I couldn't agree more with your subject line. It's the proven existence of cranks that makes me take it seriously.

So only Scott and I mentioned prison terms for violating sedition laws? One point of view might be that Scott and I were pointing out the obvious and wasting bandwidth--laws, especially those like sedition and treason, specify penalties including prison time. I don't think either one of us would have thought of a law without substantive penalties. Where's the power to intimidate your political opponents if your sedition law has no teeth?

The question of Gore's candidacy in 2008 is one of those great Conservative fantasies that looms large in their minds, but I have to tell you, nobody on the Left--in other words, those people who might even in theory be inclined to vote for the guy--has any interest in seeing Gore stumble through another election. You only hope Gore would be the candidate, and it's insulting our intelligence to suggest that we might be so dumb as to give him another chance.