On another day, c'mon c'mon
With these ropes tied tight, can we do no wrong
Now we grieve 'cause now it's gone
Things were good when we were young

With my teeth bite down I can see the blood
Of a thousand men who have come and gone
Now we grieve cause now is gone
Things were good when we were young

...

And on this day these deepened wounds
Don't heal so fast, can't hear me croon
of a million lies that speak no truth
Of a time gone by that now is through

(Lyrics by Jason Stollsteimer)

He nominates Olson and that's all anyone in the media talks about for a month or more. War takes a back seat. Democrats take a (further) back seat. The megalomania of the extended campaign season will grind to a halt. Congress becomes mired in the quagmire of extended inquisitional hearings. Republicans will tear the shirts from their chests in every session, demanding to know why Democrats are betraying Americans by denying them the fine legal mind of Ted "Killer" Olson. Dig it: Olson's wife died on 9/11. "How dare you besmirch the memory of her honorable sacrifice!" the rightwing pundits will cry. (Nevermind that Olson swiftly remarried.) Anne Coulter will suggest that liberals hate 9/11 victims. The blogs will be ablaze with it. It will be a big party. Bush loves a party. Loves 'em.

Now we see that we will not be able to depend upon "liberals" (or "Democrats") to resist or prevent the totalitarian state: they will cheer it, as long as it suits them. American fascism doesn't have a party preference. Democrats love Big Brother, too. All hail the New America.

It's clear as day. If you expect balanced analysis of Hillary's health care plan (or any other aspect of her campaign), you'll have to look elsewhere than Shapiro - and probably Salon.

Less is more.

Carrying a video camera means you were intending to cause a scene? So all those other people with video cameras were intent on causing a scene as well? I dunno - maybe, just maybe, he brought the video camera to videotape himself asking a question of a former Presidential candidate. Or maybe he intended to rile things up, shake the crowd, get himself arrested. It still doesn't justify the use of potentially deadly force by campus cops.

But to Farhad Majoo, and other apologists for torture, it does. To Farhad and other apologists, your freedom of speech ends where "civility" begins. If you intend to cause a scene, then you deserve whatever torture the cops choose to dish out.

With such defenders of liberty as Farhad and the other apologists for police brutality, we are certainly on a fast ride to fascism.

Chin up, Farhad: you're a GOOD GERMAN!!!

Shapiro to voters:

Bend over and take it.

How can a justice with such a keen sense of his own persecution be so blind to that of others?

One word: sociopath.

...the biggest threat is whether she'll demoralize actual Democratic voters, and whether she'll energize Republican voters...

That's why Rove and Giuliani want her.

Over half of Democrats prefer someone else to Clinton as the nominee. This means that should Clinton win the nomination, a large percentage of Democrats will not bother to vote for her on election day. They will be further demoralized by the campaign of hate and bile which will spew forth from the GOP against Clinton if she is nominated.

Rove and Giuliani don't need skeletons or smoking guns to motivate the Hardcore Hillary Haters of the GOP. Those zealots are effectively mobilized and simply awaiting their orders. Rumors of Clinton's lesbianism, marriage problems, questionable finances - these non-existent or petty matters will be magnified to epic proportions by the Rush-O'Reilly-Fox Echo Chamber.

Every assholian act that general cell phones users commit, Bluetooth headset wearers commit more. They talk while ordering coffee, checking out at supermarket registers, shopping, eating dinner - they just talk talk talk. It's impossible to know if they are talking to you. It's impossible not to overhear their usually inane conversation. No matter how "subdued" you think your voice may be, you're still talking, disturbing others with your conversation, and I guarantee your volume levels change as the conversation goes on. They laugh, shout, jabber on constantly; the earpiece makes it even easier to do, thus the earpiece users do it more. The reason everyone hates you is because the earpiece is a big scarlet letter A - but for ASSHOLE not adultery. If you use one, you are an ass. Period.

And no, it is not safer: the earpiece does not reduce the tunnel-vision and other issues associated with driving-while-phoning. It doesn't cut down on menus scrolling, phone fondling, text messaging, or any of the other dangerous behaviors assholes commit while driving. It's still a distraction for the driver, still a danger to others on the road (especially pedestrians). You have no business doing anything behind that wheel but driving. Both hands on the wheel, eyes watching the road, checking your blind spots, mind aware of your surroundings. NONE of those things can be done while on a cell phone, whether it's a Borg-like earpiece or not.

In the history of technology, there has never been a single device which so enables such a panoply of rude behavior as the cell phone does. Not even television, computers or the internet have managed to create the life-threatening, socially annoying behavior that cellular phones have created. The bar has been lowered on what constitutes "rude."

If you want to get rich, here's how you do it: imagine the rudest, most socially inappropriate piece of technology - something which enables the user to engage in assholery at an exponential level, and is socially desirable/acceptable. Invest your money in that piece of technology, because very soon Americans will buy it.