on patriotism Arianna is still my hero. I especially am glad to see the way she addresses the language war, about needing to reclaim the host of words that the right has run off with. I don't consider "liberal" to be a dirty word, or increasing taxes to be a mortal sin, or morality from being the exclusive domain of the religious right. The most patriotic moment of my life was when I marched in the DC parade for diplomacy over bombing Iraq. The second most patriotic moment (or some sort of municipal version of it) was when Gavin Newsom declared that San Francisco would no longer support the discrimination of gays. Those have been the moments that have characterized America for me, and made me proud to live here. Take that away, and I might as well go to Canada, where they speak a language that is much closer to mine.