Another week, another bouquet of acrimony and amicable fun at Propeller--but folks, this time around, it's different. I'm to sorry announce that this will be my last WIR feature. At the end of June I will be moving over to AOL News. It's been a privilege to know you all, and to do my weekly round-up with color commentary. Perhaps some energetic Propeller member will take up the mantle and post a weekly, informal summary of the best conversations--in fact, maybe several will, and we can witness a regular Battle of the WIRs. ("My comments can beat up your comments!") In any case, I will miss cranking it out every Thursday afternoon. It's been a pleasurable routine.

Under the circumstances, I though we could skip the last week's activity and take a longer view. We've trawled through the database and come up with the most popular stories over a two-year period, ranked by props, comments, and page views. I'm going to concentrate on those today. There are some predictable items, but also some surprises. And needless to say, some of the commentators have since moved on greener (or possibly grimmer) pastures.

LOOSE CHANGE

Which legitimate story had the greatest number of comments? That would be "Change You Can Believe In! Obama's Approval Index Down 22%," posted on March 2, 2009, with 43 props, 33 drops, and an astounding 7,431 comments. (It's possible that the last 6,000 are ads for Viagra and Acai Berry nostrums--still, that leaves plenty of genuine opinions.) NoWayMan questioned the very premise of the article, which blamed the new Democratic president for the crumbling stock market: "Anyone who knows anything about the markets knows that there are just too many variables in play, and you can't pin performance on one person's possible future actions." But injest accused Obama of having "spooked the markets. Ramming through his 'wish list recovery act' didn't impress anyone, and the markets dived again."

Said wtagg: "I am more than willing to give Obama 38.7% of the blame. Bush owns the rest." To which dmoney2318 replied: "Bush's policies had us on a sharp incline. It wasn't until the Dems took over and blocked his policies that our economy went down the toilet. Now we're paying for not listening to the Bushes [presumably both father and son], and instead letting people like Bill Clinton and now Obama lead us down a path of total destruction." Responded djn3nunez3: "Only if you own Haliburton or Raytheon stock. Bush was a disaster in foreign affairs, domestic affairs, and economic affairs." Added DaneL: "What a trifecta: Obama, Reid and Pelosi. You libs bet on them, now you can reap the rewards." AbuAmirah shot back: "Dude has to clean up a mess that started with the Contract with America and the deregulation that it wrought. Yeah, and we thought that businesses could police themselves."

SCOOTER PIE

Another all-time hit was "Bush Spares Libby From Prison," posted on July 2, 2007. The story rang up 320 props and 1,220 comments, including this one from UnusualSuspect: "The funny thing is, Bush said all along he would not tolerate anyone in his administration leaking (ended up not being Libby, but Armitage), or hindering the investigation. I guess Bush forgot he said that." But libsRfunny dismissed the whole investigation as a tempest in a Beltway teapot: "They were trying to hang it on Rove, not Armitage. How can you possibly impede an investigation into something that never happened? The guy just didn't recall conversations made three years earlier. You have any idea how many conversations people have in DC?"

Lurch, meanwhile, tried to add some historical context: "This administration and these contemporary cons sure make Clinton look like a mix between Churchill and Alexander the Great. Dubya is Caligula to Clinton's Augustus Caesar." Then ceolmor took the classical theme and ran with it: "Hmm, [this] brings to mind Plato's comment, 'The rulers of the state are the only ones who should have the privilege of lying'." But chiefss stuck up for Bush's decision, insisting that his predecessor had given a free pass to many, many more miscreants: "Jesus, I sure didn't hear all you clowns screaming and hollering when Slick Willie pardoned hundreds of convicted felons. Bush just commuted the sentence, didn't pardon. The conviction still stands."

