Frothing is about the only way to describe the reaction to Huckabee's speech in the Cayman Islands. Chris Beam rather clumsily goes from "I don't really know if the speech was to raise money for Huckabee personally or for his campaign", to "I think it was for his campaign", sending Plotz, and to a lesser degree Bazelon, into a foaming mass of furor, already sending poor Huck to Leavenworth for campaign finance violations. This is the worst of podcasts: poorly informed experts who don't get their background facts straight before spouting off.

Also, can the cocktail chatter be about someone other than McCain, Clinton, or Obama? Outside of the Slate circle, people might want to talk about other topics at cocktail parties.

Calm down Mike. Hey, you gave it your best shot. Your young, you can always try again in 4 years, and now more people know about you, so you won't be started from a dead stop like you did this campaign.

Maybe you can tell me, who's are the experts? Is this the first podcast that you've listened too?

Um, the whole "you're Mike" number is just too silly. In any case, I'm not defending Huckabee, I'm attacking this flight of frothiness, based on nothing more than silly Chris Beam's moment of hesitation. Listen to it again: it's quite amazing.

And yes, I've listened to a few podcasts, and while their spontaneity is part of their attraction, it can sometimes mean shooting from the hip. Sometimes a little self control would be wise.