...you didn't think could ever be our ally. Except -- there is that notion that love of our country and its foundational institutions can and should transcend the politics of the day. He had it, in spades.

Professor Glaube, who appears on MSNBC as a commentator, was somewhat uncomfortable the other day as he listened to his fellow panelists speak kindly of our conservative foe while they tried to analyze why so many on the Democratic side were going all out in praise of the man. But when the question was put to him, you could see him shift gears -- and he said he believed it was because in this moment McCain's death reminds us all of what we as a country have lost, so it isn't all about McCain, but about us. (I paraphrase.)

If you don't believe me, perhaps Joe Biden will get through. Find a link to his full eulogy, and grab a box of kleenex for the first half. Joe's empathy for all who have lost a family member runs deep. Your tears will dry in the second half, though, as he goes into a full-throated cry against the division wrought by the GOP. He doesn't need to name names, but he names the year they made the cleavage official: 1996.

Thanks as always, Babylonsister, for bringing us Charles Pierce.

The ones in wheelchairs weren't in public school because there was no ADA, believe me.

When the Salk vaccine became available, my parents took the 4 of us to the evening clinic that had been set up at my elementary school. I will never forget that the line stretched from the classroom all across the playground and through to the sidewalk outside. My little sister threw a screaming tantrum because she was afraid of needles. Fck that noise. My mother held her tightly and gave the nurse a clear view of her little arm.

Worst thing I ever encountered though was a teenager who had survived mumps encephalitis -- a complication of a common childhood disease. She was blind, on crutches and leg braces. Years later when the MMR vaccine became available, I put it at the top of my To Do list for my future babies.

My granddaughter died of SIDS. The anti-vaxxers -- well, you know the story. As a consequence, my daughter absolutely refuses to have her other children vaccinated. She believes all the lies the anti-vaxxers peddle.

I joined FB and ended up regretting it. For one thing, I got exposed to all he shit she reads. Being a DUer, I was accustomed to expressing myself pretty freely, researching the hell out of issues and posting the results-- and it was a very bad mistake in that setting. I learned how to cut off the flow of most of her "tribe." What with one thing and another, however, I ultimately got unfriended by my own daughter.

My granddaughter died of SIDS. Her mother is now a warrior in the battle against vaccinations. My feelings can scarcely be described.

...shit. This country is not entirely what we hoped or imagined.

BUT: this nation elected both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and it took an almighty act of treason to keep her out of the White House. This is not a majority-Trumpist nation. Remember that.

We are in the deepest trouble of our national existence, I would argue worse than WWII, because led by a traitor who is enabled by a Party who refuse to acknowledge that we are at war with a foreign power. They hasten to undo and redefine our Constitutional freedoms and that of "the strangers in our midst."

But we are also a nation resisting evil. Every time a federal judge says "No" to a Trump edict, that is resistance. Every time we hold a protest, every time we write to our Senators and Congressmen, that is resistance. Every time a newspaper stands up for the First Amendment, that is resistance. Every time the pundits and journalists on cable speak out, that is resistance. Every time someone records horrible words and video in their cellphone -- that, too, is resistance.

I don't know where this ends, and I feel the stain and stench will stay with us a long time. But I try to remind myself -- we are not Trump Nation. Not yet, and gods willing, not ever.

Just sayin'

...use the word "hysteria" connected with his name. When the vast majority of those participating in his complaint are themselves Christian, and one of the aspects of the complaint is that all sects of Christianity except the General's own are being viciously denigrated, one has to wonder how you came up with your choice of words.

For those who don't remember, Michael Weinstein is a graduate of the Air Force Academy, loved his time there, loved his experience in the USAF. His son followed in his footsteps to the Academy, and discovered a much different culture had arisen. As the Weinsteins are Jewish, it concerned them personally. Weinstein began with the raw anti-Semitism growing at the Air Force Academy during his son's time there, and has broadened his scope to include all those being harmed by what can only be called a very narrow version of Christianity, one tied closely to race (white), gender (male, straight), and nation, bigoted, exclusionary, cruel, unConstitutional.

When any part of our military, especially the officer class, embraces and proselytizes this kind of religion, we as a nation are on very dangerous ground.

Why do you think Trump has been screaming at the news media in his rallies, singling individuals out by name, singling out individual news organizations?

It isn't because they flatter him. It's because they dare to ask questions and fact-check him.

As a whole the media certainly made some mistakes early on, but I distinctly remember Rachel Maddow giving us all a heads-up months and months and months ago about Ukrainian financial papers with Manafort's name all over them that had been tossed in a pond at some dacha. When he first surfaced as Trump's campaign manager? She had a LOT of questions. Sorry if all the details aren't on the tips of my fingers, but by gods when he got arrested a lot of already-familiar details emerged. Not everybody is Joe and Mika.

The media (print and cable) made the mistake of thinking Trump was an entertainer who couldn't win. Then they made the mistake of thinking he would "rise to the office," and "grow into the office." Even the ones who were not asleep at the wheel initially made that mistake -- except for the people who have been my go-to sources all along.

Now they are really awake, with a job to do. What else do you call it when some 400 newspapers put out First Amendment editorials on the same day?

"Stand your ground laws" are pretty much ALL about white people deciding to kill black people -- or, let me be more explicit: about white MEN deciding to kill black people. Trayvon Martin, a kid walking back to his own home holding a soda and a bag of Skittles triggered one such pathetic soul so badly that Trayvon just had to die. How is that not a hate crime?

I am sick of it. I am an older white woman who somehow thought this country had outgrown the public celebration of black murders -- you know, there are postcards from the 1920s enshrining lynchings: a broken black body hanging from a tree surrounded by white men and boys from the surrounding area, sometimes with the local sheriff standing by giving his blessing.

What the hell, America? What the hell? I am enraged.

...it puts their very life in danger. There better be a damned good reason for that call besides "I feel uncomfortable."

Post them as you find them — preferably with links!

Boston Globe, whose idea it was.

...and along the two coasts. At least that's how I read it.

I don't know what to do about the rural parts of the country. The vast middle of the continent does not have even 50% of the population. They are not diverse, as we think of diverse (think of Lake Woebegone, where diversity is the Catholics, the Lutherans, and the Methodists, and an ethnic mix of Swedes and Norwegians). They distrust diversity -- they think it's an elitist plot. They think America is supposed to be a white country. Just ask Laura Ingraham.

I apologize to any DUers who live in these areas. I hate saying these terrible generalizations out loud -- it makes me feel like a bigot, but we have a problem. Hillary tried hard to reach out to these areas, and to this day there are DUers repeating the falsehood that she did not even visit or talk about specific rural problems.

Nonetheless America managed to elect both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and it took a terrible act of treason to keep Hillary from the White House.

Our first problem is to deal with the acts of treason. To deal with voting machines that cast your ballot for you and then count it. To deal with gerrymandering.

It is much too early to talk about our pick for president. It is almost too late to talk about the other stuff.