OP-ED COLUMNIST

Shoulda, Woulda, Can

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

'm glad the president gave a sober talk about where we're going in Iraq and in confronting terrorism. But I can't say I found it reassuring. I still don't feel we have a broad, workable strategy. We currently have two national commissions looking backward — one on how 9/11 happened, and another about why no W.M.D. were found in Iraq. Those are key questions. But what we really need is a bipartisan commission looking forward. I'd call it the National Commission for Doing Things Right. Its mandate would be simple: tell the country what U.S. policy would be if we were determined to do things right in confronting terrorism, no matter what the political costs — so we don't have to have yet another commission looking backward two years from now. Here's what I'd like to see:

• We would take all the money the Bush team has wasted on P.R. campaigns directed at the Arab-Muslim world and put it into three programs: a huge expansion of U.S. embassy libraries around the world, which have been cut in recent years (you'd be amazed at how many young people abroad had their first contact with America through an embassy library), a huge expansion of scholarships for foreign students to study in America, and a huge expansion of our immigration service so it can quickly figure out who should get visas to study or work in America and who shouldn't. Too many good students are getting shut out of the U.S. You don't get better P.R. from ads. You get it from bringing people into America or American libraries and letting them draw their own conclusions.

• We would adopt a 50-cents-a-gallon gasoline tax, the Patriot Tax (along with my wife's proposal: free public parking anywhere in America for any hybrid or other car getting more than 35 m.p.g.). A Patriot Tax would help pay for the Afghan and Iraq wars and help finance a Manhattan project to speed the development of a hydrogen economy, enabling the public to make a contribution to the war effort while lessening our dependence on foreign oil.

There is simply no way to stimulate a process of economic and political reform in the Arab-Muslim world without radically reducing their revenues from oil, thereby forcing these governments to reform their economies, and societies, to produce real jobs for their people. Is there anything dumber than the Bush campaign ads chastising John Kerry for once favoring a gasoline tax? Had we imposed a Patriot Tax a year ago, gasoline might still cost $2 a gallon today, but 50 cents of that would have gone to paying for American schools rather than Saudi madrassas.

• We would spearhead efforts in trade talks to reduce U.S., European and Japanese farm subsidies. Nothing would be more helpful to Pakistani, Egyptian and other poor farmers in the Muslim and developing worlds than no longer having to compete with our subsidized produce.

• We would make a serious effort to diffuse the toxic Arab-Israeli conflict, including using NATO forces to separate the parties.

• We would spell out that the war on terrorism is a long-term war on radical Islam — and while force is necessary in that effort, it is not sufficient. We have to connect all of the above dots to strengthen Arab-Muslim moderates, because only they can take on their extremists. Unfortunately, the Bush team reacted to 9/11 as if all the old rules and methods had to go. I believe 9/11 was gigantic. But the old rule book — emphasizing allies, the Geneva Conventions, self-sacrifice, economic development, education, Arab-Israeli diplomacy — was and remains our greatest source of strength in the effort to promote gradual reform in the regions most likely to breed threats to our open society.

I think David Rothkopf, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said it best: "The answer for us lies not in what has changed, but in recognizing what has not changed. Because only through this recognition will we focus on an effective multilateral response to W.M.D. proliferation, the creation of real stakeholders in globalization among the world's poor, the need for reform in the Arab world and a style of U.S. leadership that seeks to build our base of support worldwide by getting more people to voluntarily sign onto our values. We need to remember that those values are the real foundation for our security and the real source of our strength. And we need to recognize that our enemies can never defeat us — only we can defeat ourselves, by throwing out the rule book that has worked for us for a long, long time." source...

Name:

TheAmericanPeople

In response to:
and another about why no W.M.D. were found in Iraq.

Name:

r u kidding

Message:
Now theres a solution to terrorism. Spend money on American libraries in muslim countries. Any volunteers for librarian?

Thomas L. Friedman is the United States' pre-eminent foreign affairs columnist. His syndicated column is printed in hundreds of newspapers, both at home and abroad. He has won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary three times. He is articulate. He is experienced. He is also a sucker.

Thomas Friedman is a sucker because he thinks the world revolves around him. Wine and dine Thomas Friedman, and you'll have an advocate for life. In Thomas Friedman's mind, if you treat him well, you must be a good person.

Which is why Friedman is a patsy for every country that hosts him. In March 1999, Friedman visited China, where he observed: "Visiting Shanghai is always a useful reminder of how frozen perceptions of China are in America today, and how far reality has moved here." Friedman went on to laud China's "flourishing of personal freedoms" and then mention that, by the way, the Communist Party asks only that its constituents "dare not challenge its authority and ... have only one child."

