Congrats! Congrats! Can't wait. You and Keith, wooo hooo!

Rudy, Fred, Mitt, John - none has strong right wing Christian credentials.

"Rudy, Fred, Mitt, John - none has strong right wing Christian credentials."

True enough. But I don't think it will matter. The fundy sheep will vote for whomever their pastor tells them to -- as long as the candidate has an "R" after his name.

This was the first time I saw you on TV. I don't watch the other shows that usually feature you.

I just have to say, Amy Rorbach is a babe. And that's coming from a gay man.

So now MoveOn.org, a group of mostly aging 60s hippies, soccer moms, young idealists, and grass roots suburbanites is a "Radical Group."

Like the Red Brigades? The Weather Underground? The Bader-Meinhoff Gang?

Oh please!

When that anti-Fox 'news' movie "OutFoxed" came out a few years ago, somebody roped me into going to one of those local pizza parties where there was an advance copy and then discussion afterwards.

There were about 15-20 people there. It looked exactly like church bake sale demographic with young adults in Dockers and pastel polo shirts and moms with noisy eight year-olds. There were a couple of grandmotherly type ladies there and a smattering of the usual Birkenstock-wearing vegans eying the pizza with great disgust.

But there was also a middle-aged woman there who didn't quite fit in. She had the wisp of a scowl on her face during the who gathering. Toward the end, when the discussion was winding down, she pulled a small digital camera out of her purse and completely out of character with her previous behavior, asked that everybody bunch together on and around the couch because she wanted a picture.

Some people waved. Some people gave the peace V sign, and as a joke I know I'll regret someday, I raised my fist in the old 60s "Power to the People" salute of my youth. Just out of habit more than anything else.

The stern matron departed as the group said their goodbyes. I headed for my car parked down the street and what do you suppose I saw our happy photographer doing?

She was photographing the license plates of all the cars in front of the house where the party had been.

I had a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach as I walked past her to my car. I gave her a look of disgust and she just glared back at me.

This is our government here in America. They are so afraid of American citizens gathering for a political discussion that they have to send somebody to take pictures and license plate numbers.

This was my only experience with MoveOn. I got some emails from them after that, but I didn't respond.

Was I intimidated? You bet I was. I was intimidated and had a rotten feeling for weeks after that. How many MoveOn house parties were held for the pre-screening of "OutFoxed" that same night all over America? A hundred? More? And did they send one of their junior G-women and men out to each of these parties to gather names and pictures?

I don't know. All I know is that this country isn't as advertised when the government has to spy on its own people. I thought that's what they do in third world dictatorships and the commie lands like North Korea, Yemen, Cuba, and our good good friends the Chinese Communists.

Well gay man, you need glasses because the only babe I saw was the redhead. (Oooo, I'm such a disgusting sycophant).

Anyway, Moving On with the topic at hand:

Prediction: Fred Thompson will fold too early to be of any use to the Democrats. His ignorance and lack of cue cards is going to sink him. As Joan said, there's a certain laziness in his approach to things.

I mean really, if he didn't know that Terri Schiavo is the new aborted fetus poster for the Christian whackos, he doesn't know who he's supposed to be courting.

And my Gawd! The Cuban Americans in Miami were probably slapping their heads groaning Ai, carramba! when Thompson equated their death-defying struggle to escape Cuba on leaky boats with suitcase bomb-carrying terrorists.

I mean, do they let Thompson out of the movie studio occasionally so he can get some air? Does he read?

Sorry Keith decided to bug out tonight Joan. But I guess it's a start. I bet you hit a whole new demographic tonight, and even a gay guy! Wooo Hooo!

You rock Joan.

You and Arianna H. make me proud to be an American Liberal.

That the Republican party has nominated dimwits hasn't kept them from winning the last seven out of nine Presidentials. A professional journalist has little choice but focusing on the "public relations" aspects of an election, but I'm not sure any more if that isn't just business as usual, and that's what has led to the current debacle, and will lead to more if the finger isn't pointed at the forest and not simply the trees.

Who are these folks who keep voting for the dimwits? How is it that so few Americans can see past the ploys? Recently, the obituary I wrote for my wife was rejected by the small town newspaper where she came from. They edited all the information that gave meaning to her life, including her heartfelt wish that a person of her own sex might become the next president of the United States.

But at least I made the effort and that my friends is the sort of effort it's going to take if the forces that have turned the county into an imperialist power are not confronted again and again on a grass roots level. I commend others who really care about the country to find other ways to reach past the barracades. They know what is at stake. It's up to more decent folks to let themselves be heard in any forum they can find.

on this blog and on Countdown! So glad to see and hear you there! I think and hope you are right in your analysis.

P.S. This isn't issue-related and I generally don't have any use for "image" comments like the one about how you looked pained by the way you held your eyebrows, BUT your new hairdo looks terrific!

Keep up the great work. Salon is fortunate to have you and so are we.