THE RALL RULE: I have no use for heartless cartoonist Ted Rall. Oh, wait, yes I do!

Keeping up with politics is hard work. You have to listen to the radio everyday, read the candidates' websites, scan the newspapers, watch the Sunday shows. Or, you can do what I do.

When you come upon someone so wrong-headed as Ted Rall...someone who had the audacity to mock the widows of 9/11 (those whose behavior he, in his infinite wisdom, took to be "cynical, crass, and gauche")...and who couldn't seem more mean-spirited, cynical, and generally grotesque in his TV appearances...well, you put him to use.

Here's how I do it:

1) Rall comes out in favor of Howard Dean.
2) I apply the Rall Rule, which states, "Anything he's for, I must be against."
3) I realize I'm against Howard Dean.

It ain't sophisticated, but it just might work.