The nice thing is that if you can touch type OK you usually know when you make an error without having to see it. Usually. It's still a good idea to hit preview before hitting submit anyway; I still have plenty of syntax and grammatical errors slip by me, but far less than I otherwise would.

Ad hominems abound on both sides, but, while I claim no great objectivity, I think it's more prevalent on the right. Yes, the right tends to call the left socialist; they also give that term an EXTREMELY negative connotation (in fact I've had it flung in my face as an insult on this very board by someone who then told me my friends shouldn't be expected to excuse too much heated rhetoric. ) It's part of why we have another thread on this board asking why "liberal" has such a different meaning here and in Europe; during the Reagan years "liberal" became a pejorative term, particularly during the notoriously mean spirited '88 election, after which it became the Democratic kiss of death for twenty years. Perhaps I did go too far in my description of Palin herself (I believe I said, "buffoon" which conveys a lot more than just stupidity; buffoons can be highly intelligent if it's all just an act) but I stand by the claim many, perhaps most, of the things she says are idiotic. I do like the line about animals being made out meat, but she didn't coin that one.