Thank you!

Does anyone know about the series Death Note? If you do, is it as dark as the summary of it appears? Is it appropriate for a 13 year old?

I was in a similar situation at a concert in Charlotte. But it was two women. If there's one thing I can't stand is the inane, grating chatter of mindless women. I admire how you put up with it. I don't think I could have gotten through the game without some serious CoC violations.

I haven't watched enough to notice, but I did see that they re-hired Sarah Palin. I wonder how she fits into their plans.

Thank you for posting this. I made the mistake of calling anime a cartoon once, and two of my children (HUGE anime and manga fans) lashed out like I'd committed the crime of the century. "Mom, you just don't understand anything!" "Mom, anime isn't like the cartoons you used to watch." That both encouraged and concerned me. I made it up to them by taking them to an anime convention where I was deluged by people with long pink and blue hair, plaid miniskirts, and several katanas.

My daughter used to collect dolls. Now she collects anime chibis. Since I'm a sci-fi nerd, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I've produced some nerds of my own. :)

I understand what you're saying. I hate identity politics and don't want to play into it. Of course the men's vote is as important as the women's. I agree, completely. I also understand the frustration and sentiment behind the statement. The problem is that when it comes to issues and propaganda, the left is singling out women (just as they are immigrants and minorities). That wouldn't be such a big deal except women et al. are falling for it. Big time. I don't buy into the media-driven victimhood melodrama, but a majority of woman are. What do we do about that? How do we counter it?

The Republicans can't win without the women's vote. And women DO see themselves as victims (war on women was all about that). The conundrum is that I don't know if a Republican politician can fix this victim mentality or get the women's vote without throwing conservative principles out the window. If he/she can, then great, but if not, then the problem primarily is a deeply rooted cultural one and will take years to overcome if it can be corrected at all.

James--what do you think of the rumors that Obama has already agreed to support Hillary?

Dave---they would be ashamed of us.

Simon --- I agree with your points, I think people are just skeptical that anyone will actually run on them--unfortunately. I'd like to be wrong in this.

ET---You might need to PM him.

ET---Race does trump gender, generally speaking. We saw that with Obama beating Hillary. But they've been there, done that. Now it's the woman's turn. It seems in this instance, in this particular election, gender might trump race. Of course, in the end, I'd like to clear the political landscape of all this faction politics and have conservativism trump liberalism.

Thank you for sharing, Dave. Your post brought back so many memories of my own family. I too come from a line of sharecroppers on my mother's side in south Georgia. The poorest of the poor. My grandfather was one of 12 siblings, but three died young. He dropped out of school in fifth grade to work the farm, then joined the Marines at age 16 (he lied about how old he was) to get out of the poverty. During the Depression, my grandfather's family lived a year off of pecans from the giant pecan tree in their front yard, and they drank water from a well. The grainy black and white pictures of my family are haunting. Their faces so hard, so beaten down. I wish they had had the humor of your Paw Paw to lift them up out of the misery. What a blessing to have that trait, and it's one you obviously inherited! In turn, we are blessed by you, by your memories, your writing, and your good humor. Thank you.

HVTs---the mushy middle is very susceptible to talk about safety and security and trusting your government. She'll get the nomination because she's Hillary Clinton, a woman, and because she will push the "you need government to keep you safe narrative."

I wasn't talking about the effect on the polls. I was talking about the focus of the debate, the narrative itself. The Dems were defensive, but now they have changed the terms of the debate. They're no longer simply defending big government, they're turning the debate around and making libertarians and conservatives out to be the problem. They're the crazy ones who don't trust government, and that's the problem. We'll see if that narrative impacts the electorate. For now, it hasn't (which is good!), but they have only just employed this tactic this week. It's everywhere in the media. Time will tell if it takes hold. My point is that they're already changing the narrative and Clinton is picking up on it. It's about safety, and who's best at making our safety a priority—a woman. 

I'll never say you're absolutely wrong in this, but I cannot imagine in my wildest dreams the Clintons letting another black man edge her out of the presidency. I also think Obama and Bill have already made a deal that Obama will support Hillary. The Clintons and Obamas control a lot of cash flow into the Democratic Party. When it comes to money, Booker doesn't stand a chance.