LH you do Ayn Rand a real disservice with that comparison. She actually had things in her head called 'ideas'.

I too thought the press as a whole had a feeding frenzy at his expense, but his position against the war cost him the election. I have heard him after the election and also thought he came off as intelligent and able. I also admire the relationship he has with his wife, and I hope it survived the campaign.

The "I Have A Scream" incident didn't mean anything to me. I noticed that while he was on his 'apparent' rant he was naming off a long string of primaries with no list in front of him. Quite impressive.

"Liberal" will come back from the dustheap. The aspersions cast against it are by polemicists such as Limbaugh and Coulter, blowhards of the moment, but no real depth, (although Limbaugh has some capacity). It should be noted that there was an era when "Conservative" received the same abuse for the same reason. Partisanship remains what it always was, the only thing that's changed is the position of the pendulum.

By the way, I don't know how you can inspire laughter with just an incoherent shout, but Martin's posts made me roll on the floor every time. The man's got a gift.