Well, I didn't expect the government to be able to plug it. However, it has assigned itself the task of cleaning up oil spills. And Obama, who seems to think he has the answer to all that's wrong with America, seems to be at a loss.
If he'd spend more time thinking about how unprepared the government seems to be for events like this, or like the underpants bomber or the Times Square bomber, he might have something to occupy his mind besides his next tee time.

I didn't hold this against him, but the spectacle of him floundering, asserting command, then blaming others, then using his old standby, the inspirational speech, and never really taking charge of things really filled me with disgust. After the first couple of weeks the problem all about cleanup. It was pretty clear that this was no longer just a matter of plugging the hole. It probably won't be shut in until August now. But you'd think we'd be seeing more of the clean up efforts. All I've seen is reports about tarballs coming up on more beaches, dead pelicans, etc.

Are we trying to clean this up or just run up BP's damages?

I read Conscience of a Conservative when I was 16. I served an LDS mission in South Germany from 1967-1969, beginning in Coburg. I never saw the border fences between West and East Germany but I could feel their presence.

I was there, not Coburg, but in Germany, when the Soviets sent tanks into Czechoslovakia. And when the wall fell, I felt that I was witnessing a miracle. Ever since, I've thought of the line "where troubles melt like lemon drops," when I remember how amazing that was. The Iron Curtain just popped like a bubble.

I have always had the same feelin that you describe, that unless we aggressively spread freedom, slavery will enclose us. Obama's rock-paper-scissors diplomacy is as disgusting to me as illegal arms dealing.

The Boston Tea Party was in 1773. Tea bags weren't invented until 1903 or 1904. And "teabagging" in the carnal sense was probably much later. Tea Parties are about dumping government taxed tea in the harbor, i.e. protesting government actions. If Maddow, Olbermann or the others prefer to think in sexual terms, well, it's probably nothing new for them. Liberals seem to revel in obscenity these days, even as the decry incivility from conservatives.

All I'd say to them is that "teabagging" in the sense they use it requires special equipment that they don't seem to have.

My reason for opposing gay marriage is that I see it as more than just being allowed to be joined at a civil ceremony. It's not so much marriage they want as validation by society. Ever since the '70s I've been hearing people say "We don't need a piece of paper to say that we love each other!" Now all of a sudden, gays do need one? Andrew Sullivan's argument about wanting to stand before the Priest with his parents giving him away was as goofy and maudlin as you say this documentary is. Somehow, I just couldn't picture him throwing the bouquet to a group of his buddies.

The thing that worries me is that, once they have this "right" (marriage is not a right or it wouldn't require a license), they will find that it doesn't allay their sense of being "queer" or having something wrong with them. And when that happens, they'll demand that not just government offices but all churches be required to perform gay marriages. Mormons have already seen government interference with our religious views on marriage to the point of having our rights as citizens revoked and the church being threatened with dissolution and forfeiture of its property, all of which was upheld by the Supreme Court. How ironic would it be now to have the government demanding that the church perform temple marriages for gay couples?

It might sound silly to say that, but 30 years ago, would anybody have taken a demand for gay marriage seriously? Nobody has ever had the right to marry a partner of the same sex, whereas, the joining ot the two sexes has always been the essence of the concept of marriage. Gays have the same privilege of marrying a member of the opposite sex that straights do. What they are asking for is a new, unprecedented privilege, not some inherent natural right. It's a false analogy to race to call gay marriage a civil right.

The place that marriage holds in LDS theology is far different from most other religions. It is performed not just "until death doth you part," but "for time and all eternity." Such marriage is essential for men and women to achieve the highest degree of heaven, called exaltation. We believe that it was ordained by God, and what are we supposed to do when the state says that this holiest of all ordinances must be granted to homosexual partners? I think I'd tell the government that it doesn't have the jurisdiction to put God on trial.

I had decided not to vote at al rather than vote for McCain. However, the more I found out about Obama's background, the more I was convinced that McCain would be far better in many ways, as much as I dislike his need to be the center of everything and compromise on important priniciples. I knew how my state would vote, so I really didn't need to vote, but my basic sense of civic duty convinced me to vote for the lest objectionable.

If I were in NY-23, I'd vote for Mr. Hoffman, since I don't see that much difference between Scozzafava and the Democrat, but in general, I think that third party movements are only a good thing if they draw votes from the Democrats. If they stand to draw votes from Republicans, I couldn't support them.

My uncle, Warren Starr, was in command of an anti-aircraft battery on Corregidor, a tiny speck of rock at the mouth of Manila Bay when the war broke out. He and his men lived on the island for 5 months being bombed and strafed by the Japanese and defending that strategic outpost until they were ordered to surrender. Reading his diary, which he kept in the margins of his copy of the Book of Mormon, really was a sobering glimpse of what our troops endure on our behalf. We really need more movies that show these heroes in their true light, because this world will never be free of people who covet power and are willing to resort to violence to get it. If we can't fight, we won't endure.

Oh my, Grandma! What big pores you have! And that clown hair!

I was hoping someone more high profile than me would make this point. Rush isn't racist, but because he criticizes Obama he'll be tarred as if he were. The NFL grovels to the politically correct. All one needs to say to point out their hypocrisy is two words: Michael Vick.

I really don't bother with The Daily Beast or A.S. I don't know who Conor Friedersdorf is, but I'm not going to look him up based on the fact that he attacks Andrew. All kinds of fools do that. A.S., for instance. Anybody who can't see the fallacy in claiming that gay marriage is the same as interracial marriages isn't worth wasting time on.

How much does Moore's movie have to bring in to keep him rich? $21.5 million still sounds like a lot of money to me. I'd love it if his drivel drove him into bankruptcy, but he can always collect enough for one speech at Berkeley to live like me for several years.

Couldn't they tax him for being fat to help finance health care reform?