It is definitely unwise to underestimate Sarah Palin's chances to become President.

It is easy to imagine that if John MCCain wins, he will have fulfilled his mission--to top the power of his father and grandfather, etc. At that point, having no more to accomplish and being a pretty old man, it is easy to imagine that he will die of natural causes. Sarah Palin will become President. Because of these possibilities, we should also try to imagine the policies she would follow as President.

The question is not her "smarts." The question is what a person such as she will do when in office.

Paglia is one of America's best writers these days. That she holds views completely opposed to mine is irrelevant.

Is why I stopped subscribing to Salon...

Stylistically speaking, maybe. Both had chic wives. Both - young, attractive, articulate campaigners, both have a certain air of Ivy League superiority and aristocracy.

JFK grew up with wealth and understood that to preserve wealth and stimulate prosperity, we had to CUT taxes. BHO understands none of this. His natural instinct is to demagogue, blame "the rich," and to incite class warfare.

JFK was a war hero. My Republican Mum, Mary Elizabeth Lotus Feet, made me read his "Profiles in Courage" which, unlike Barry's books, was not all selectively about him. When push came to shove, JFK stood up to Khruschev's bluff and bested him. JFK had both character and intelligence. Noone questions Barry's intelligence. Most opportunistic and parasitic sociopaths are highly intelligent.

Remember, JFK sent our Special Forces into Vietnam. JFK grew up with righteous anti communists and understood the need to block the spread of leftist idealogy all over the world, while it is expedient for Obama to play the isolationist warrier right now, but, if he gets what he wants, he'll be getting along quite well with fellow leftists all over the world. He would also betray women all over the world by agreeing to certain compromises with Islamicists who hate our free and open society.

Nevermind how he would betray the faith so many Jews have placed in him. Camille, you are not Jewish, so why would you be troubled by that, my dear?

I too grew up in a neighborhood with a strong Italian element. Those people were great and some of my best friends and some of the best people I've known. No doubt they influenced my later decision to become a Catholic with all their saint cards and candles, not to mention their morals and behavior. I was a child in the 60's and early 70's when the feminist movement took root. It was obvious to me as a male that the girls in my classes were superior to the guys. That was a no-brainer. That made me an automatic feminist, or so I've always thought. I've had many close girlfriends and I've hired many female employees since. It has disturbed me that feminism has become so closely tied with abortion rights. Roe v. Wade has been a plague on our country and I believe that until that law is changed, it will be difficult, maybe impossible, to get our country back to the greatness it had always previously enjoyed. Abortion corrodes our ability to grow and thrive. It is the opposite of growth and well-being. I'd also like to take this oportunity to state that one not need to be a liberal Democrat to be a feminist. One only needs to be supportive of equality for women to be a feminist. There are many strong, conservative women who are bona fide feminists, for example, Gov. Sarah Palin, who has been so roundly mocked and ridiculed. I recently had someone, a female M.D., nearly shout at me the canard that "Sarah Palin is an insult to all women." That's like saying Obama is an insult to all men, or to all blacks. Simply goofy. Living in DC, NY and SF, I've been surrounded by liberal elitists all my adult life. Believe me, they are not nearly as smart as they think they are. They are not as smart as the little Italian ladies I grew up around. Not as smart about how to live. Respect life.

We aren't underestimating Palin, we are refusing to buy into the propaganda that she is anything more than an inexperienced, uneducated, hockey mom. Your defense of Palin, when her inability to grasp basic economic and international diplomacy issues is extremely apparent, shows your lack of credibility and your sexist views. If Palin was a man she would have been ridden out on a rail a long time ago, but because she is a woman, men and women everywhere are coming out of the woodwork to defend a woman that should be dismissed for what she is, an ex-beauty queen with below average intelligence. It's that simple, and to any person that thinks for themselves and isn't celebrating what is between a persons legs, all the propaganda and lies in the world won't ever change that. You should be ashamed and embarrassed for actually admitting that Biden won on points and actually suggesting that there is some merit in having points for style. Oh right, but you write for Salon. You're doing America a lot of good, keep up the important work, and don't forget to make sure your hair looks perfect before you go outside.

Seriously, this site has been going downhill for a couple years now. And I'm not just talking about the content. (I didn't care, for example, that Salon was pro-Hillary; plenty of blogs I enjoyed and continued to read supported candidates I didn't.) But I'm most disappointed with the site's vision. It's been pretty amazing to watch Talking Points Memo, with its smaller and lower-paid staff, completely out-Salon Salon with its reporting, commentary, and community.

But what's worse is Salon's reputation is tanking. Respectable bloggers have soured on it, questioning the judgment of editors who think Paglia is still relevant or that Tennis actually gives good advice. Greenwald is the best thing about Salon; I would've canceled last year had Salon not brought him aboard.

But Salon isn't committed to new voices. This Paglia stuff is a case-in-point. With the bevy of young feminists, particularly young feminists of color, whose fresh ideas and intellectual rigor have made places like Pandagon and BfP must-reads, it's sad to see voices like Clark-Flory's and Traister's drowned out so condescendingly by the likes of Paglia. It's even sadder to see how few voices of women of color are around.

Anyway, sorry to rant, but I've been a member here for years. I've given Salon gift subscriptions to at least a dozen friends and family members. That's over now. You've lost me.