...of her witch-warding church buddies or secessionist pals posting in this thread, as they have in so many others. Or maybe the breathless first-time posters of just members of other churches who voted for Bush and tortured in Jesus's name! They tortured for you, Jesus! And they'll torture again for you, Jesus!!!!

Jesus must be beyond weeping. Jesus must be vomiting at what's done in His name.

I have been reading this thread with amazement. I really respect you, Ms. Paglia, for being so open and honest and for starting such a fantastic dialogue for us "closeted, real women" out here. I grew up in the liberal Berkeley of the 70's and now consider that I was brainwashed into believing that unlimited sex with as many partners as I wanted was "normal" and even good. I have never really stopped paying the price for believing this lie. Forget about losing my virginty at 16 because my boyfriend and I just figured we should "get it over with" (it was terrible), forget the "date rape" I experienced my first night on the UCSB campus in 1976 that I did not even realize was rape until I was 35, forget about STD's and having to get regular AIDS tests all through the 80's just to make sure I was still negative. Even forgetting about the abortion I had when I was 19 that the baby's father did not even recall 6 weeks later....I was still so damaged by my sexual "sins" that my marriage (at age 34)only began to become really intimate after raising 4 step daughters, having our two boys and re-committing to my long lost Catholic faith two years ago. I bought the lie of the sexual revolution and paid the price. But, I have finally healed! Through the forgiveness of God and the tru REVOLUTIONIZING of my values. I am now a conservative family-oriented woman with a PhD in Clinical Psychology. I have been a stay-at-home homeschooling mom and am currently a working mom blessed to have a truly intimate, spiritual, completely miraculous sexual relationship with my patient, faithful, adorable (sometimes a jerk) husband. And, oh yes, two of my daughters are married and pregnant and none of them have had a abortion. Praise the Lord! Now if I can just keep my boys away from all the sexually preditorial young women out there and teach them to look for a good wife with strong morals and a strong work ethic. Thank you for the forum!

Where are the editor's choice letters?

Ahh, you've stopped screaming (Check his past posts to see what I mean.).

Yet, you're still both shrill and sycophantic.

Disturbing, that.

But at least you're straight.

Whew, eh?

She knows how to play the game. She knows she doesn't have the intellect. She doesn't have the "street smarts." However, she has an instint for raw rural little-man-woman politics. It worked!

Regarding Lady MacBeth, I'd just like to find a Republican with Lady MacBeth's decency. Lady MacBeth had the clear-sigthedness and backbone to see the blood on her hands. If only Bush and McCain voters would honest and brave enough to hear the screams of those their party tortured.

Heck, I'd like to find a Republican as honest as Ike, who stated that every bomb built is food taken from a child's mouth. If Ike were alive today and saying such things, today's Republicans would call him anti-American. A commie. A terrorist Muslim.

And T. Jefferson would weep.

Camille:

I haven't been able to confirm whether you've won a Pulitzer Prize--the web searches are inconclusive--but you should win one just about every week. You may be the only truly honest, truly open-minded journalist we've ever had in America. (Jeff Greenfield has come close, and I used to think Walter Cronkite...but we all know how badly old Walter's turn on the catwalk has ended.) You are unabashedly liberal or at least libertarian, have a same-sex partner and have been locked in on Barack since way back in the Democratic primaries. And yet...you are strong enough in your own beliefs to put what I'm guessing are Mensa-level smarts to work on not just "both" but all sides of most issues. And that has opened what at first was a trickle but is growing into a raging torrent as the WOMEN of this country...not the national organzation of witches...are standing up for Sarah, for Hillary, for any woman anywhere who makes them proud by daring to be great, by reaching for the highest heights. You are absolutely right that Sarah has exposed the utter moral corruption of the fascist news & entertainment media (FNEM) and their mindless soldiers walking the streets of America who scream "choice" but will virtually murder you with their bare hands if you don't agree with their "only one right choice." Who demand the right to "speak truth to power" but only if it means shrieking lies at conservatives, Republicans and Christians. Who demand "a place at the table for women" but do everything in their power to destroy the woman who has the best chance of making it to the White House since Geri drove hard to the basket a generation ago (and, sadly, was weighed down by the two men closest to her at that moment: Her husband and the male portion of the ticket).

I am a politically-all-over-the-map straight guy, a husband and father of two daughters who has never told a columnist that he loved her or him but is about this close to doing so here. Writers, thinkers like you, Dave Barry and a scant few others are precious gems, exquisite natural resources we should treasure and pray that you never leave us. (Twisted those adjectives because I knew if you saw it you'd be proud.) God bless you and thank you.

Actually Paglia does have right to her scorn. She's proof a Yale PhD. doesn't prevent you from being a moron. And it is precisely because she's such a morn that she can't see how stupid Palin is.

Have you bumped your head? Sarah Palin and smarts?

When I was a young man, I was involved in the Miss America program. My best friend's parents produced one of the affiliated state pageants, and my friend and I handled publicity and press relations for years. Sarah Palin is the quintessential "pageant chick": body by Fisher and brains by Mattel. She reminds me of Shakespeare's line about "being full of sound and fury, signifying nothing". How can anyone listen to her for more than a few minutes and realize that she's "all sizzle and no steak"? Just because she's a combination of Henny Youngman and Norm Crosby does not impress me. She's all about "Joe six-pack". Remember Billy Carter?

That she's being considered for the second-highest position in the land with almost no experience makes me shudder. In last night's debate, Senator McCain said to Senator Obama that "this is not the time for on-the-job training". I agree. What's amazing is that he wasn't talking about his running mate.

The SNL writers and Tina Fey have hit the nail on the head. Sarah Palin is a dolt and a buffoon, wrapped in the self-righteousness of her faith, with enough Andy Griffith charm to get people to pay attention to her. It's really scary that so many people do.