Tbetterman 8:49 - Having entered the TV market before PBS and Mr. Rogers, my education was supplied by Bugs Bunny and Popeye. Does it show? George - I really want to watch the debates, but the A's game is on! I'll wait for the highlights after the game.

PBS has some great programming, but it's time to get the politics out of it. Give people the choice of supporting it on their cable bill for a couple bucks a month so anyone who subscribes can afford it. Then it would truly be "public" television and we wouldn't have this argument every four years.

Columbus might have reached China if he hadn't used Apple maps.

Better watch out, fellas. You know what happened to those original Americans. On the other hand, maybe you could get a casino.

Ryan - The Democrats have spent generations building the monstrosity we have today, a system that sucks money out of your pocket and is then doled back to you in little increments if you support their next scheme to suck money out of someone else's pocket. Asking them to throw it out is like asking a Christian to throw out the Bible. The only Democrat who did that was Jefferson, who deleted the parts about miracles and kept the stuff that could work in real life.

Northern Ireland? Juan Corona? You forgot Clay Otis Smith, Billy T. The dimestore preacher who moved into his house and later his wife's bed told him to go to the river and kill the hippies. The tinfoil they put on the windowsills to keep the demons out didn't work as advertised, so only hippie blood would appease God. He took a sickle and cut through a swath of campsites, killed a couple and wounded some others, none of them hippies. The foothills were terrorized for months, until they caught up with him in Brownsville, Texas. And what would a Republican President do when all this democracy broke out in the Middle East? Would they have propped up Khadafy Duck and Hosni? Would they have thrown their support into one faction or other? Tough questions, indeed.

Hey! I resemble that remark, but you left out "thick".

Your objections to certain Dem policies are well documented, Steve, but we're not talking about you. If you're going to provide a forum that claims to be in the middle, then you might want to include some of the excesses of the liberal end of the spectrum,of which there are many. JP's site is as one-sided as Rebane's, but he won't cop to it. Therein lies "the rub".

As most readers of RR know, Jeff (my former editor) and I have had numerous disagreements, mostly stemming from his attempts to paint me as a racist right-winger. Anyone who reads my chicken-scratchings knows full well that I would hardly fit that description. After months of daily beatings at the nimble typing fingers of JP and his progressive gang, I did a cartoon lampooning him that was published in the newspaper. He got so peeved that he threatened me before taking a week off to cool down. Since I got my own blog, he chooses to ignore me. Gee, I wonder why? The main thing that irks me is his refusal to accept the progressive label. He never criticizes Democrats, not ever. He and his readers dump on anyone who offers a conflicting view. If that's the middle, maybe I am a right-winger, NOT!

Don't blame the libs? You mean those compassionate progressives in Nevada City (and many other municipalities) who squelched any attempt at establishing a dispensary or private grows inside the city limits? Face it, when everybody voted to legalize "medicinal" marijuana, they had no idea what it would lead to. Typical for government by feelgood initiative.

Anyone who believes Nevada County could be self-sustaining without those truckloads of food coming up 49 and 20 is smoking too much cash crop. We'd be trading Julia Child for Donner Party recipes in about two weeks, especially come winter.

Don't you guys read the newspaper? Homeland Security is going all out to prepare for the inevitable zombie attack that Hollywood has been warning us about for decades. Don't bother with hoarding garlic and mirrors, those only work with vampires. Zombies can only be dispatched by removing the head, which is mostly empty. Hence the zombie chant, "Must eat brains!" The way things are going, those zombies may starve to death.

By gum, we should take this Crabb fellow out and beat him with an elephant's tail until we he sees the light of the righteous right...Oh...that's ME you're talking about! In that case, give him/me the pulitzer, a lefty honor if ever there wuz one. Methinks you sometimes forget to take into consideration that my forked tongue is firmly implanted in my cheeky cheek. Perhaps you all should wait until I have likewise had the opportunity to scrutinize the coming convention of Donkeycrats. And by the way, thanks for the coffee last Tuesday, George. It was good to see your regressive self in the flesh again. (Jeff P. - Take note. Has RL been bought off by the right with a cup of java? Does he really work that cheap?)

Being an unrepentant child of the sixties, I still prefer The Who's warning... We'll be fighting in the street with our children at our feet and the morals that they worship will be gone And the men who spurred us on sit in judgement of all wrong They decide and the shotgun sings the song (Chorus) I'll tip my hat to the new constitution Take a bow for the new revolution Smile and grin at the change all around Pick up my guitar and play, just like yesterday Then I'll get on my knees and pray We don't get fooled again Change it had to come We knew it all along We were liberated from the fall, that's all But the world looks just the same and history ain't changed cause the banners they all flown in the last war (repeat chorus) I'll move myself and my family aside if I happen to be left half alive I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky cause I know that the hypnotized never lie Now there's nothing in the street looks any different to me and the slogans are replaced by-the-bye And the parting on the left is now parting on the right and the beards have all grown longer overnight (Chorus) I'll tip my hat to the new constitution Take a bow for the new revolution Smile and grin at the change all around Pick up my guitar and play just like yesterday Then I'll get on my knees and pray WE DON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN!!! Meet the new boss... Same as the old boss

Long ago some enterprising fellows introduced the mongoose to the islands, thinking they would take care of the growing rat infestation, another invasive species. Unfortunately, the mongoose is a day person and the rats like the nightlife. So the mongeese (?) end up eating bird eggs, wiping out some unique native species. I also saw a Nova program that showed enviros chasing yellowjackets on the Big Island. Don't know what the wasps do to the environment, other than to ruin a good picnic. I've been fighting them for decades without much luck.