Other stories with impressive comment totals included "Propeller's Incorrigibles," posted on November 27, 2007, with 259 props and 968 comments. (Said Spadecaller, who posted the story: "The level of debate at Propeller matters to many of us. I'm sick of personally abusive commentary that targets member's race, age, sex, nationality, ethnic background, or disability. What about you?" Replied Endoscopy: "One of the major problems that starts this is the abusive political ranting. It starts out bashing the opposition and descends into doing the same to posters on the opposite side.") There was also "Simpsons hit for not-so-gay crack," posted on November 5, 2008, with 875 comments. And let us not forget "Texas School Board Rejects Intelligent Design," posted on August 27, 2007, with 228 props and 783 comments. Said joeblowe: "How about that, there's enough common sense and intelligence in even a ONE STAR state to realize that it's a bad idea to teach idiocy in a science class."

COPY CATS

And what about stories that inspired the most members to hit the prop button? The undisputed champ was "World should ban human cloning, except medical: U.N.," posted on November 11, 2007, with 424 props and a relatively reticent 77 comments. "Hooray!" said 1-2-Oscar. Replied Commodore1: "Yes, I agree. As long as the liberals don't use it to increase the number of votes they get." On a more serious note, reviewer saw the cloning and genetic manipulation of livestock as a definite Pandora's Box: "I wrote an article on cloning for food, and the main thing that scares me about cloning cattle just to have a larger T-Bone is the loss of genetic diversity in the species. Anyone who raises or breeds animals knows the short- and long-term health consequences." Another member, tkyrchncs, argued that this particular train had already left the station: "As to food species, it should be possible to maintain much smaller and greatly more diverse herds by cloning the desirable PARTS of an animal. To all intents and purposes modern herds and flocks ARE cloned. How much genetic diversity do you think there is in a modern egg or fryer producing population, as in comparison to an equal number of wild chickens?" But angelitobcn got in the last, theological word: "Do souls have clones?"

There was also "Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Resigns," posted on August 27, 2007, with 336 props and 754 comments. Bkumm greeted the news with a kind of victory jig: "Adios, muchacho! NOW, who's gonna protect King George? Rove? Gone. Gonzales? Gone. Rumsfeld? Gone." Said Neophile: "Now he can spend some quality time forgetting the circumstances of important decisions he makes about his family." Added searchbeam: "My first computer--a Commodore--had better memory than this bozo! To think that this guy was a Texas Supreme Court Judge makes you wonder about the quality of justice those poor souls in Texas were getting." Did the cashiered Attorney General have any defenders? Well, there was MajJohn, who accused the Democrats of conducting a bigoted witch hunt: "The Democrats can't stand a minority that's not one of their own."

Another prop-happy post concerned the site itself, right after we shed our identity as Netscape. "Propeller Lives!" was posted on September 19, 2007, and rang up 302 props and 197 comments. Searchbeam immediately urged the community to pitch in and give the new site some love: "The more the traffic to your site, the more advertising dollars, and therefore an assured existence! It is a tough world, and for us to exist as a vibrant, productive community, we must be able to pull more traffic to Propeller." Very true. Silverghost, meanwhile, thought the new site might be a spammy wolf in sheep's clothing: "Maybe I'm too infrequently involved, but I didn't have a clue & thought I was being scammed. Took me awhile to trust this change as valid." But ind06, after venting over some of the new site's defects (crappy share feature, sink option), at least knew exactly where to assign the blame: "Oh, and these problems are all George Bush's fault."

Other biggies included the cheery "You are Destroying America. Yes, You," posted on July 18, 2007, with 292 props and 516 comments. And on a slightly more salacious front, there was "Report: Governor Linked To Prostitution Ring," posted on March 10, 2008, with 261 props and 513 comments. "Politics as usual," said BronxBomber, alluding to Elliott Spitzer's serial dalliance with precisely the sort of hookers he was supposed to be driving out of business. "Couldn't happen to a nicer guy," added bobo-in-texas. What followed was a little parry-and-thrust action (sorry), beginning with a comment from Lincoln85: "Bronx, are you still worried about Bush listening to you and your mother's phone calls?" Replied BronxBomber: "I'm not worried about Bush, but please tell your wife to stop calling me." To which cowboygrandpa added: "Yeah, especially trying to call collect like that."

