On Viagra, Splenda, oil, labor, outrage, courage, a 'nutjob,' etc.

Those at both ends of the ideological spectrum too often say stupid things. For instance, conservative ideologue Grover Norquist recently termed Republican Sen. John McCain "the nutjob from Arizona." When called on it, Norquist noted he didn't go far enough, adding: "I meant to say gun-grabbing, tax-increasing Bolshevik." A McCain aide issued this statement: "John McCain hasn't spent five seconds in his entire life thinking about Grover Norquist. He's not going to start now."

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And speaking of raising cane, the sugar lobby is unlimbering its biggest guns against the new sweetener Splenda - so popular it soon may leave sugar-substitutes Equal and NutraSweet as mere dregs in yesterday's coffee. The lobby vehemently disputes Splenda's claim to be made from sugar. Notes Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, of the American Council on Science & Health, "The reality is that Splenda does have its distant origins in sugar." It's enough to make one wonder why the sugar lobby would oppose a sugar-derived product - but never mind.

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As a commentary on the level of democracy in one of the most advanced Arab/Islamic "democracies," this headline: "Police in Cairo Allow Anti-Mubarak Protest." The operative word is allow. For the first time, the essentially self-appointed government of president Hosni Mubarak is permitting demonstrations against the maximum leader.

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Is there a privacy problem regarding, for instance, credit cards? There is. How bad is it? For starters, try 40 million Visa and MasterCard accounts evidently compromised by a single hacker. Is this an outrage? You said it, brother.

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Quoted. Historian David McCullough, author most recently of "1776" - on the lessons Americans can learn from a study of that year: "That courage is contagious. That our blessings as a free people and the noble ideals of the Declaration of Independence were only achieved through struggle - long, often painful, struggle. That democracy doesn't come easily. We sing about the 'home of the free and the brave,' but it takes the brave to maintain the free, to make possible the free."