When I saw the neighbors' outrage at the desecration of Hirshman's, it made me remember an incident a few years ago in my "backyard", and thus inspired my cartoon... You may recall there was a plan to blaze the Wolf Creek Parkway in Grass Valley back when money flowed like the waters of our babbling brook. A meeting was called at Condon Park's Love Center to see what residents wanted to do with that narrow piece of land between the freeway and the creek. A handful of women showed up, along with me and the wife. We were split into work groups to plot our fantasy trail. I mentioned to the hippie girl in our group that I wasn't thrilled about the idea. One small corner of our land facing the creek was the only spot left where we had any privacy without some geek a'gawkin' at us. "So what?" she hissed. "It's not like you're going to run around naked out there!" Well, maybe I do. It is, after all, my property. I cordoned it off with lattice and vines just so I wouldn't have to look at someone looking back at me every time I went outside. I also enjoyed seeing the blue herons every year, and sometimes the occasional deer in the wooded area. I knew once the dogs arrived I'd never see them again. At the conclusion of the work group part of the meeting everyone submitted their ideas. There were plans for a suspension bridge over the creek, cantalevered trails where there were narrow areas, lights for nighttime safety. It was amazing how the imagination runs wild when money is no object. I asked the facilitator if there was any money in the pot for this fiasco. No, he said. At this point it was all a pipe dream. I breathed a sigh of relief, but planted a row of English laurels facing the creek, just in case some philantropist or state agency coughed up the cash. Then the Great Recession came along and settled the matter, at least for a few years. By that time, my laurels should be twenty feet tall. In the meantime, the herons and I are thankful, and naked if we want to be.

Must agree with Billy T. that skinnydipping is hardly a capital offense. Used to see a lot of Nevada County politicians in the buff back in the good ol' daze. Hope the kid doesn't get crucified over it. If Repubby's keep culling the herd there won't be enough left for a decent stampede.

I'm aware of the Democrat's shenannigans, much like Gray Davis' campaign against Richard Riordan back in '02, but the fact remains that enough Republicans are onboard with Akins' extreme positions (including Ryan) to give the Dems mucho ammunition in the coming slugfest. It's like I've been saying for years, the social issues are the GOP's achilles heel. http://medcitynews.com/2012/08/legitimate-rape-comment-ryans-support-for-personhood-law-could-push-more-women-to-democrats/

George, I think you should spend more time finding out where your Republicans get their intellectual foundations. After seeing the Todd Akins meltdown today and the Sharon Angle debacle in 2010, it's a damn miracle you can get anybody elected to office, much less take over the majority in the Senate.

Back in the carefree days of the nineteen-eighties, it was popular to take In-and-Out Burger bumper stickers and color in the first and last letters of "burger".

"What is confused in the example of abortion (personhood) is who should be forced to pay for it." With all the pending legislation in various state houses, it would appear that Republicans prefer that women pay for it...with jail time. And as to my critical view of California's Democrats, this morning's editorial in the Sacto Bee (that bastion of conservatism) pretty much concurs with my complaints...http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/19/4736597/dems-are-making-a-mess-of-big.html

I do follow the news, and I see a good bit of hypocrisy coming from both ends of the spectrum. Paul's points on reproductive rights is spot on, and should be anathema to any libertarian-minded person. Just as sacred are the beliefs of Christians, who should not be forced into any healthcare system that supports contraception or abortion. That's what choice is all about. If you want examples of hypocrisy on the left, just watch the ruling party in Sacramento any day of the week. It's business as usual for them. There are just too many people on both sides who feel it is somehow their obligation to tell the rest of us how to live our lives.

Speaking for myself as an independent, I agree with the left that we are all equal in the eyes of the law. No one should be discriminated against because of race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. Judge people by their actions as individuals. That's my idea of social justice. I agree with the right that government is too intrusive in our lives and costs too much. The closer the government is to the governed, the better. My problem with Republicans and Democrats is that they are only half-right, and both seem to need enemies on the half they don't agree with. It's pretty simple to this simpleton, and without getting all academic I would say it passes for common sense. I may not win any elections but I prefer my muddled middle, thank you.

Republicans in Congress know all this and would never agree to any kind of deal that would let the Dems off the hook. More proof that neither party is interested in solving problems, only securing their own power.

You're right, George, I don't know squat about taxes, and being in the 99% range, I guess I don't pay any. Hardy har har. I don't have any desire to soak the rich, as it were. Rich people buy artwork, a fact that is not lost on me. But I would like to know how much a 1%er like Romney, with an army of accountants, actually pays after he legally buries his profits in treasure chests buried on the beaches of foreign shores. Then I might be more inclined to offer an opinion.