VIEW MASTERS

And what about the stories with the greatest number of page views? The champion here was "Mystery Surrounds Leavenworth, Kansas Underground City," posted on August 19, 2008, with 38 props, 71 comments, and 359,845 page views. One member, dirtylitlesamuel, assumed that the Kansans had unearthed a kind of subterranean Reeperbahn: "When the push came to 'clean up the town,' all the vice moved underground: the drinking, gambling, and prostitution. Leavenworth was a wild cowtown, and people hated the drovers for all the vice they brought. However, they liked the money." Another member, telernc, speculated that the tunnels were connected to the nearby (and notorious) prison: "I have a friend who grew up in a house near the prison. She has told me stories about these underground paths. In fact her father was a high-ranking military man in charge of running the prison, and she says she had a tunnel under her house to the prison." But Propeller being a hotbed of unexpected expertise, this theory was promptly demolished by KUBasketballnut: "Your friend is wrong. I worked at the federal penitentiary for twenty-five years, and at the state penitentiary before and after I worked at the federal. Both facilities have tunnels inside for utilities such as electricity and steam, but they are not accessible from the outside, and are definitely not accessible from the inside to the outside."

Perhaps, then, the theory about the underground rumpus room is correct. In any case, many of our stories with the highest number of page views seemed to have a definite theme of mild raunch. (Strange how these things work.) There was "Sex session at work gets municipal employees suspended," posted on August 13, 2008, with 13 props, 37 comments, and 298,384 page views. One member, bratto14, argued that the absent-minded exhibitionists had done nothing wrong: "As long as they are single, leave them alone. Try not to be so judgmental of other people--we have ALL made mistakes." LDN felt otherwise: "Mistakes are forgetting to pay a bill or losing your car keys. This was just plain rude and inconsiderate. As others have said, some things should be done in private."

There was also "Chicago dive bar scores hit with nude Sarah Palin portrait," posted on October 13, 2008, with 89 props, 156 comments, and 293,638 page views. "As they say," noted jovial, "a picture is worth a thousand words." Replied massto: "Just look at where it's coming from. Chicago is not a great place, and the idiots that go into this bar have to have their heads examined." To which Teech responded: "I'm heading to the airport right now. Chicago, here I come!" And on a (somewhat) related note, let's not forget "German Sunbathers Complain About Polish Voyeurs At Nudist Beach," posted on July 29, 2008, with 20 props, 17 comments, and a disproportionate 272,193 page views. One member, zygoter, had little patience for the Mitteleuropean whiners: "If the Poles don't like it they shouldn't look, and if the Germans don't like it they should put some clothes on! They should be glad I'm not there, I would use a 600mm lens and post the pictures on the Internet!" In one of my rare comment-thread interventions, I mused: "A nudist without a voyeur is like--what? A day without sunshine? Macaroni without cheese? There's a word for this: symbiosis." Replied pderoo1: "Beanies without weenies?" And the conversation, like all conversations, came to an end.

HELL ON WHEELS?

This week, Barack Obama decisively regained the center ring from last week's star, Rush Limbaugh. "Obama Appoints Himself CEO of Chrysler" generated more comments than any other story: 234. It also racked up 97 props, 15 drops, and a brisk summary from Hhussk: "Socialism." Added capecoralM: "Fascism is more like it." There followed a noisy exchange about whether the corporate dog wagged the governmental tail under fascism, or the other way around. Meanwhile, acceptance wondered whether these labels weren't fogging up the real issues: "Terms like fascism, communist, [and] socialism bring emotion but no real thought to the argument--they assume a conclusion." Replied crespi, his tongue firmly in cheek: "You seem to be talking sense. There are penalties here on Propeller for that."

