I admit I'm both appalled horrified.

First, why is this disgusting "subject" even on Salon - months before the most tightly contested Congressional battle in over a decade. Karl Rove himself couldn't have dreamed

up a better way to incite his rightwing "base" or to paint the left as morally depraved idiots.

For instance look at these letters; Salon star editing every third or so one defending what is

at best piss-poor judgement (pardon the pun). The "victim is supposedly the person with the great intelligence to be off in the woods taking pictures of very young children naked and in questionable poses ranging from "pissing" on a fire to skinnydipping for the permanent record.

What kind of person would even WANT a picture of their eight year old dangling his privates in front of a fire with others present, or whipping it out to pee on a fire. There was no earthly reason to photograph any of these questionable "fun" acts, which at best could really embarass the kids involved.

Similarly, I find it more than a tad incredible that his daughter just happened to stumble upon a bottle of beer and the kids just happened to get a hold of the camera and photograph it on their own. (Or whatever it was).

There are gross saftey issues involved as well. Isn't it obvious very young children and things such as swimming in the dark, broken glass, alcohol and fire (and hell only knows what we don't even know about) simply don't mix. Call me a "prude" if you will, but I wouldn't let the author anywhere near my kids.

Given this kind of dependability of the left to defend near every unsavory act of stupidity to be found while viciously attacking the people who are doing their jobs trying to defend kids from pedophiles (and/or people with all the judgement of a brick) small wonder the Republicans have been able to tar us all as a bunch of morally depraved freaks. Is Salon a Ralph Nader entity working behind the scenes for the Republican party? I'm beginning to think so.

There have been so many cases over the last few years of bored and nosey drugstore employees reporting questionable photos to the authorities. If you've taken questionable pictures on an old fashioned camera, you have to be nuts to take the photos to a drugstore. Any nude picture of a child would raise warning flags at a drugstore.

I think the emphasis on nude pictures taken by otherwise-loving parents is stupid and misplaced, but the fact stands that none of this would have been a problem if the author had used a digital camera and developed the photos on his own.

You’d struggle to find another culture in the world – or in history – that sexualises children to the extent that America does right now in its popular culture. I’m surprised there’s a market at all for pedophilic pornography in the US. A quick look at American media would lead most to believe that Madison Avenue and Hollywood have cornered the market on peado wank fodder.

(But it’s OK, genetalia is never exposed you see.) So there’s no worry that Britany video is going to give any creep out there the wrong idea about what 16 year old schoolgirls really want.

But a three year old skinny dipping on a camping trip. Or HORROR penises … PENISES PENISES PEEING!

That’s got you upset?

WTF?

I would like to recommend to Salon readers two excellent books related to this subject:

"Pictures of Innocence" by Anne Higgonet

"The Eros of Parenthood" by Noelle Oxenhandler

I absolutely agree with another letter writer. 8 years old is too old for a boy to be walking around naked in front of his sisters. And when they "piss on the fire", what, does the boy and grown men all whip their dicks out together? That's fucked up. And the matter of alcohol. I know alcohol is legal, but parents drinking or smoking in front of kids is bad parenting. Why the alcohol? Why do we have to teach kids that to have fun or relax that alcohol has to be involved? I would never let a baby sitter, 21 yrs old or older, drink alcohol when they were watching my kids. And whose broken bottle did the girl find? Theirs? How much did they drink?

I agree that none of this was sexual by a long shot, but yes, there was some VERY bad parenting involved. I hope you've made the proper adjustments.

Israel is destroying Lebanon with US weapons and taxpayer dollars and your cover story is twattle (no pun).

Salon's willingness to broadcast its increasing irrelevance is astounding.

No subscription renewal from me.

"I know alcohol is legal, but parents drinking or smoking in front of kids is bad parenting."

Then the vast majority of kids throughout history have survived bad parenting. You know, the generations not blessed with knowledge of what truly good parenting is, a knowledge that evidently dates from around 1989 and is endemic solely to the US.

Handy reference chart:

Getting drunk and throwing up in front of kids: bad parenting.

Having a glass of wine with dinner in front of kids: OK parenting.

Teaching your kids to be self-righteous Puritans: REALLY bad parenting.

are even more frightening.

Get a grip, get a life, get a digital camera.

Only the innocent would be this naive. The guilty have a lot of motivation to learn to anticipate and avoid this kind of situation from the beginning.

I see why Libertarians are so down on big government. It's extremely hard for a government agency to admit when it's wrong. Even if someone's life gets destroyed by the error.

Parents, wake the fuck up: Naked kid pics are not cute. They are a gross indignity perpetrated on human beings unable to give or withhold consent, most of whom find the images humiliating years later. They merit punishment on that basis alone.

Ahhh - the stupidity defense. George w. Bush likes where your heads at.