RUMBLE DOWN SOUTH

The increasingly heated clash between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama caught the attention of the Propeller crew this week. This story, which focused on the debate in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, racked up 166 votes and 240 comments. "It's being reduced to personal attacks," said not2needy. "This really disturbs me!" According to aniokly, it was "the Democrats [who] invented the politics of personal destruction. Ask Judge Bork." This prompted a disbelieving howl from scott4261, who saw such dirty tricks originating on the other side of the aisle: "The cancer that is eating the Republican Party alive started with Watergate, [and] continued with Iran-Contra and the unholy alliance with the religious Right (from the moment Ronald Reagan opened his doors to Jerry Falwell)." And finally, dissent tarred both Clinton and Bush (but not Obama) with a dynastic brush: "Presidents are like movies now. Too many sequels." (Incidentally, this was one passionate exchange. By the end, several members were threatening to beat each other up in the parking lot. Please, let's keep it civil.) Also worth mentioning: several related stories about the Republican primary, including "GOP Candidates: Eight Reasons They Hate Mitt Romney," with 119 votes and 267 comments. Would Fred Thompson consider joining forces with Mitt? No way, opined ranchhand: "Fred ain't going to want to be second best man. I can tell y'all that."

HEATH LEDGER'S DEATH

"Heath Ledger Passed Away" quickly accumulated 165 votes and 73 comments. Most members were at a loss for words, even as new facts came to light about the cause of death. "Hollywood is merciless," said BronxBomber. A similar response came from josephbrochin: "Nothing surprises me in Hollywood." For Peleus, shock was mixed with anger: "This isn't a plane crash or heart attack. He willfully made the choice to get involved in drugs (or if it's a suicide, he chose that action.) I feel bad for his family." But Poulenc refused to pass judgment, preferring to dwell on the transcendent aspect of the actor's sadly truncated career: "There's something almost unbearable about the death of the young, talented and beautiful. Beauty is very powerful stuff. It moves us in ways we aren't usually aware of."

BAD COMPANY?

With 155 votes and 218 comments, "Canada manual: US prisoners face torture" was definitely on the radar. The article cited the United States as a nation where inmates might face torture, joining a club that includes Israel, Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Syria. TheRealizer had a sardonic response: "Reports like this should make everyone reading [them] proud to be a United States citizen." (Candida's response: "For a few seconds I thought you were serious.") Meanwhile, automan909 saw no reason to apologize: "There is nothing wrong with torture if it is done to save American lives. I am all for it under the right situation. Gitmo is fine with me too. So is dropping a nuke or two for freedom." TonyByron felt the same way: "Yeah, maybe if we sat down with these illegal enemy combatants over tea and cookies, they would tell all they know and come to love us." But loverman wasn't buying: "It's immoral and unethical to think that what we stand for is so trite that its sacrifice is justified for any reason. Besides, torture for information is unreliable, never mind immoral and not the American way." And BravoSierra took the same position: "Whether it is sometimes effective or not, we lose more than we gain by using it. Keeping the moral high ground brings a commitment among righteous warrior and citizens that torture only erodes."

AND DON'T OVERLOOK....

It was a story about member etiquette on this very site, "No Content = No Vote," that got the most votes this week: 232. The post also inspired a long comment thread, in which most participants swore off voting for flimsy, will-of-the-wisp posts. But the conversation hardly ended there. One member, tomboy501, had some harsh words for Propeller: "The blatant spam that is allowed to propagate [on] the home page here is shocking, especially since this site is groomed by editors and anchors. I can only surmise that they allow it to flourish for a reason"--that reason being the additional traffic brought to the site by spammers. (Wrong on both counts, I'm afraid.) SonOfTheMask defended the right of community members to post lightweight content: "As long as it's not collusive or [the product of] sock-puppet rings, I think it is fine." But Radiofreeeuropa, who wrote the original post, tried to keep the collective eye on the prize. "I certainly am not advocating censorship," he wrote. "I think a lot of us are not using our votes wisely." Wisely or unwisely, the Propeller community voted up stories about ethanol, the super-rich, and power cuts in the Gaza Strip. "'Radical cleric' Mike Huckabee" bagged 427 comments, including this one from Dave59: "I resent his attempt to shove his beliefs into my Constitution." And of course there was "9 Phrases Women Use," a YouTube video aimed at improving male-female relations. IncaQueen summed up the situation nicely with this barnyard vignette: "It's kinda like a cat over a rain barrel, I'm told. He knows if you drop him, he is going in, but he'll still try to claw the crap out of you in the meantime." But wait: isn't that cruel and unusual punishment?