Peter, I enjoyed your terrific interview on FOX while munching a spinach salad in my kitchen. Well done! I especially appreciate your advice: "Don't attack Supreme Court justices." I wasn't a speechwriter but was just a lowly staffer in Correspondence and then in Public Liaison during the Reagan era. (You guys were the rock stars of the EOB in my recollections!)... But I do recall being tasked with finding noteworthy, personal letters to the president that might be useful, and later while in PL, circulating the draft SOTU document among special assistants. The process inside the White House is so interesting. You realize that statesmanship -- which ought to be the goal -- is nearly always compromised by partisanship. Never mind maintaining the president's authentic voice or allowing the theme to inspire the nation -- gotta make sure the Dept. of Agriculture gets a shout out! Your FOX interview helped shed light on the tension in crafting a SOTU. BTW, Llst year, he never said, "The state of our union is..." (fill in the blank). Maybe because it was so stinky, who knows? But that's the line that must, in my opinion, be included.

One should never stand too close to one's retouched photo. :-)

Great insights, all. I have to say that my geek parenting concept never fails to strike a nerve. In my house, we decided long ago that geek is the new cool. And yet... the tiger mom will have the best seller. Sigh. Such is life.

[blushing] Thanks! I'll try to be more participative!

First of all, StickerShock, you're not older than me. I'm certain of it. I had bunion surgery. Also, my kids are now 21, 19, 16 and 13. So while I'm not going to actually say how old I am (as if you couldn't figure it out), I will say that we also said no to Spice Girls locker decorations and PG-13 movies at birthday parties. (My daughter loves to tease me and say she's forever scarred from a party when the group watched an inappropriate film in one room while she read a "Dear America" book in another. Whatever.) I also meant to affirm Trace earlier. In my house, we're all about encouraging our kids to do hard things and stick to it, especially when it gets difficult -- this is how they develop authentic self-esteem. 

Lucy, this is so kind! I'm quoting the whole thing for an obvious reason -- so it will appear on this thread twice! No...that's not really why. I want to note that my "geek parenting" theory is quite well tolerated on the right and the left. In fact, some of my favorite geek moms and dads are lefties and parenting is a place where we find lots of common ground.

Did I mention I'm sitting here with my foot elevated thanks to bunion surgery? Nothing says "middle aged" like bunion surgery. Given that I've been forced into Uggs for heaven knows how many months, I'm going to say "yes" to high heels or any other heel for that matter. But really, conservative women in high heels really bug the gals on left in their Birkenstocks, which is another reason to wear them, don't you think?

Exactly. We're dealing with an electorate that makes judgments about its candidates based on appearances on "The View" and "The Ellen Show." For this reason alone, David, I'm as worried as you are. America's "short term memory loss" problem could save Obama and doom us all. Much depends on the comparative likability of whomever the GOP puts forth. 

Heck yes, P! I actually skipped town for a few days and didn't notice your neglect! tee hee... The problem with this twit's observations about Americans is, sadly, Peopleofwalmart.com. Unfortunately, there's no denying that our technology/wealth/freedom permit a fair consumption of cheetoes. But you know what? Never judge a book by it's Walmart shopper cover. These are the same folks whose sons and daughters hike themselves down to the recruitment office and sign on to protect and defend the liberal blowhards who call them fat, lazy and undisciplined. 

Rob, congrats on the NRO placement! And thanks for creating the perfect excuse for me to vent about my experience yesterday with the rubber-gloved brigade at Reagan National. Being a regular albeit reluctant flier, I keep in my carry-on a supply of travel-sized personal products in a clear plastic zipper pouch. I don't use a zip lock bag because they break. I know this from hard, shampoo slathered, annoyed, messy experience. My clear plastic zipper pouch is sturdier and offers the same transparency for the sake of security. Literally.

Yesterday, my clear plastic zipper pouch was stopped mid-xray and referred for inspection.

Prepare yourself for insanity. An agent, while extracting a clear plastic quart-sized zip lock bag from a drawer, said: "Your liquids must fit in a zip lock bag. That is the Federal Regulation." Naturally, all my stuff did fit into the stupid zip lock bag. So you know what the guy did next? He put the zip lock into my clear plastic zippered pouch, handed it back to me and said, "Have a nice flight."

This makes me safer from terrorists HOW?

Not just toilets! What about the dopey regulations on water pressure in shower heads? At the risk of inviting the shower police to my home, let me just say that when we moved into our home (a new build) in 2001, the first thing I did was have the governor in the shower removed. It was either that or stand there for 40 minutes every morning trying to rinse my hair under a dribble. Amazingly, when there's adequate pressure, I spend less time running the water. Duh. Anyway, generally speaking, the government does not belong in the bathroom with us. Let's get them in the kitchen measuring our fat and salt content, where they belong!

Most folks (myself included) have a knee jerk reaction about the word censorship, but of course, we "censor" people all the time. Usually we call it "selecting" or "editing." In fact, this is the job of a curator -- to select and edit a limited collection of material that can be displayed in a gallery. The culturally sad fact is, the dunderhead who chose this garbage in the first place was probably trying to be "edgy" or bold or whatever it is curators feel they're supposed to be these days, rather than use the space of a public gallery to uplift the human spirit -- which is the whole purpose of art! It's pathetic that parents and families now need ratings systems to confidently set foot into a gallery.  

I'm thrilled he's a conservative, but Wayne Newton should sue his plastic surgeon. Just sayin.

You must have missed her episode where she visits the Carters at their Plains GA peanut farm. Pukeworthy. She calls him "Mr. Jimmy" the whole time. Also they made really bad food and ate on TV tray tables.

MK's hilarious, even if the whole thing is surreal/depressing/serfdom. Note to college sophomore: Sorry I booked you a flight for Thanksgiving. I promise to drive down to NC and get you for Christmas.

AAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGG! That is all.

Yep. It's for real. I found it on The Blaze, but apparently it first appeared on the CPUSA's Houston chapter website. Incredible, huh?