just to straddle the fence.

the comment from Falcon. He said that he hid in the attic because he was afraid of his father.

So, Heene is not just a misogynist, but he strikes fear into his children. But then, these two traits are of a piece.

For the past three months I've been watching Dem numbers slide and have been telling anyone who will listen that the reason for the decline is that they were elected to be Dems but have been acting like repugs.

The comments of NOB, Glock45, to name a few are very disturbing. These people do not show any evidence of ever having had an original thought. Their remarks are echoes of the kind of claptrap that can be found at any time on any plain vanilla right wing website, or daily on FOX "News." They merely parrot what someone else has already said.

There is no shame in being of low intelligence. But these people take pride in it. These people are dangerous. As movie critic Mick LaSalle says, "when people who are proud to be stupid get organized around ideas spoon fed to them by some demagogue, you have the makings of a serious problem."

These low minded vermin are threats to democracy. Their remarks bode violence.

Let's see. The funeral is Saturday, so look for it to start Saturday evening, just after live coverage.

I'm wondering to myself if its possible for someone to have chosen a more apt screen name than you.

to Gwen and Julie. But the link to the Jay Rosen Blog was fabulous. Thanks, Joan.

to realize that there are folks out there who can abide absolutely no criticism of their messiah, Barack Obama, and who will defend him no matter what he does.

If you want a real world case study of the wreckage caused by putting Milton Freidman's economic theories into full application, look no further than Iceland. After applying Freidmanism as broadly as possible, it boomed for a while and became the poster boy for the right wing economists who never heistated to point to its successes. But now that the icelandic house of cards has collapsed, and the country is utterly and deeply bankrupt, those same economists (some of whom are on Obama's team) are eerily silent.

Does anyone remember the wonderful, remarkable, droll, acidly funny Molly Ivins and her "First Rule of Holes?" It went like this: First rule of holes: when you're in one, stop digging.

Would Molly be having fun with this, or what?

Palin is too obtuse to see the simple wisdom of this. I'm betting that she'll have even more to say in the coming days, as she reads the comments from her supporters on her Facebook page.

Where's the recipe?

A pay czar? Ridiculous! What's needed is independent boards instead of the incestuous boards we have today. Boards have been hijacked by the management class. They cross-populate each other's boards and rubber stamp whatever managment wants, including outrageous compensation schemes.

These boards exist now to enhance the wealth of management, not the health of the company. The SEC needs the teeth to bring about true board independence.

Will it happen? Hell no! Obama's econ team will serve the wants of the banks and large financial instutions while giving the appearance of reform. When their time in government is over, they will return to Wall Street for their rewards.

What we are getting with the TARP bailout is, in the Gaithner scheme of things, a healty financial sector. The idea is that when the big financial institutions are healthy they will again lend money and the economy will be on the way to recovery. This is trickle-down banking and its pure bullshit.

A couple of years ago, on a nice summer day, I was having lunch, al fresco, at a restaurant in Menlo Park CA, a town of nouveau riche helicoptor parents. In fact, it just might be the archetype.

The firemen in Menlo Park make a point of waving to kids from their firetrucks when they aren't racing to a fire. At the table next to me was seated a young mother with a little boy of about three or four. A firetruck passed by and the firemen spotted the little boy. The driver of the truck blew his airhorn while the firemen on board all waved to the little guy. The kid was thrilled and waved enthusiastically to the firemen. At that moment the waiter, who had seen the exchange between the boy and the firemen, approached the mom and boy and asked the little guy if he wanted to be a fireman when he grew up. The little boy nodded yes, enthusiastically. But mom had to have the last word. "For now" I heard her say to the waiter.

Anyone care to bet that Octomom won't end up on TLC, the network of the outre?

Republicans continue to commit Reagan idolatry because he was a conservative who was actually popular. I know. I know. That's an oxymoron. But it happens to be true.

As for the three promises, let's take them one at a time.

1. Restore national pride. What, exactly, did he do to "restore" pride? I would argue that he simply made people feel good. He did this merely with his rhetorical gifts, which were substantial.

2. Revive an economy crippled by stagflation. Here, dear Wingnut, your credit is misplaced. It goes to Paul Volcker, who tamed raging inflation, and who, because favored regulation, was shown the door by Mr. Bush the first.

3. Win the cold was. Here again your credit is misplaced. The credit actually goes to the tribal leaders of Afghanistan (who did to the USSR what the Cong did to the U.S.), and to Pope John Paul II (with a shoutout to Lech Walesa), who showed the Poles that the USSR was a paper tiger.

As for conflating treason with illicit sex, Let's talk.