Meanwhile, engineer took to the president's defense: "Obama did not bring on the problems! He inherited them from the previous administration, you morons!" Said beavith1: "Now he's made the problem his. He owns the direction that GM and Chrysler have taken. He could've stood for bankruptcy early, before we poured $30B into these empty vessels." Added BB64: "To add insult to injury, he's also given [the companies] to the UAW. Not a bad trade for $13,000,000 in campaign funds. Had I known, I would have had my company do the same." To which willottica replied: "Giving Chrysler to the UAW isn't a bad idea. It means that the UAW will suffer if Chrysler makes stupid, unaffordable bargains with the union."

Another story, "Obama Confronts Abortion Debate, Urges Notre Dame Grads to Seek Common Ground," racked up 48 props, 6 drops, and 210 comments. Said fiftynine: "I'm Catholic and not angry at all [about Obama's appearance]. In fact, I think it is good that we have a president that will appear before crowds that aren't handpicked and confront an issue like this head on." Added amazed: "Like it or not, Obama is our president. To have the POTUS come to your graduation to speak is a coup and an honor--even if you have no use for this particular president's policies." And Desdamona heeded Obama's advice in seeking some common ground: "[Abortion] is about providing women a choice for how to deal with an unwanted pregnancy (no matter why or how she ended up with an unwanted pregnancy). The common ground is obvious: find more ways to limit the number of unwanted pregnancies. There is always common ground. It is when each side holds to the absolute extreme that we are caught up in a social divide."

DICK CHENEY, ROGUE DIVA

The high media profile of former VP Dick Cheney also got the Propeller community talking. For cowboygrandpa, Cheney was definitely outstaying his welcome: "This guy is a portrait of insanity, being viewed as relevant by the insane who believe him. He thinks that America is the only viable country in the world. What is scary is how many still back the raging lunatic." Why was Cheney airing his concerns on television, rather than sharing them directly with the president? Said jimdoze: "Because Obama and company have succumbed to the au courant disdain for him and have chosen to ignore him." Replied GWHayduke: "Considering that the W administration pretty much bungled every single attempt to provide security domestically and globally, I would say that ignoring Cheney's nonsense is a wise strategic move."

There was also a thumbs down from Radiofreeeuropa: "Eight years hiding in an undisclosed location, now glaring from behind the primordial ooze dripping from every TV screen, spouting the most obtuse nonsense ever concocted.... Go back to your undisclosed location, please. Darken our towels no more." Added myfairlady: "He is giving the whole [GOP] a black eye just as Jeb is out there trying to renew the party." But jimdoze stuck by his man: "Cheney has garnered the moniker 'Doomsday Dick' because he sees clearly how bad things could get when a faulty worldview produces counterproductive foreign-policy actions. As such, he is far more in tune with reality than the chattering left could ever hope to be."

AND DON'T OVERLOOK....

Every now and then it's nice to look further back than the 2000 election cycle, and the Propeller community stepped up to the plate with "Early skeleton sheds light on primate evolution." The story rang up 114 props and 54 comments, including this anti-evolutionary aria from AntiNeoCon: "I find it extremely funny how these fools will jump at anything to prove the Darwin theory, which is and always will be a sham. If you want to claim this bony piece of crap as your family tree, by my guest. I have to admit it looks more like one of your folks, mine are much prettier." Replied toph1973: "Evolution has been proven. It is a fact. All one needs to do is look at the bird flu to see evolution in microbiology." To which Tangent001 intelligently added: "We're not talking about 'proof,' we're talking about evidence. All of biological science could be complete and consistent, and there would still be the possibility that God 'poofed' it all into existence."

Propeller itself is prone to periodic, healthy bouts of self-examination, and that's what we got with "A Revisionist's Terms of Use at Propeller.Com," with 71 props, 14 drops, and 305 comments. One member, aceofspades1, argued against any form of censorship on the site: "The insidious posters are the ones who hide their rampant bigotry in catchphrases, and those naive enough not to see it agree with them. Are we to micromanage all that is said?"

