It is always great to read Garrison, but especially when he (lightly) touches the political vermin of the day. HIs "Mr. Blue" columns just after the 2000 election remain priceless; so too this sendup of Quasi-Christian self-righteousness. He is a national treasure!

To use a British pejorative, what a whiney wanker! The only sad part of this story is that Kurth was paid (by Salon) for his stupidity. I hope the check was small, the story isn't worth a victorian farthing.

First of all, kudos on acting. Secondly, I think you will find it's not as hard as it looks and it's far, far more satisfying than you presently imagine. Riding 480 miles, that is. As for blogging - certainly a few reports, maybe every other day or so, would be of interest. Best of luck - Heck, maybe I should jump on this ride too!

Though a generally thoughtful article, the context for Presidential profiles is slightly skewed. FDR may have warned about fear, Eisenhower about the Military-Industrial complex and JFK about critical thinking, but none of them made these comments while campaigning to be elected - only after attaining office and stumbling, as a warning to others to learn from their mistakes. I don't believe that humility and human frailty were any more attractive to the general public during the Cold War than they are today. But we do admire our leaders in hindsight, when (years after the fact) we see candidness and humility in their statements.

After a promising start, Mr. Manjoo circles back to Steve Jobs exact quip - that Mac is the BMW of the computer world. Yes, they cost more - but think of the resale value!It's still sleight of hand.

If you REALLY thought about this you could simply run your hands through your hair at the mirror - done!

Great and inspiring advice! Too bad for those of us already Out West; a one-hour drive West from here takes me into a two-hour traffic jam in the SF Bay Area. Think I'll head North...

After tepid commentary on how poor the thing drives, Mr. Manjoo gushes that the saving grace is it will allow him to drive ANYWHERE! Just what we need - new auto technology that encourages people to continue driving. At 33 MPG (on the best day) this is no breakthrough, rather a distinct step backward from, say, a Prius. It's small enough to fit on a bike path, so we have that dangerous displacement to look forward to as well. Methinks the Machinist is way off base here; this is the wrong message.

Mike Madden seems to be a journalist who likes a simplistic fight over any substantive commentary. His "interpretation" for us, the unwashed readers, of a thoughtful Obama statement:

Translated out of press-conference-speak, though, that basically means: "I know you're upset. Too bad."

What P-E Obama is doing is breaking down the polarization, the Hatfield-McCoy fighting camps, just as he said he would do. Snide and simplistic retorts miss the point entirely. And Mike Madden doesn't care.

I have to agree with the bulk of reader responses - nothing new or genuine was presented by Wingnut in this case, making him/her appear ever more disingenuous.

From a judicial career of many years, he and all other Repub's trot out the same TWO examples to justify their alarm: the "Latina" comment (which was not a court ruling, merely a sliver of an interview) and the New Haven Fire Dept. Two - that is all.

The real answer may be - opposed everything the Progressives put forward, and eventually you will get an "I told you so" moment. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, and the GOP is a broken party right now.

The modern GOP is a Machiavellian group, believing only in the figurehead of the POTUS. That individual is a token only; the real power & work is done in secret by others, in their world. Witness Cheney, Addington et al, all the way back to Ronald Reagan, whose early -onset Alzheimer's had him sleeping through briefings and watching the Sound of Music instead of reading intelligence reports. Sarah seemed perfect to the GOP - pretty on camera, vacuous, easy to manipulate.