In February 2002, Friedman traveled to Saudi Arabia, where he played journalistic footsy with the Saudi royal family. Since the world revolves around him, Friedman decided that he would propose his Middle East peace plan to Crown Prince Abdullah. The plan involved an Israeli move to pre-1967 borders and acceptance of the phantom Palestinian "right of return" -- in short, Israeli suicide. Oh-so-shockingly, Crown Prince Abdullah asked Friedman: "Have you broken into my desk?" Delighted that he had discovered the solution to Middle East peace, Friedman played the part of Saudi mouthpiece, breathlessly praising Abdullah as "the staunchest Arab nationalist among Saudi leaders, and the one most untainted by corruption."

In June 2002, Friedman visited Iran, where he proclaimed: "The most striking thing about Iran today is the honesty you can find in the newspapers. Some mornings, they take your breath away." The Iranian government, one of the most restrictive in the world, shut down at least 90 newspapers between April 2000 and January 2003.

Thomas Friedman is a sucker because he believes that he never makes mistakes. Friedman believes he knows the universal theory to explain all political events: economics. As Friedman explains on his website, globalization "now shapes virtually everyone's domestic politics and international relations." Friedman's theory means that nations always act in their own economic self-interest, that leaders are rational, and that the majority of any population wants economic prosperity above all else. There's only one problem: This is utter bunk. But when the facts disprove his theory, Thomas Friedman discards the facts.

Take his May 11 column, "Fathers and Sons." Friedman's basic theory on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is this: If the Israelis and Palestinians could only get past all this religious mumbo-jumbo, remove old leaders and accept one another, we could let globalization work its magic. Because Friedman thinks everything is about economics, he thinks peace can be achieved once Jewish settlements are abandoned and the Palestinians replace Yasser Arafat with another terror-supporting figurehead, Abu Mazen.

In this vein, Friedman argues that the best policy toward Israel is one of tough love; he writes that President George W. Bush should treat Israel as his father did by telling "Israel and Jewish lobby some very hard truths ... that expanding settlements would harm Israel's long-term interests, would shrink the prospects for peace and would help undermine America's standing in the Arab world." He calls the Jewish settler movement "renegade" and "lunatic" (epithets he reserves for Israelis, not suicide bombers) and claims the Christian right has hurt Israel by supporting it.

Friedman has learned nothing from the Oslo fiasco, because Thomas Friedman believes he is never wrong. In January 2001, Friedman briefly acknowledged that the Palestinian intifada left Oslo's advocates "feeling like fools." But now, Friedman has jumped on the Oslo II bandwagon. It does not matter to him that Abu Mazen was appointed by Arafat, not elected, and that 67.8 percent of Palestinians believe that Mazen was appointed only because of external pressure. It does not matter to him that Mazen has consistently and openly endorsed terror against Israelis as a continuing policy or that he was likely involved in the 1972 Munich Massacre. It does not matter to him that 64.6 percent of Palestinians support terror against Israeli targets or that 59.9 percent support suicide bombings. This is Thomas Friedman's world, and we're all just living in it.

Thomas Friedman is no doubt an intelligent man. Yet he is slobberingly sycophantic toward those who play up to him. He wholeheartedly believes that he is infallible. His vision is clouded by his own inflated view of himself. Thomas Friedman is a sucker, made to order.

Name:

TheAmericanPeople

In response to:
WMD was found in Iraq last week. The WMD confirmed last Tuesday.

Message:
Editor, censor it all if you must but please don't twist my message to meet your needs. And don't twist liberals as liars when they did not. No liberal has denied that an old WMD with only traces, was found last week. It was on all the news. Why are you trying to twist the truth inth liberal lies? This information was printed in liberal publications. You are the one who is lying, not the liberals.

Name:	Paperjam
To:	Danny American

In response to:
Don't forget the now Famous words of Individual:

Message:
Fine! I’m issuing the following statement so you will leave me alone, OK?

Alright, so I failed to prove any of my points, so what? It’s the friggen Internet.

So what if I lashed out at a few people who didn’t deserve it, did any of you really get hurt by any of this?

OK, so I lied to support my political party, haven’t you done the same before too?

I’m sorry if you got mad but that’s as close to an apology as your gonna get buster!

Name:	More Bad News for Democrat
Re:	Self-Sustained Growth, Something Clinton could never offer us

Message:

4.4% Q1 growth was weaker than expected. But 4 qtr average at 5%, 3 qtr at 5.6% -- plenty of momentum. Strong growth momentum -- tax/rate-based consumer spending and tax/profit-based business investment. Accelerated inventory rebuilding adds a third engine to 2004 production growth.

2004 expected to average 4.5%-5% growth given 3 strong growth engines -- consumer, business, inventories. Profit/earnings pay off from cost-cutting and productivity growth remains quite bullish for equity prices.

