Rumsfeld, still going strong...

Frank, what is the point to this? Milton Friedman died Thursday. Rumsfeld spoke about him Wednesday night. To try and make this into some insensitive comment by Rumsfeld is really ridiculous. Seriously, do you have any journalism integrity? Any integrity whatsoever? You are an embarrassment as a journalist but an even more embarrassment as a human being. It's people like you that made me drop my Tribune subscription after more than 20 years as a devoted subsriber.

He knew Milton was still going strong because of the article.
He knew there were WMD's in Iraq because he still had the receipts.

John D I believe his point was to say that it was eerie that Rummy made mention of him and the next day he died. I can see why you would drop the subsciption...you would actually have to read the paper to understand what was said.

You mean Rummy is not in prison yet???

Great story Frank,keep up the good work.

The Swamp has become a top notch blog site.

Job well done Swamp writers.

Bill R., your reading comprehension is the one in question. Hmmm, re-read the first line here: "I almost didn’t write this because why kick a man when he’s down?"
From the get-go Frankie is trying to make something out of this that is not there and something negative. Otherwise why would he view it as "kicking a man when he's down"? What difference does it make if Rumsfeld talked about Friedman the night before? Rumsfeld was reminiscing and unless in Friedman's family or close circle, probably not knowing he was at death's door. But even then, what difference would it make. Cause even if he knew Friedman was at at death's door, why would it be bad to talk about him?

Hey John D-feated,

Why are you still posting every 5 minutes then, if you've dropped your subscription after 20 years and don't want to deal with "mainstream media" anymore?

Crying over spilled milk, perhaps?

Thanks, John E., for the compliment about The Swamp. We're having a lot of fun with it and are glad we're not alone, judging from the community that it has created.

We aim to to keep improving The Swamp and are always keen to hear your ideas about how we can do that. So you keep the discussion going on your side we'll do the same.

Frank, since we have you on the line; any thoughts on recent suggestions to streamline postings via a foul language filter?

Hey Bubba. Good to hear from you. I've been following with interest the discussion about getting postings up faster and employing a foul-language filter.

I even considered doing a full-scale posting to deal with this. But I'll take this opportunity to say a few words about this.

Right now, my colleagues and I actually read the comments before they're posted with most of the reviewing being done by Mark Silva and myself.

Even so, we still miss naughty-isms and have to take postings down occasionally.

We don't use filters now though it's certainly something we should look into.

We use Typepad blogging software so we're constrained by whatever works with this service.

My concern about filters is that they can be gamed in a way that evildoers, as the president would say, would be able to fool the system and get dirty words or porn website urls into their postings.

But we will research the possibilities and update everyone on what we decide.

I know it's difficult to keep a conversation going when there are sometimes long lags in postings going up and we can improve this by getting more of our colleagues to help screen the comments.

But, believe me, we're aware of the problem and are looking for a fix.

JohnD..I won't dwell on this anymore than this post but...

But then the timing of this comment by Defense Secretary was just too eerie for me not to note.

That is the crux of the whole issue. Period.
If you don't follow that perhaps you should get a
John D to english dictionary.

Frank,
While speaking at the dinner for the American Spectator,did Rummy mention anything about football or old football coaches Wednesday night?
Paulo

Frank J.

Glad to hear you are aware of our concerns. I know you guys did allow a 20 post front page. Still enjoying that!

Hey, we can help in a big way testing the foul language filter. I am sure we constitute one of the best concentrations of 'cussers' the world has ever seen, or heard.

PS Frank J.

I do recommend and hope you keep it lively. Some irrelevant posts are, well, the best posts.

Also, sometimes we HAVE to be allowed to imply that a pol. or talking head is a real a$%H*%@. Know what I mean?

John D., instead of dissing Frank James, I think you should be doing everything you can to encourage him to write more articles like the one above.

Of course the article is worthless and a hate-piece, but what do you expect? Like so many Frank James pieces, this one simply embarrasses "the Swamp". If Frank James didn't write an anti-Republican hate piece, some other Swamp reporter would, and probably write it more effectively.

John D., you should join me in saying "Great job, Frank! Keep it up!"

John D and Bruce...I believe the hate is in your mind. This was a simple piece about an eerie situation about the timing of a comment made by Rummy. If you read hate into that, I think it existed in your eyes and mind. You really don't like Americans do you? My America is big and all the different views just add to the flavor that makes life wonderful, even if I don't agree with all. I feel sorry that your America is so small!

C.Morris and Frank,

Absolutely right; some of the irrelevant posts are the best ones by far, so editing/deleting irrelevancies would be a judgement call. So that means that no dirty word filter and letting it run on auto -- human beings actually have to read this stuff.

That must be so painful, Frank!

...by the way, Frank. I noticed a certain change in certain posts, vis-a-vis my e-mail. I assume that's your and Mark's doing. Muchas gracias.

Rummy is almost gone.

Like LBJ, hoisted on his own petard.

The Greeks knew about hubris and hypocrisy eventually ganging up on the powerful.

The peaceful purge has only just begun. 08 cometh.

Can't wait to see his book.

Hey, all,

Did anyone else see on Stewart/Colbert last week the tape of Rush Limbaugh going insane over the Republican defeat?

It was disturbingly funny, yet sad, somehow.

Anybody actually hear it on the air?

I totally ignore the poser, myself. Only get second hand hilarity where he (Hannity, O'Reilly) is concerned.

Can you imagine the painfully exquisite Hell these boys are experiencing these days?

To quote America's 'hard power' Grandma, Babs Bush, I don't 'waste my beautiful mind' on what these people say or think. So, could one of my conservative friends, (Bruce? JohnD?) update us on these guys?