We always frame these things as, "We had to do it, so should they!"

That makes us look weak and whiny.  Screw explaining why we think he should answer -- just demand that he answer.

That's one of the reasons why our side gets hit and theirs doesn't.  They don't appeal to reason or make long impassioned arguments for why answering the question is a good idea: they just say, "Answer the question."

The media can get it's head around the latter, but these long-winded appeals to reason are beyond them.

(I'm not going to touch that last part...)

And yet you did by posting it.

No, I very clearly didn't say that at all.  I said that pitting non-believers against believers is a right wing tactic to distract us all from the things that are really important.  

In no way did I imply by this that all people of any type are universally tolerant, and your inference is way off.

This is ridiculous, and sets up a false conflict:

The believer condemns the non-believer as immoral, and the non-believer chides the believer as intolerant.

Believers don't condemn non-believers as immoral.  Sanctimonious assholes do that.

And non-believers don't condemn believers as intolerant.  They condemn sanctimonious assholes as intolerant.

The dichotomy that it is believers vs. atheists is a load of crap.  That's how the right wing wants to phrase it to create conflict where there is none, to rile up evangelicals who would otherwise not care what their non-believing neighbors do.

But when they are told their non-believing neighbor thinks they are intolerant, the believers get annoyed.  Then they treat their neighbor intolerantly, and the non-believer gets out of shape.

And now neither one notices that they get along fine and the real assholes are the plutocrats plundering our wealth and stealing their middle class futures.

I saw Edwards back in the early spring and he was suggesting that he was the only candidate who could win the south and thus the only one who could win the general.  I thought it was a little unseemly then -- though he was only recognizing the current sexism and racism of the South he was playing on it -- but he is still my candidate.

No candidate is perfect, and I think any one of them can win. Edwards has what I consider the best policies and the best fight in him.

If we need to talk about people who have previously supported Democrats (a la malkin) I nominate Rudy Giuliani.  He voted for McGovern.

With the current polling numbers show Clinton so far in the lead. How can anyone believe anyone, Edwards, Obama, or Richardson - could over take her?

Two words: Howard Dean

Republicans think they finally have the candidate in this swing district that Bush narrowly carried in 2004 but that Gore won by 10 points in 2000. State Senator John Adler is running, 18 years after a first run against Saxton at age 31. Depending on who tops the presidential ticket, this race could go either way.

I think you mean Democrats, and I think that NJ-7 is a better shot than NJ-3

I dunno.  If I liked you it'd be OK if you gave me those things!

Ah, potty training.  What fun.  :-)

Again with the moms.  Crying babies in public are not just the responsibility of the mom, but also the dad.  As a dad, I prefer to see this kind of thing written as talking about parents, not mom.

I don't put up with my daughter crying in a restaurant or store.  When she does I tell her that if she continues we're going outside, count to five in my head and then if she is still crying we go outside.  When she was a baby I just picked her up and went.

The change of scene and the comfort of being held was usually enough when she was a baby, and the change of scene and quiet time (it's like a time out) with her Dad calms her down now.  Then we go back in and finish eating or shopping.

It is incredibly discourteous to the rest of the world to have a screaming baby at the table and see the parents just ignoring the kid.  It's easy to ignore your own kid because you are so used to the noise, but the rest of the patrons in the store/restaurant aren't used to your kid and didn't come out to hear it.

Yes, kids freak out and cry and scream sometimes, and that is perfectly natural.  But that doesn't mean the parents shouldn't do what they can to minimize the impact on the other people around them.

My three year old gives me hugs, hand-drawn pictures of my family, kisses and squeals of laughter.

I get a lot.

Good point.  

This is not at all to minimize your point or to suggest that expectant fathers are in the same boat -- 'cause we aren't -- but it is amazing how little information there is out there for an expectant father on how to care for a baby or even help your pregnant wife (at least wife in my situation).  Seriously, thank goodness we had a great OB because without her I would have had to rely on the filmstrips they showed in high school to understand anything my wife was going through.

Usually the only advice you can find on helping make it easier on your partner is in comedic opinion pieces by Paul Reiser and the like that boil down to, "Be patient and get them whatever they ask for."  That's nice for a butler, but not so great for someone who wants to actually be there and work through things.

As for taking care of kids, every website is for mommies, every magazine uses the feminine pronoun, every book on the first year talks about the mother for 723 pages and the father for nine.  You watch TV shows on kids and you only see women hosting or guesting, all the talk is about mothering and little on fathering.

You begin to feel a little left out, and alone in this.  I had to pick up a lot of the early slack because my daughter refused to breast feed and my wife had postpartum depression.  There was no help for any of that from a father or husband's perspective, and that made it all the harder on my wife because she felt even more isolated.  I took about a month off from work, and it took a lot of time for my wife and I to figure out how to pull off equal parenting -- three years later we're still working on it!

And it continues even years later.  When my mother in law calls at 8 p.m. and I answer the phone she asks if my wife is putting my daughter to bed, assuming three years in that I don't do that (we do it together).  Mothers at parks gather in groups and either ignore the fathers or talk to us like we are kids ourselves.  As I noted above, when alone in public with the kid I get asked if I am babysitting.  Clerks in kids clothing stores ask if my wife is around.  

It sucks with the attitude and frequency that women get pressured with all these marching orders, and I agree.  

It also sucks that the attitude facing fathers are often belittling and assume that the only reason we are parenting is because the mother was not available, and that there is a torrent of advice for mothers and only a trickle for fathers.

This is NOT to minimize or question anything said about how expectant and existent mothers are treated.  It's just because I wanted to whine about my own frustrations.  :-)

Should we eat eggs?  Should we not eat eggs?  Cholesterol?  Good fat?  Bad fat?  Don't smoke (I agree).  Put that beer down.  You drink whole milk?

I agree that it is more prevalent for pregnant women and that there is a sexist component that relates more to women, but it carries into parenthood for both parents, too.  Tuna has mercury, so keep it away from your kid!  You gave her chocolate milk?  Too many sweets.  Beef is bad.  Beef is good.

This whole culture is obsessed with breaking down everything we eat and put in our bodies and determining the percentage benefit/detriment is has for us.

My wife and I are equal caregivers, and are both very active in the community.  Sometimes we both have events at the same time and no babysitter, so one of us takes our daughter with us.

With my wife, people just assume that she should be taking care of the kid.

With me, people (mostly women) say it is so cute that I am babysitting.  These are people who have known me for more than a decade and watched me with my daughter for more than three years and they STILL THINK AND SAY IT.

Well, I don't babysit my own damned kid.  She's my responsibility and I am simply being her father.  But since I am a man, it's assumed I have a subservient and minimal role in caregiving.

First, I think the Constitution is clear that only States get representation in Congress.

I also resent the hell out of Utah getting more representatives per person than New Jersey has.  If their ratio goes down, then so should ours.

Make DC a state, or pass a constitutional amendment.  Otherwise -- and I hate to say this - it's a non starter.

Because I agree with the REASONS for wanting that representation.  But the repercussions are far worse.