy of Amerika, a new, fresh chess genius is treated like a ticket-collector at the Roman Circus. No sponsorships, no recognition, no nothin'. So this kid, who could be bigger to chess theory than Bobby Fishcher was, may look to make a living playing poker. My native country sucks. It used to be worth something, but these days it's a big drag. I'm glad I live in New Zealand now.

The human race is a cancer on the face of the planet. Think about it. We have many of the fundamental characteristics of cancer: regression to a more primitive form; lack of contact inhibition; outgrowth of our foodsource; death and disfigurement of the host.

Republicans just happen to be a more virulent form than the rest of us.

This was so funny I decided to send it to my mom. If I can come up with a sonnet, I might send that as well.

I hadn't intended to write a comment about this article, but after reading djansing's and others comments, I recalled an experience I had back just after all the talk of invading Iraq began. It was so perfect. I was out riding my bicycle on the lovely back roads around my home in Bloomington, Indiana, when a large red SUV ran me off the road. I cought a glimpse of the driver, a woman with platinum blond hair talking on a cell phone. And the cherry atop this outrageous Sunday was the GOP elephant bumper sticker, grinning at me as I headed into the ditch.

I wasn't hurt, and, as I say, the monument was moving.

... whether the Republicans have sunk so far that the nation no longer deserves them. November and 2008 will provide the answer.