Many areas have impressive Chinese districts in them. I've had great experiences everywhere from San Fransisco, to Houston, to north Jersey.

It's a little hard to go back to fast food Chinese American food after eating in these places, just like I don't really like eating a hamburger from McDonald's anymore.

That would be a double insult to any person who has undergone genital mutilation.

The truth seems to be that no one really knows the best way to end genital mutilation in the world. Some countries have mostly eliminated it in a quick period of time, such as Britain or New Zealand. Some countries have been practicing mutilations for thousands of years.

I think we just have to continue to the process of education and social pressure. We will win eventually.

I'm surprised you didn't mention anything about ensuring that the president adheres to the rule of law. Many of the problems we've had over the past 7 years have stemmed from the fact that our executive branch has been unaccountable for their actions.

Ignoring treaties, subpoenas, laws, etc... and then having no consequences has just further encouraged the Bush administration to ignore oversight. The real strength of democracy is the competition among different centers of power. When the executive runs roughshod over everyone else, they're able to implement policies that have had insufficient testing.

It's vitally important to the health of our country that these crimes be investigated, tried, and punished.

You should have marked that video as NSFW, I'm sure my coworkers heard me tried to stifle my laughter.

I wish this kind of history lesson were more common. Thank you for the information Glenn.

One of the advantages pets have is that people tend to think of them as innocent, so there's no justification for abusing them. Unfortunately, not enough abuse victims realize there's no justification for abusing a human either.

Perhaps this knowledge could turn into some kind of effective awareness: if your partner abuses your pet, you need to take action. That action could end up leading towards taking action for yourself as well.

This series of articles is superb. Keep up the good work.

It's this kind of post that really hits home in describing the horror of Iraq. You can read all the statistics about how many people are killed or displaced, but when the statistics become personal... it's just really shocking.

Wouldn't it be a good idea to write an article that is a short biography of Leila Hussein's life? I'd be interested to view the last 20 years of Iraq's history through her eyes.

It seems like the Bush administration decided to scrap everything and try to form new principles from nothing. They seem to have tried to get away with anything they could.

We need to ensure that they don't get away with it. There will need to be serious long term investigations and prosecutions.

America will have to bear the burden of accepting the detainees who have nowhere else to go.

This is why I read Salon. I can read the hard hitting news, and then when I need a break from the depressing reality of our country's constitutional crisis I can come over here and get a good laugh.

Thanks for helping take some of the edge off.

What are the rules for classification? Is there not some body outside of the Executive Branch that can review these things? I understand the need for secrecy, but there needs to be a powerful check on this power because it's obviously and frustratingly easy to abuse.

Mike,

First of all I want to thank you for starting the FISA group on MyBarackObama.com.

Second of all, I'm diverting the money I was planning on sending to Obama to the money bomb set up by the Ron Paul guys. Obama has done me a great service in reminding me that you should never place your faith in a politician. It's really the _ideas_ that are the most important, and there's no more important idea than the constitution and the rule of law.

I agree with many other people that most of Obama's "shift to the center" has not bothered me. I don't expect to agree with Obama on many things, but everyone has their deal breakers.

My compromise will likely still involve voting for Obama, but he'll have to do with a few hundred less dollars for this election.

Glenn has hit the nail on the head. The rule of law is the most important issue facing our country today, and torture is the most extreme and objectionable example of our lack of respect for the rule of law.

These crimes assault the very nature of our country, and should go beyond mere impeachment. What used to be the exception has now become the norm, and if we don't find a way to punish the lawbreakers we're going to continue losing more and more of our country.

This is the essential question for this place and time: will the rule of law conquer the rule of men?

I have to question the contention that nobody has stepped forward at risk to themselves to expose our government's lawbreaking. How is it that we know so much about torture and domestic spying if it wasn't for courageous public servants who have helped expose these things?

I don't know their names off the top of my head, but I recall reading numerous stories of these men and women who have stepped forward (and paid a cost) to inform the public of what's going on.

What's wrong in our country right now isn't our lack of information. It's our lack of ACTION regarding that information that's troubling. Congress long ago knew enough to begin impeachment. Instead, they've made the crimes legal and immunized the lawbreakers.

Glenn,

It would be great to get a timer display on these interviews so that it would be easier to reference certain parts of the conversation.