"Upon his death, what else could he expect...?"

He should have expected it to be very, very, VERY warm where he's going. Damn hot, in fact."

"An American who built and led a movement based on strong principles and strong faith has left us. He will be greatly missed, but the legacy of his important work will continue through his many ministries where he put his faith into action." — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

"Dr. Falwell was a man of distinguished accomplishment who devoted his life to serving his faith and country. Our thoughts and prayers are with Dr. Falwell's family at this difficult time." — Republican presidential candidate and Sen. John McCain.

"He was a man who set a direction. He was someone who was not afraid to speak his mind. We all have great respect for him ... he is a person who told you what he thought, and you knew where he stood." — Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.

"His life is a testament not only to the power of faith to move hearts, but to the strength of the American ethos that stresses the importance of citizenship ... He was a great leader, a person totally sustained by his faith but able to work with many people from many different backgrounds without imposing rigidity on anyone else." — Former U.S. House Speaker (and possible Republican presidential candidate) Newt Gingrich.

Do we need any more examples of how the Republicans have completely lost their minds?

YES! The stupid bastard is DEAD! Four more to go:

Robertson, Dobson, that gay preacher with the purple-haired wife, and Pop Benedict.

Take your pious, religious nonsense about speaking ill of the dead and shove it! Never was a death more richly deserved until Karl Rove and Dick Cheney's.

"Man will not be free until every king (politician) has been strangled on the entrails of the last priest." Diderot

Jerry Falwell spent a career demonizing others. Upon his death, what else could he expect in return?

Perhaps he might have expected those others to have demonstrated that their view of their own virtue was more accurate than his view of their vice by rising above the temptation to join in their own version of the Munchkin's chorus that greeted the passing of the Wicked Witch.

One never wants to speak ill of the dead, but in the case of Jerry Falwell, how can one not?

By being an adult and demonstrating some of the charity that Rev. Falwell claimed to follow but seemed to have trouble with. By being a person of some compassion and remembering that Rev. Falwell was also a husband, brother, father and grandfather and those he leaves behind will probably need no help in feeling badly at this time. By recalling that liberalism holds tolerance as a virtue, and if it can't be practiced towards someone who has passed away, despite their opposition to the very idea, then it is a very thin tissue of tolerance indeed.

Those are three ways one can not speak ill of the dead in this case, Mr. Wolfe. They're just off the top of my head, but I can probably give you some more if you require them.

Falwell was a bombastic, ignorant, bigot. I could not supress a enormous grin when I read of his passing. I now anxiously await my unconscious responses to similar news on Dick Cheney and the other fat dumb white guys whose clocks are similarly ticking (tic tic tic).

I usually try to read all the posts before I make one of my own, but there are way to many to get through for this. Clearly this is a 'red rag to a bull' subject with us liberals.

I'm amazed at the vitupertiveness of some of the posts. We are not like those child-adults on the right, we can unpack our thoughts without becoming so nasty. We can explain our positions rather than saying, "because I say so...you JERK".

The death of Falwell ties many threads together of the sheer poverty of debate in American public life. I was listening to Bill Moyers the other day and later to Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond and I was struck by just how articulate and straighforward they were [agree with them or not]. It was like being enveloped in a waft of fresh air after being stuck in a broken down elevator for 10 hours. Bush can't articulate anything, he's a childish brat pretending to do real man's work. Falwell could mostly only articulate fear [his own] and bilious hate based on his fears.

People take to public platforms for all sorts of reasons. Some do it reluctantly, some do it because they feel empty inside, some do it because they feel it's the only way they'll get their father's approval, some do it because they can't imagine being the little man, or this way they'll be someone, but whatever their reasons, we can scrutinize what they say.

These are just people, we shouldn't get hysterical about the fact that they are more flawed than most and have a platform from which to inflict their neuroses on us, we should use cold sharp and calculating reason to challenge their utterances. I don't think he's gone to heaven or hell since I don't believe in either.

You don't counter mindless hate with hate, you counter it with pertinent, dogged and reasoned argument.

Whilst he might have seemed all-powerful and to have gotten away with it, you could feel sorry for him because he wasted the one and only life he had on being wrong and publicly so about all the major issues of the day and on neurotically giving in to the lure of easy and overwhelming certainty....actually that sounds like someone else doesn't it?

Falwell was one of the apocalyptic christianists who supported the current state of Israel, as an ally in fighting Satan.

That actually may be his most profound contribution to American politics and policy.

I all these letters of judgment. Amazing to me how people who claim to walk by a higher morality and standard stoop to such low heights. Even more amazing is people who don't believe in hell or in a God who sends people to hell, can act like god and condemn someone who they disagree with to such a place. Absolutely amazing!!!