.......................................... Q3 Q4 '04q1 Q2e Q3e Q4e
Real GDP........................... 8.2 4.1 4.4 5.0 4.5 4.5
GDP Price Index............... 1.6 1.5 2.6 1.7 1.8 1.9
Consumer Spending...... 6.9 3.2 3.9 4.0 3.5 3.5
Business Investment.... 12.8 10.9 5.8 12.0 13.0 15.0
Unemployment Rate....... 6.1 5.9 5.6 5.6 5.5 5.4

Early expectations for Q2 growth include increased strength given the increased wave of tax refunds (consumer spending), improved commercial construction which dragged overall business investment and stronger inventory rebuilding from a record low inventory to sales ratio.

The momentum from the 6% second half pace carried in to 2004 and will be boosted by stronger inventory rebuilding.

Concern for consumer spending is misplaced given low interest rates and strengthening employment and income growth.

2003 tax cuts pay off with larger early 2004 refunds and a resulting boost to first half consumer spending.

Record low inventories (to sales) argue for strong rebuilding in 2004 and a strong boost to production.

Capital and labor investment will continue to strengthen given generous tax incentives, very strong profits and the massive supply of cash in the corporate coffers.

The acceleration in capital investment pulled Jan ISM index to a 20 year high as manufacturing has returned from the dead.

The strong March/April rise has ended the head-scratching -- stronger labor demand has returned!!

However, the effect of strong labor productivity remains a key employment drag and won't disappear.

The unemployment rate returned to a 2 year low as large company hiring now adds to self-employed/small firm gains.

The employment headwind against near term policy tightening is past. June policy tightening now priced in.

Consumer prices will hold near 2% as the core (ex-food/energy) is turning higher.

Core CPI was at a 40-year low of 1.1% from Nov-Jan as the 2004 rise is consistent with increasing pricing power.

Core weakness is led by pricing power for durable goods which is strengthening with manufacturing demand.

Greenspan noted the end of disinflation but no clear upturn in broad-based inflation.

The market only sees higher inflation ahead as a June policy tightening seems assured.

Name:

Individual

In response to:
Self-Sustained Growth, Something Clinton could never offer us

Message:
I wish the democrats would get the word out. Under Clinton, we had eight years without a recession. This hadn't happened in I don't know how long. We had unemployment which averaged in the 4% range for four years in a row. This hadn't happened since the late 60s--the late 60s. We had declining on-budget deficits which turned into surpluses for two years. This hadn't happened since 1956-57. We had a DOW that made all-time highs for 116 weeks. I'm talking about all-time highs--not yearly highs as with Bush.

Under Bush, we had our first recession since the early 90s. We had unemployment which rose from 4.1% when he took office to 6.4% in 2003. It has now declined to 5.6%. Under Bush, we have a DOW which plunged to about 7700 in 2003, the lowest point since 1998. The DOW has since recovered to about 10,000. We have the largest on-budget deficits in history. Deficits are projected to be in the trillions under Bush. These facts speak for themselves, loud and clear.

Value Judgments (for use by the democratic election machine): Needless to say, Americans deserve better than they are getting. They deserve economic growth without record budget deficits. They deserve unemployment in the 4% or lower range for years in a row. They deserve a DOW which makes all-time highs for week after week. Americans don't deserve record on-budget deficits. They don't deserve a good stock market (DOW) for one out of three years.

Name:	Last Visible Dog
Re:	What can I say after Al Gore’s divisive screed

Message:

Name:	Right Wing Pirahna #3
To:	Individual

In response to:
"...unemployment that averaged 4%..."

Name:	Jereboam
To:	Pepe
Re:	Lascaux Dribbles

In response to:
It is of no interest to "me, because AGAIN their Country is not friendly. Not all pants are free. Let us therefore celebrate. Knoxville will do. It's someplace, and that is sufficient.

Name:	Soxxy Vanderpoole
To:	Individual

In response to:
We had unemployment which averaged in the 4% range for four years in a row. This hadn't happened since the late 60s--the late 60s

"We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur."
--Vice President Al Gore, 9/22/97

"For NASA, space is still a high priority."
--Vice President Al Gore, 9/5/93

"Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children."
--Vice President Al Gore

"The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's
history, I mean in this century's history. But we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this century."
--Vice President Al Gore, 9/15/95

"I was recently on a tour of Latin America, and the only regret I have was that I didn't study Latin harder in school so I could converse with those people."
--Vice President Al Gore

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
--Vice President Al Gore

"We're all capable of mistakes, but I do not care to enlighten you on the mistakes we may or may not have made."
--Vice President Al Gore

"I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy - but that could change."
--Vice President Al Gore, 5/22/98

"Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things."
--Vice President Al Gore, 11/30/96

"I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future."
--Vice President Al Gore

"The future will be better tomorrow."
--Vice President Al Gore

"We're going to have the best-educated American people in the world."
-- Vice President Al Gore, 9/21/97

