The strength of the opinion you received is not the fault of Bill O'Reilly or Rush Limbaugh. Hats off to the poster who pointed out that O'Reilly is against the death penalty. (I remember hearing O'Reilly say that too when the execution was in the news.) And Rush is certainly no frequent yeller. You would know that if you listened to him.

OOPS! I guess that means you don't really know where their opinion is coming from.

Give your parents the respect that they deserve. Like most people who argue politics, conservative or liberal, they repeat the things that are initially offered up to them by others but they choose to repeat them because they make sense to them.

Liberals are just as often guilty of this type of group-think as any other group. When you say you don't even listen to O'Reilly or Limbaugh, you just hate them, you are just as bad as your father. And the conservatives have as many real thinkers as do the liberals.

The only complaint you legitimately have is that it upsets you when your Dad yells at you. This is completely normal. Most people are not as calm and rational as Jean-Luc Picard. Why not just say, "Dad, it makes me feel badly when you yell at me over something like this. Can't we discuss it calmly?"

I know you're not Wesley Crusher but that's how most of us still think of you. Prove us we're wrong. Show us that you have grown up and can stand up to your Dad but don't forget to give him the respect he deserves.

Real debate is still possible. How amazing it was in the last month when the President troubles emboldened the Democrats like Murtha and both Democrats and Republicans got off their platforms and after the intially uncivil debate about an immediate pullout, engaged in a fair and generally respectful debates about what to do about the Patriot Act.

Let's keep it going that way and not let it disintegrate into a witch hunt. Let's each start listening to each other.

If Salon wants to turn itself into Fark (Thanks Rebecca), then at least you can have the common decency to post pictures of Emily Stern. There is one at howardshrine.com . Here is a link to one of her in a Madonna-ish costume which I presume you will have to cut and paste because

http://www.howardshrine.com/2005/12/emily-stern-material-girl.html

I for one think that Howard would be proud of his daughter's following in her father's footsteps.

I was also excited when I saw the news about Brooks' latest comedy. What would be more useful now than something insightful about the Muslim sense of humor? I wish it had had a wider release. I never got the chance to see it. Some reviews were genuinely enthusiastic though most critics panned it.

I heard that he's re-editing it for the DVD to put in some pictures of Mohammed.

I was shocked to read this article under Keillor's byline. It seems so out of character that it is really hard to believe that he wrote it. If there is any sarcasm in it, it is far too subtle for me.

So, taking him at face value, there may be indeed be admirable qualities to be found in many West Point graduates and other service veterans. Whether or not these qualities result from basic training is arguable. I would assert that you need to do the whole drill-- service under fire, losing friends, ordering kids you hardly know to take a hill because the plan requires it, to really build that character. Some, like John McCain or John Kennedy, seem to come through those tests with real character and wisdom. Others, like Richard Nixon, don't seem to have done that well.

On the other hand, two of our nation's greatest wartime leaders, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln had no military experience. (To qualify Abraham Lincoln as having military experience on the basis of his three weeks in the militia seems questionable. FDR had no military experience. See this . Furthermore, as the article points out, one of our most successful military leaders, Grant, was very unsuccessful as a President.

Perhaps Garrison Keillor is having problems focusing and is feeling like he would be doing better mentally had he not missed out on the character-building part of having a sergeant yell at him in 95 degree heat. I have at times wondered the same thing about myself. Garrison is certainly well off enough financially to hire someone to put him through the drills and being 60 is no time to slack off on physical training. I'm only 48, but I broke my leg last year and I'm out of shape. If he'd be up for it, I'll join him in the training. I'm ready to become a lean mean fighting machine (but I don't think it will make me a good military leader.)

John Bescherer

Mattapoisett, MA

Bush will never be impeached by the current Congress or by any Congress that will be elected come November. That is a completely unrealistic and unachievable goal.

Instead of wasting our breath on this, moderate and liberal candidates need to take back more seats in the Congress and Senate. I don't think candidates will win based on an "Impeach Bush" platform.

Issues like these may be attractive to many voters on both sides of the aisle:

-Forcing major employers to contribute to their employees health care costs (i.e., Walmart)

-Getting America's reputation back on track by sticking to the Geneva convention

-Rebuilding the devasted Southeast

-Not invading Iran and setting a timetable for withdrawing from Iraq.

-Improving disaster and attack preparedness and so on.

We are all in this together. We will never convince a majority of the people that what the President has done is unconsitutional. Let's work together and help make the changes that need to be made to get this country back on track.