In principle, not2needy agreed, yet she also saw a downside to the mudslinging that can easily creep into online debate: "It just seems that we should be able to discuss, debate, agree or disagree without the personal attacks. That's what runs me off." Added Klarissa: "Freedom of speech puts it all out there so we can make up our OWN minds.... The slogan for Propeller: TEFLON." This elicited a puzzled response from CRYMTYPHON: "Who wants to have skillet-skin? It wouldn't even stop bullets. I guess it would be easy to clean, though." If the community would like to suggest other nonstick synthetic fluoropolymers for a Propeller slogan, that would be just fine. In the meantime, our designers are moving ahead with the new fried-eggs-in-a-skillet logo, which is going to look very jazzy on our business cards. (PS: welcome back, deathray!)

OBAMA NATION?

Which story prompted the longest conversation at Propeller this week? That would be "Why Does Obama Hate America So Badly?," with 57 props, 46 drops, and 281 comments. The thread included a spirited debate about Obama's virility index, especially as perceived by the British. Said pc25: "Seems they are starting not to like President Pantywaist much there." Replied hefaa1: "President Pantywaist sure slaps the Republican members of Congress around pretty. There are also three Somali pirates at the bottom of the ocean that don't think he's a sissy either."

Taking a more geopolitical point of view, stalemate urged the president to toughen up, and quickly: "Doesn't Obama realize that if he keeps flip-flopping, there may not be an America for him to govern? Obama, wake up. Be a man and quit being such an apologetic, begging wimp. Muslims only respect strength in their counterparts." To which mesodude replied: "Stop giving orders from your keyboard and sign up yourself and all of your family members. Then we'll know you're serious and not just another fearful con chickenhawk who loves to cheer from the sidelines." And AbuAmirah had an even more pungent response (which has been slightly redacted here for our PG-rated audience): "How do you know who and what it is that we respect? Do you know any Muslims? Hell, no. Have you ever been in a mosque? Hell, no. All you know is what they tell you on conservative talk radio and Faux News."

For libsRfunny, the POTUS still had some explaining to do. Indeed, he ridiculed the idea of Obama as a cool, reflective leader: "The Moron-in-Chief signed a $786 billion spending bill that he didn't read and that he didn't allow members of Congress to read or debate. I don't know anyone with a shred of common sense who would call that 'thinking before acting.'" For truthiness, however, this was nothing but sour grapes: "Here is the crux of it, the Republicans appear to be scared because, unlike Carter, President Barack Obama is a formidable opponent. He is kicking your asses left and right. Your party doesn't know what to do, because Rove's strategies don't work on him. He won't be distracted, he won't get sucked into name-calling BS, he just keeps on doing what he was elected to do."

CURIOUS GEORGE

"Billionaire Soros Bankrolling Calls for 'Torture' Probe" racked up 48 props, 19 drops, and 179 comments. Candida was all for George Soros putting his money where his mouth was: "So what? He is a thinking person, so he should join all the other thinking persons. In addition, he has lots of money, and what better way to use it than to promote justice?" Responded slate: "Isn't Soros a non-citizen? I mean it's one thing for citizens to support things and even send money, but a foreigner having his fingers in the American Pie doesn't bother you lefties?" (In a subsequent comment, slate conceded that Soros was indeed an American citizen.)

Meanwhile, Beau7890 saluted just about anybody who was willing to spearhead an inquiry into our interrogation tactics: "Torture is morally wrong. I don't give a rat's ass if Kim Jong-Il, Hitler, or Cheney himself calls for investigation of our use of torture--it should be investigated anyway. Anyone who has a problem with investigating simply because George Soros is calling for it is not rational." But BB64 still excoriated the Hungarian-born billionaire, who he branded as a socialist and political meddler: "Wow, Soros is bankrolling this. Does this surprise anyone? He's typical of all huge socialists. Insists you and I pay taxes while he avoids them. You want to follow corruption, just follow his money trail to the 527s."

Then there was the related issue of how torture may damage America's image on the world stage. For prophyporcrites, that horse left the barn a long, long time ago: "Hurt our image? We are the only country to use a nuclear weapon on innocent civilians. We nuked a few hundred thousand Japanese to death--I think waterboarding is a little less hurtful to our image than that!" But willottica sardonically (I think) argued against throwing in the towel quite yet: "Alright, since your image is already tarnished, you might as well give up the pretense of democracy, too. The two-party system already guarantees that political choice is severely limited and fairly inconsequential. Why not just admit that it's a tyranny by the wealthy and get over it?"

