You are the most insightful columnist anywhere. What a magnificent weaving of two seemingly different stories.

Outsdie of a high school debate class I doubt that anyone could say it better.

When will you be on Scarbourough to discuss this?

You know, the poor people stuck in county jail when rich folk like Paris Hilton usually get to walk away

Are you really SURE this is true? I mean, do have any actual FACTS at hand to PROVE this is true?

I live in LA County and Lee Baca's early release program has been controversial for years -- long before Paris Hilton ended up in his care.

So I think you're full of sh*t.

But I also think you don't care.

Which is is why I'm glad you're ineligible for a Pulitzer.

Read the LA TImes once in a while -- you might learn something about what's been going on in LA County jails.

You see, they do actual journalism, with facts and stuff.

That's why they end up winning the Pulitzers, while the best Salon can pull off is a Webby.

Salon stopped covering any prison or drug war issues a long time ago.

I think it's kind of disgusting for you to use the poor people in jail to make a point about Paris Hilton.

You didn't a damn about those poor people stuck in jail back when Arnold Schwarzenegger was floating his prison reform proposal and needed support from the left.

It's so ironic -- we share about of 90% of our political views, Joan.

It's your basic attitude towards reality that makes my head spin.

Now let's get real.

Salon does not a give poop about any poor people in jail. If Salon gave a poop about the poor people in jail, you would have run about dozen stories on America's overincarceration crisis by now.

But we know why you can't do that -- you have to let all those poor people suffer in silence because the Democrats need to win law enforcement support for 2008.

So shut up about the poor people stuck in jail, unless you're going to start covering their plight in Salon.

I don't think there'd be nearly as much pity over the "scapegoating" of Hilton if she hadn't lost it so completely. If she had gone to jail (both times) with her head held high, I doubt there'd be nearly as much concern for the severity of her punishment.

As it is, it's as though she's thrown a massive temper tantrum and manipulated the "grown-ups" into feeling sorry for her. I imagine she has lots of practice with that. She's also probably not the first person who got upset about going to jail - we just didn't get to see video footage of all the others.

She didn't get a jail sentence for being a celebrity, she got it because she demonstrated repeatedly through her behavior that she had nothing but contempt for the ruling of the court. She got a series of chances before the judge sent her to prison. I admire him for not being intimidated by her celebrity status and meting out a consequence that she couldn't disregard.

Btw, I believe the quote was "It's not right," rather than "not fair."

And no, I'm not being sarcastic.

Paris Hilton is not a little girl. The statute of limitations on crying for your mommy when you get in trouble runs out well before your 26th birthday. She's not a scapegoat. She drove drunk, then got caught twice violating her probation by driving without a license. I'm sick of drunk drivers getting off until they kill somebody. Martha Stewart did her time with grace, and she didn't even wait until her appeals ran out. And she didn't put anybody in danger. It's too bad Ms. Hilton didn't choose to follow her example rather than that of Bush.

The question is Sibyl, why are you here?

But wow, Joan! You must have had four double shots of espresso when you sat down to write this piece.

I know a lot of people seem to be dithering over PH lately, going back and forth between sympathy and crying for her to be tied to a whipping post. But me, I never wavered, as anyone may have noticed that at least half of my posts on this subject have been quickly removed.

It's unfashionable to say anything misogynistic these days. Nobody's got a sense of humor. I was thinking of S. Clay Wilson's "Ruby and the Dyke Pirates" when I waxed poetic about Hilton. Nobody gets it.

It's a character flaw of mine, I'll readily admit it. I like to see arrogant rich people brought low. I like to see their smirky faces go blank with dread. Sympathy? Oh, hell no!

I have to admit that I'd like to wave a magic wand and instantly bring their bank accounts down to zero and give them acne. How do you like your new job, Paris? Do you get tired of asking customers, "Would you like fries with that?"?

A lot of people are born into fabulous wealth in this country. Most of them have the grace to live well without pissing on the rest of us. Some of them spend their money trying to do some good, like Richard Branson. Sure, he's got his own Caribbean island where he bangs divas like Maria Carey and anybody else he fancies, but he doesn't flaunt it by making a crappy reality show out of it.

Hilton asked for everything that's coming to her and it's still not enough, but it will have to do.

But as Imogen June just wrote, "I don't think there'd be nearly as much pity over the "scapegoating" of Hilton if she hadn't lost it so completely. If she had gone to jail (both times) with her head held high,..."

That's it. That's what got to me. She's whining. Oh how different this would have been if she would have kept that serene expression through all this humiliation. That might have showed everybody that she really is as cool as she tried to portray. But it turns out, her vacuousness, which is cool, is not genuine. If anybody could get close enough to her to give her a good hard kick in the butt, she'd start crying. Not cool at all.

She could have been somebody.