*** The score so far ***

-- 30+ posts disagreeing about Palin "cleaning Biden's clock"

-- 0 conservatives/Drudgebots attempting to defend that claim

-- Xrandadu Hutman

Sorry Xrandadu, I had no idea you were keeping count. Ok, I thought Biden looked like he was relieved when the ending bell rang.

-- 30+

to

-- 1

As for the silly free speech arguments, of course Paglia is free to write about anything she wishes, as are the many readers responding here. But many of us PAY for the content on Salon; I have been a loyal subscriber for years. When paying subscribers see part of our subscription dollars going toward paying the likes of columnists we abhor, it is legitimate to call for Paglia to be replaced by a different voice.

I would like to see more dissenting views expressed on Salon -- but views that are intelligent, thought out, honestly pursued and offered. These criteria are not evident in Paglia’s writing. Sure, she may be provocative, but so is Perez Hilton...

(Unsurprisingly, I don't notice many letters written here in support or praise of Paglia that come from Salon subscribers. Perhaps you all would like to contact your preferred publication and solicit her hiring there...)

Yes, he was relieved to debate a person who knew basically nothing. It was not even a debate; just a series of incoherent speeches by our dear Sarah Palin.

But I just want to say thanks to the letter writers. You cracked me up and nailed Camille.

Let's all admit it, we love reading her ridiculous column so we can all sit here and take it apart.

Wow, so who at the New York Times pissed off Camille this time?

It seems to a lot of us that you keep columnists such as Camille Paglia and the rightwingnut in order to drive page views. Hey-look at our traffic! We can charge more for advertising!

I've taken it upon myself to click through the ads, then find their customer service/contact information. I then email them letting them know that I was brough to their site via a banner ad on Salon. I mention that the article was a complete piece of garbage, and that because they choose to advertise on a site that keeps employing authors of such rubbish, I will not patronize their businesses and/or buy their products.

So, yes, Joan, it does drive traffic to your advertisers, but maybe it's not the kind of traffic they want.

referred to by Mr. Devlin of women covering their hair is actually a major controversy in Europe. In France, Muslim girls are not allowed to cover their hair in public schools and the controversy is over whether which is more oppressive, the hijab or the ban.

It happens to be a major issue, just, you know, not for Americans.

Nothing has changed to alter my assessment of Camille since I wrote about her for Mother Jones in 1991.

For those interested in the entirety of it, here’s a link:

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~erich/misc/ivins_on_paglia

If you’re only interested in the essence, here are two quotes:

1.“What we have here, fellow citizens, is a crassly egocentric, raving twit.”

2.“Sheesh, what an asshole.”

For those who think those words are harsh, unwarranted or unkind, I offer another succinct quote from that piece:

"Fuck off."

Why is it that the right always blames the "mainstream media" for all the ills in the world?

Fact: The "mainstream media" helped crucify Bill Clinton and hawked his every move while in office.

Fact: The "mainstream media" supported bush in his ill fated attack on Iraq going so far as to call anyone who disagreed with such invasion as traitors.

Fact: When the "mainstream media" points out that certain republicans are idiots as proved by those same republicans, it's some sort of "Liberal Conspiracy" to bring down said republicans.

Fact: The "mainstream media" had nothing to do with the way the world viewed the bush administration - he made his own reputation as an inept, uninformed, bully and puppet to Cheney and the oil interests. He squandered every bit of good will the rest of the world had for the U.S. after 9/11. That wasn't the "mainstream media's" doing.

So, in the conservatives' eyes, it's ok to rake a liberal over the coals but not ok to do the same to a conservative. Pot. Kettle. Black.

Palin wasn't taken down by the "mainstream media," she took herself down as evidenced by her interviews and public appearances. During the debates, she refused to answer the questions put forth to her and degraded the proceedings by winking at the television – WTF? Did she think that she was answering a judge’s question in a beauty pageant? How could you possibly think that she trounced Biden? Were we even watching the same debate?

She's ill equipped to handle public office and she was called on it. If she wants to run for president in 2012, then she needs to develop thicker skin because her every move will be watched, just like every move Obama made (and continues to make) was/is watched and scrutinized.

Every public official has gotten 'hit' by the late night talk show hosts - politicians become the butt of every joke by the very nature of the fishbowl they live in. If Palin can't take the heat then she needs to get out of the kitchen and quit whining about it. She needs to take some responsibility for what she essentially brought on herself.

Let’s talk a minute about the hate spewed by the right wing radio talk show hosts. If anyone had said that the wanted bush to fail, they would have been hauled off to jail as an enemy combatant but it is OK for the right wing to say that it is OK for Obama to fail. I didn’t know that Rush ran the GOP but it sure seems that way. Coulter seems to think that Liberals should be put in re-education camps and O’Reilly calls murdering doctors who perform legal abortions a good thing. Seriously? I think the right has the market cornered on hate. But, hey, if you say it enough times those of lesser intelligence might actually start to believe the hype.

Camilia - you are a democrat in name only as confirmed by your constant vilification of the left. You might as well shift parties since you are obviously not happy with the democrats. Hell, register as an independent but don't proclaim to be something you obviously are not.