I'm a big fan of Jeralyn Merritt's TalkLeft blog, and I sympathize with the problems Jeralyn (a working attorney) has had in dealing with trolls and comment spams, but this is just not the way to proceed:

I suspect that anti-choice people will read this post and want to leave comments here supporting the action of the mortuary and church. Since I will have to wade through their comments and delete those that do not conform to TalkLeft's commenting rules, prominently displayed on the home page, I've come up with a solution: All comments supporting the action will be deleted unless a $2.00 paypal donation to TalkLeft to cover my time to read them is made. (Long quotes, especially those from the Bible, and comments that violate TalkLeft's commenting policy will be deleted regardless of payment.)

In anticpation of freedom of speech complaints, remember, TalkLeft is a personal site, I am not the Government, and I am not obligated to host comments. If the thread gets hijacked or too many responses supporting the action are made without payment, I'll shut down the comments.

She's well within her rights, but it's still wrong. Making people pay to post an opposing point of view is worse than what our opponents do. I know the trolls get bad, but I can't see how this is any way to deal with them. I don't have better ideas, but I know a bad one when I see it.

We know we can't entirely escape Bush from our little redoubt up North, but at least we can shelter our children from much of his ugliness and give them a shot at a more hopeful future. We are also looking forward to finally paying our taxes without shame. Canada is a beautiful country that still amazes us after many visits with its decency, wit, and above all, commitment to a better life for all its citizens.

I know lots of people think about this stuff, but this is the first person I read regularly who's actually leaving because of the US political situation. I can't blame him, but I notice that when the radical right felt so oppressed for so many years, they didn't go anywhere.

(Of course, where would they have felt more comfortable?)

Q: How many Bush Administration officials does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: None. There is nothing wrong with the light bulb; its conditions are improving every day.  Any reports of its lack of incandescence are a delusional spin from the liberal media.  That light bulb has served honorably, and anything you say undermines the lighting effect.  Why do you hate freedom?

(I don’t know whose joke that is.)

(Via Eric Alterman.)