Thank you, Garry--the sound of myself laughing out loud is a welcome tonic indeed!

The Sopranos is wonderful entertainment and I can't fault anything about it. Nothing. But The Wire cuts deeper, as if it were a pathologist's report describing a particularly aggressive cancer, which in this case happens to be the capitalist system.

A close friend of mine, a now-retired AD who escaped from the street life of the South Bronx and got his start as a gofer in the blaxploitation films of the 70's, agrees completely. His take: "There's not an ounce of fat on that m**********r. It's the best thing that's ever been on tv and you can tell anyone I said so!"

I haven't read this entire thread and may have missed something pertinent, but David Simon did say in an interview that the only character in the show not to have been drawn from his and Burns's years on the street is Omar, who might have been the hero of a Sergio Leone

western.

Jeffrey--Grover Norquist vs. Terry Gross: you didn't exactly cover yourself with glory during that episode. In fact, that marked the point when I pulled the plug on further contributions to NPR.

Get serious--I wouldn't vote for him if everyone else was dead! He traded away his honor and integrity 40 years ago helping to cover up the My Lai investigation and his perjured testimony at the UN in support of the Iraq invasion only convinces me that he hasn't changed since then.

Sorry, I was so annoyed that Colin Powell was even mentioned that I forgot to add that Jim Webb is far and away my favorite and the most viable choice for the VP candidate.

For example, that bloated hypocrite Rush Limbaugh and his 30,000 hits of OxyContin and Vicodin. I'd be surprised to learn that he had to spend a single day in jail.

George Bush's parting obscene gesture was to further ease restrictions on mountaintop mining, like an evicted tenant angrily vandalizing an apartment before moving out.

30,000 hits of OxyContin and Vicodin, not one day of jail time.

The unfortunate fact is that most j-school grads end up in Public Relations, making good bucks as professional bullshitters.

The unfortunate Mr. Cheney has spent his life in a hall of mirrors and sees the rest of humanity as being as cold and malevolent as himself. With that image endlessly reflected back, who wouldn't want to hide in a bunker?

Bush the Post Turtle

A 70-year-old Texas Rancher got his hand caught in a gate while working cattle. He wrapped the hand in his bandana and drove his pickup to the doctor. While suturing the laceration, the doctor asked the old man about George W. Bush being in the White House.

The old Texan said, "Well, ya know, Bush is a 'Post Turtle.'"

Not knowing what the old man meant, the doctor asked what a Post Turtle was.

The old man looked at him and drawled, "When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a Post Turtle."

The old man saw a puzzled look on the doctor's face, so he continued to explain:

"You know he didn't get there by himself, he doesn't belong there, he can't get anything done while he's up there, and you just want to help the poor dumb bastard get down."