The best way to deal with ignorance is to ignore it. While we are ignoring we also must pay attention and try to make positive changes. We do want provocateurs to have a chance to hang themselves or be hung as in the trials at Nuremberg. We just have to pay attention along the way and while we are ignoring we need to act in a positive way. So let them speak, life will catch up with them. Hanging is not a solution, problems local or world wide should be prevented when possible. Pay attention

Katywon, Your response is so apropos right now. With the movie and the release of the actual tapes from President Nixon, it still amazes me how we dodged a bullet. If not for “Deep Throat” and all that transpired, our country could have proceeded down really scary avenues. Sorry for bringing politics up, but I feel strongly that we allowed a lot that transpired over the last 8 years due to complacency and a feeling of helplessness. For myself, starting now I will do all that I can to be as well informed as I can be and demand transparency, I hope everyone else will as well. I say all of this because of your point about paying attention. It really is important that online and off, we allow people to speak their peace BUT hold them accountable for their actions and pay attention. You and Merrell are so right, certain posters thrive on the responses to their irreverent posts. I know I won’t buy into it again. But I will in the future forward my concerns to the webmasters to take necessary actions when warranted.

On the day Nixon resigned, I was working in Rome and was delighted to see the headlines when I picked up my newspaper that morning. The vendor thought I was an idiot. He told me that Americans are babies who expect politicians to be honest and who are disappointed when they find out the truth, that all politicians are liars and thieves. He said that in Italy when the politicians weren’t smart enough to cover up their illegal activities the government fell and they had new elections, and that the American people should stop being so naive and get used to the truth, that politicians are liars and thieves. Well, he has a point there. Some of them are. But, I guess I am a naive American. I am not, however a stupid American. I was able to see through Sarah Palin in a New York minute. She is a dead loss. (John McCain was, no doubt, a very brave man in Vietnam, but being a survivor does not make one a hero. Sorry, but I had to say it. It’s the truth.) This business with Palin’s daughter (who names a child Bristol? or Track or Trig? I remember Piper Laurie, but wasn’t she named by a Hollywood studio, the kind that names people Rip and Tab?) is very sad for the kid, but it is a shining example of how well abstinence works with teenagers. All of this abstinence training makes lots of sense when you discuss it in a classroom at 11 AM, but all the sense flies out the window when the kids are in the back seat of a car at 11PM, breathing heavy. He isn’t going to marry her. That may be the good part of the whole thing. The sad part is that her mother will make her crazy and everyone in the world knows her story. Good luck, Bristol. God help you. By the way, I read that Palin’s son went to Iraq because the judge gave him the choice of jail or Iraq. Excellent family. Who suggested her to McCain? Thank God for keeping them out of office.

Belinda good posts- even though you know Jim Henley is a lost cause. I feel sorry for McCain - being stuck with Sarah Palin as a running mate. I hope the Republicans take back their party from the right wingers and let Sarah Palin stay where she belongs - in Alaska. Obama gets trashed everytime someone he “knows” does something wrong not to mention his relatives. . I can’t believe these people think they are educating us with these idiotic ramblings about Obama’s citizenship etc. because they don’t think we have heard all of this non-sense before.

Every time Palin is mentioned there is hope to sell more magazines, more newspapers and get more responses on WOW. It is all about the money. Next week we probably will have to endure baby pictures.

Garden Goddess, “They’re Alaskans, for pete’s sake!! This is the way life is lived in Alaska to a very great extent.”??? Excuse me? I am an Alaskan woman and have lived here nearly 30 years - what exactly do you mean? To the writers of the article - I could care less about the content, but take offense to how you reference law enforcement in Alaska. They are not Alaskan police - they were Alaska State Troopers who arrested her. And please…coppers? You may think you’re coy - I find it offense. I am the wife of a 30 year Alaska State Trooper - please show some respect.