I agree with Mr. Kilgore that we do need the South in order to implement real political change in this country in this age. Despite the reprehensible protestations of James Carville, we know that Howard Dean's 50 state strategy was ultimately successful .

Americans want real reform, and as this election revealed, it is necessary to start campaigning on real issues that directly impact Americans rather than the outdated left/right, liberal/conservative polemic that dominates the media and political landscape.

The crux of this article concerns the "super gerry-mandered states" of Texas, Florida and Georgia. The under-reported story of the last 12 years concerns the "Republican revolution" led by Newt Gingrich in 1994. Long forgotten is that this "take-over" was the result of Tom DeLay's (now determined to be illegal) redistricting of Texas. Therefore, this 12 year narrative of a Christian-dominated theme centered around reform and morality in America has been largely false.

The red/blue divide has been a complete myth. Can we please move on from here, and devote our time to the issues at hand?

The great irony here is that Senator McCain -- always the consummate politician -- contradicted himself by voting to confirm Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense, notably not joining colleagues Rick Santorum and James Bunning. In a classic turn of being for bipartisanship before he was against it, Mr. McCain reserved his concerns for the more high profile cameras focused on the release of the study. Senators Santorum and Bunning voted against confirming Mr. Gates for a significant reason Mr. McCain cited in condemning the report: notably that we shouldn't be negotiating with terrorist regimes like Iran and Syria.

Why he is so insistent on portraying himself as a better version of George W. Bush is quite beyond me... we know that there is no such thing. It seems as though he is appealing to some mythically influential base. And the right-wing bloggers are drinking the Kool-Aid that Mr. McCain is serving today, decrying any negotiations and howling for more troops as part of a more aggressive stance. If these people want to talk like lemmings, they should also walk like lemmings... by heading to Iraq to make up for the deficit between the reality on the ground and what they would like to see accomplished, which is nothing more than delusion of "victory."

Memo to Mr. Scherer: Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich declared his candidacy for President this week, and joins Tom Vilsack as the "only" other to have officially announced his run.

I can certainly understand the "mainstream media" giving Mr. Kucinich the shaft, but I don't expect him to be marginalized by the likes of Salon writers. And he certainly can be considered a David among Goliaths.

He apparently is receiving better treatment from the MSM as he enters the race this time around.

Reading like a hybrid of SpikeTV and Lifetime, this article was disturbing from beginning to end for a myriad of reasons. That this drivel merited a feature on Salon or inclusion in a book is absolutely beyond this confused reader. This sort of self-absorbed -- dare I say masturbatory? --- piece is best left to a Daddy and Me type of blog.

Under the auspices as either journalist and/or writer, Mr. Pollack basically "phoned in" his "performance" regarding a very important decision concerning his son. Dismissing the information provided by his wife Regina as "shrill" and denigrating it as a reason why he had never taken women's studies, one would think that he would engage in further meaningful research that would illuminate him further on this topic. But no, his cut dick works fine, and he called his mother. And he made his decision based on emotion rather than any sort of fact, one that would effect his son for the rest of this innocent's life.

Really! Salon letter writers would never, ever receive the coveted red star of editors' choices for submitting this material. This publication's contributing writers should be held to the same standard.

At risk of sounding "urban plebian," (but not vegetarian), I shop exclusively at my local Hollywood Farmers Market for all of my produce, meat and eggs, and rely upon Trader Joe's for my "dry goods."

I have found the Trader Joe's "Next to Godliness" brand of dishwashing detergent, augmented by their OxoBrite cleanser, to be quite sufficient for more than adequately cleaning my dishwares. I've also used the Seventh Generation brand to great success as well. (My dishes gleam here in Los Angeles, but perhaps it's a regional experience.)

Lemon juice and vinegar have also done nicely as well when the less corporate/commercial products have not been available. (It really is easy being green, especially so if you can prove it as a carnivore.)

I don't want to denigrate the LW, but this argument really seems silly on the surface -- so to speak -- especially when the gleaming one really does not necessarily depend upon the "brand name commercial stuff."

While I agree with this overall premise proposed by Mr. Greenwald, I was puzzled by one supposedly prominent example to justify it:

"Recognition of FDL's superior coverage has been seeping slowly into the press. As I noted previously, Time's Ana Marie Cox surprisingly acknowledged (while linking to FDL) that some of the most astute and insightful reporting on the Libby trial is coming from the blogosphere."

While "seeping" and "surprisingly" are undeniably appropriate terms for most journalists, neither are true in relation to Ana Marie Cox. As the former full time Wonkette blogger cum full time Washington correspondent for Time Magazine, it is not surprising at all that she recognize the superior contributions of FireDogLake to the Libby reporting .

To fertilize the water analogy, I would propose that Ms. Cox represents a fresh wild salmon who has jumped the locks, and is now breaking down the dam between the old and new schools of media. And I might add that this is a welcome change to her genetically modified and ethically challenged counterpart, Jake Tapper.