AND DON'T OVERLOOK....

A story about the defection of Senator Arlen Specter to the Democratic Party generated 65 props, 2 drops, and 133 comments. Several members, including RedRiverJ, were delighted to see him go: "Good, he should take Collins and Snowe with him." Replied most_reasonable: "Arlen finally realized that there was no room in the new GOP for honest, integrity, and competence. Something that has now been more and more apparent to the American public." Meanwhile, chevydog saw the whole spectacle as pure electoral calculation: "One has to wonder about the role that age played--or maybe should have played--in this. Arlen's not in the best of health, and he'll be 80 when the election rolls around. I suppose he could have retired gracefully; I'd hazard a guess that that still may happen. Either way, it won't translate into a Republican seat in PA." (A related post, "Limbaugh Urges Specter to take McCain with Him," earned 66 props and 105 comments. Said mntnman444: "[Limbaugh] recruiting for the Democrats... Now I've seen everything.")

And finally, there was "Miss California loses for supporting marriage between a man and woman," with 52 props, 15 drops, and 125 comments. Said Klarissa: "The question should not have been asked in the first place. It was inappropriate for the occasion." Replied Dionys: "Why? It comes down to the fundamental rights of humanity within the US legal system. Can one marry the adult partner they've fallen in love with or not?" Meanwhile, dailyblueberry questioned the whole point of beauty pageants to begin with: "Should we give credence to beauty contests? I say no. It sends the wrong message." But it was sonofreason who most effectively stared into the crystal ball: "Next year, Elsie the Cow will be a judge posing the question: Should Americans eliminate beef from their diet?" Game, set, match.

It is a staple of our national mythology that the GOP is the military party. Democrats know how to split hairs, and Republicans know how to shoot--right? For many years, there was at least a shred of truth to this assumption. In a recent AFP article, Lawrence Korb, director of military strategy for the Center for American Progress, noted the decades-old trend: "Ever since the end of the war in Vietnam and the creation of the volunteer military back in 1973, the military has tended more and more to vote for the Republicans." But in the same article, Korb pointed out that the tide was beginning to turn. In fact, he argued that the two candidates would probably split the military vote this year. And less than two weeks ago, a study by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics indicated that among deployed U.S. troops, Barack Obama has been receiving six times as much money in donations as John McCain. If further proof is needed, just take a look at the video below, in which five veterans talk to Propeller about their supprt for Obama. The distinguished group includes John Medve, a retired Amry lieutenant colonel; Steve Robinson, a retired NCO with twenty years of Army service; Major General Paul Eaton (ret.); Phil Carter, an Iraq war vet and Obama staffer; and Richard Smith, who served in Afghanistan.

It seems fairly clear that Barack Obama's lead in the polls has eroded over the past few weeks. Whether this signals a seismic shift in his support or an electorate smack in the middle of the dog days remains to be seen. Meanwhile, voters should keep in mind that polling data can be massaged in any number of directions. A perfect example: in a front-page story this morning, USA Today noted that the presumptive candidate still has a long way to go when it comes to wooing Hillary Clinton fans. According to the story (and the headline), less than half of Clinton's "restless" flock is willing to throw its support solidly behind Obama. But when you read the second paragraph, it turns out that an additional 23 percent "say they support him but may change their minds before the election." Now, it is the inalienable right of every American to make a fickle choice in the voting booth. But if you add that 23 percent to the 47 percent who have already switched their loyalty to Obama, you get a very respectable 70 percent of Hillary voters who are at least inclined to pull the lever for the Illinois senator. That suggests a different (and less panic-inducing) story, especially since Clinton is expected to release her delegates at a reception-cum-pep-rally on Wednesday night. But perhaps that made for a less zippy headline.