...for the BEST description of John McCain I've read in a long while: this is the new, improved McCain, a pod person hatched in some Karl Rove greenhouse who at some point in 2005 replaced the old tough-as-nails, indie-Republican model.

That truly captures him. He's carrying the water for the Bush-Cheney team, making even more of a fool of himself than Colin Powell did (and that's saying a LOT), not realizing that TurdBlossom will be helping Jed Bush in '08, not him. John: did you really endure all those years of imprisonment only to be tortured by your own people?

If so, then head out to Area 51 and wait to be beamed up, as they promised...

offered the old bast*rd a big directorship or something, no doubt. Good riddance, Rummy.

By the way, the lesson you, Cheney and Co. obviously didn't learn from Vietnam was "It's the natives, stupid." Go make more millions--and can you take Cheney with you?

Like other Stanley pieces, this one was a waste of space. Did anyone learn anything from reading it? (Other than the finger-loss Tester suffered.) She's no Howard Kurtz, no Tom Shales, no Gail Shister, even. I get more enlightenment (and humor) from the Metropolitan Diary column.

I'm right smack in the middle of my 40s, turning 45 next month, and so far the decade's been freeing in a lot of ways: after 20 years of coloring the premature grays, I'm letting my hair go back to its real roots (fortunately, a silvery white), keeping it really short because I like it that way (no fuss)and aren't obsessing about those extra pounds as much as I used to. I'm damned grateful to be here, more than a decade after cancer, and have a lot to be grateful about, including finally being diagnosed as hypothyroid. (THAT explained a LOT!)

In the past year, as 45 loomed in my headlights so to speak, I guess I did some sort of assessment of myself, where I am, etc. I've left go of a lot of baggage about unrealistic expectations. Sure, that's left me with a tinge of fear now and then but mostly left me lighter, more flexible in thinking about my future.

The confining part may be realizing that I'd better beef up that retirement account and that age discrimination may be just around the corner (if it hasn't impacted me already). But perhaps that's more about getting focused on some issues. I dunno...

Re: being too tired, hell, I was too tired to be young when I was young. Now I feel like I have more emotional energy than I did back then. And that is pretty darned freeing.

Why are you letting your company go so far down hill that it ran this schlocky crap on the same day as the waste-of-space about celebrity kids? Do your editors and those who choose the stories/articles have no common sense? Do they not know good writing from bad? Are you actually paying for this sh*t disguised as opinion pieces?

Please take a long, hard look...I just lost my job. Do I need to consider dropping Salon Premium because it's a waste of my money?