Thanks for the vivid endorsements of Ms. Blackburn's work. I don't know anything about it, but I'll be sure to find out thanks to your enthusiasm. We really do have some of the best scientists in the world, and a lot of them in California.

I love watching the Nobels unfold over the week. Read that Pete Seeger is one possibility for this year's Peace Prize. That would be amazing.

Another thing that surprised me about last week's Times/CBS Poll was the breakdown of parties. Seems Democrats make up a little over 1/3, Independents just at 1/3 and Republicans just under. Poll indicates identification over the last decade - it's stayed like that for some time.

So strictly speaking there are slightly more like Celia than like you, although it's hard to quantify without a specific issue.

As to the Salon choir - I WISH! You look at the bylines and articles on the letterhead and you think you're going to get a homogenous, nuanced discussion between like-minded readers.

But instead Salon plays host to a regular subbah-cultcha of right-wing and Libertarian views. Diversity is where it's at, but I wish we were afforded the same courtesy on the right-wing sites, where we'd be banned in a nano.

So, short answer is: you're welcome to say anything you want here, but we never, ever get a private choir practice these days.

Italian. Although they say all French cuisine comes from Italy anyway.

It's a Freedom Aperitif. Two of those and you will be free for the entire afternoon.

Bush deep-sixed a Republican majority in both houses, and almost single-handedly demolished Karl Rove's dreams of single-party rule for decades. With Cheney's inestimable help of course.

W turned Clinton's biggest surplus ever into the biggest deficit in our history to date. He caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and American soldiers for a bogus war.

You do the math.

As a youngster I used to take care of my grandmother's property on the third coast - the Gulf Coast. Believe me, you do not want to do yard work in New Orleans in August. As far as I'm concerned, brush clears itself.

Git along little doagies, let's lassoo some granita di caffe con panna! My murrkin gut needs a-stokin.

I'm going to assume there's a typo when you say,

"2010 elections validate this."

But let me re-phrase: You CAN make stuff up, just make sure your fantasy and reality coincide. Otherwise, no one's going to take you seriously.

GW Bush lost the popular vote in 2000, and was re-elected in 2004 with a thin majority. Yet he claimed to have an overwhelming mandate and "political capital" for whatever he wanted to do. Did you complain then?

BTW, polls at the beginning of Obama's term clearly state that a majority were expecting him to tackle healthcare and the economy - the things he's spent much of his time on.

You're very mistaken about Obama's popularity and support. Here's the most recent Times/CBS Poll from 10 days ago:

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/poll_health_care_092409.pdf?tag=contentMain;contentBody

Obama's support is still solid. His support has shifted, but no more so than other presidents' poll numbers at the same point in their term. Moreover, the numbers indicate that Obama is very well-liked.

You can't just make stuff up.

Since Fred Thompson did so incredibly well in the Republican primaries, I'll have to take your word on what we're missing. Seems like prime-grade bozo to me.

But then again, maybe Bush threw your bozo-meter out-of-whack. He sure did mine.

Sorry, you don't have a great track record with predictions. From your first letter, 2007:

"It is just hilarious to read all these anti-Fred letters. Yes, you folks ought to be terrified. Fred will probably be our next president, and will likely be a very good one. There is no one on the Democratic side with the character, courage, integrity, conservative views, and communication skills necessary to be president. It is actually refreshing to hear someone admit that they don't have all the answers, instead of the usual blather and empty promises!"

So being a "naive Bozo" is sometimes a good thing.

If Hillary were president we would be seeing exactly the same nonsense news about her accomplishments, and you know it. We saw it with Bill too. It's the Democratic way to second guess and then bitch, bitch, bitch, even when you have someone decent in office.

It would've happened with Gore, with Kerry. Clinton's accomplishments were continually clouded by the junk that the right (and left) raised about his every move.

We can bitch 24/7, but it's crazy to pretend that it doesn't get in the way - supremely - of real things getting done.

You think Hillary would have given us gay marriage 8 months in? Wow.

I know many of Obama's accomplishments are in undoing what Bush did, but that's kind of the point, isn't it?

Come on Alex - all this stuff is available with a click. Not to mention the content of various bills on healthcare, global warming, etc. Is the point that Hillary could have done it faster? I don't think that's even close to being true, and I love Hillary.

"Almost one year" you say - Jan. 20 to Oct. 5. It's been 8 1/2 months - you're off by a third of a year. A lot can happen in that time, if we keep our noses to the grindstone - wouldn't you agree?