"I stand by all the misstatements that I've made."
-- Vice President Al Gore to Sam Donaldson, 8/17/93

"I am not part of the problem. I am a Democrat."
-- Vice President Al Gore

"A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."
-- Vice President Al Gore

"Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having it."
-- Vice President Al Gore, 5/20/996

"Democrats understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child."
-- Vice President Al Gore

"Welcome to President Clinton, Mrs. Clinton, and my fellow astronauts."
-- Vice President Al Gore

"Mars is essentially in the same orbit... Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe."
-- Vice President Al Gore

"What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is."
-- Vice President Al Gore

"When I have been asked who caused the riots and the killing in L.A., my answer has been direct and simple: Who is to blame for the riots? The rioters are to blame. Who is to blame for the killings? The killers are to blame."
-- Al Gore

"The American people would not want to know of any misquotes that Al Gore may or may not make."
-- Vice President Al Gore

Name:

Facts are Facts

In response to:
We have the largest on-budget deficits in history.

Each year of the Clinton Presidency, the National Debt reached new record all-time highs!

Can we get Al Gore on the 2004 ticket? Please? Didn't Bill Clinton tell us he was the greatest vice president in the history of the country? It's not only partisan Republicans who snicker about the new, louder, unhinged Gore. Many Democratic operatives can't keep a straight face or refrain from rolling their eyes as the former vice president tries to roar back onto the political stage.

Al Gore is proving to be the most irrelevant, comically absurd former vice president since Spiro Agnew. This blustering Saturday Night Live caricature is no longer a serious political figure. At a MoveOn.org event yesterday, Gore — in wild-eyed, Howard Dean-like fashion — screamed out the names of most of the Bush-administration defense and national-security leadership (including the Clinton/Gore CIA director) and demanded their resignation in the middle of the war on terror. Columnist Charles Krauthammer observed, "Looks as if Al Gore has gone off his lithium again." The speech, long on invective and short on facts, was an endorsement of a policy of appeasement, retreat, and good old blame-America-first extremism.

In Al Gore's increasingly bizarre worldview, Condi Rice is a bigger threat to the world than bin Laden or the butchers who kill our soldiers in Iraq. As our troops are in harm's way overseas, Gore's contribution to war-on-terror strategy is the idea that we should upend our entire national-security apparatus and go through a half-dozen or so contentious confirmation hearings this summer. Weeks ago, Gore's 2000 running mate, Joe Lieberman, observed, "We're in the middle of a war — you wouldn't want to have the secretary of defense change unless there's really good reason for it and I don't see any good reason at this time."

Radio and TV host Sean Hannity appropriately called for a moment of prayer in the opening of his radio show yesterday to thank God Al Gore isn't running the country. We can only hope the Democratic Convention will prominently feature the coalition of the unhinged (Dean, Gore, MoveOn.org). But consider the increasingly small circle of company Al Gore has been keeping these days:

MoveOn.org. Gore's top speaking destination of choice not only opposes the war in Iraq, they opposed the war in Afghanistan, too. Just days after September 11, MoveOn.org put out a statement saying, "We recognize that we are now in a world where indiscriminate military actions can make us less safe...." Well, you didn't have to worry about Al Gore indiscriminately going after bin Laden, did you: He and Clinton just bombed a few aspirin factories.

MoveOn.org's campaign director, 23-year-old Eli Pariser. Eli's reservoir of experience includes protesting globalization and World Bank meetings. His group has promoted ads comparing Bush to Hitler. Maybe Eli's helping Gore plug in with the "youth" for Al's soon-to-fail media ventures?

The Day After Tomorrow movie gang. Along with MoveOn.org, Gore has promoted this scientifically inaccurate movie in order to question whether the president understands the threat of global warming. Yes, that would be the same Al Gore who warned us about global warming at a January 15 MoveOn.org rally on the coldest day of the past decade in the northeast.

Do you get the feeling Al Gore is not accepted in respectable company anymore — even among Democrats? Can you imagine Joe Lieberman showing up at a MoveOn.org event, much less giving a speech there? Bill Clinton hasn't been seen to share a picture frame with Gore in years. Hillary Clinton long ago made the decision to ditch Al. Do you think Senator Tom Daschle will be inviting him to South Dakota in his close race? A Saturday Night Live parody earlier this year even featured a John Kerry character trying to dodge Gore's endorsement (it was the kiss of death for Howard Dean). Many of his former campaign staff signed up with other candidates even before Gore declined to run.

A former vice president has never engaged in such a simultaneously self-destructive, menacing, and factually questionable speech during war. Gore's speech was both an indictment and a conviction of the entire Bush administration leadership for events at Abu Ghraib. Gore claimed, "What happened at the prison, it is now clear, was not the result of random acts by 'a few bad apples,' it was the natural consequence of the Bush Administration policy...." This is not what official investigative findings to date have revealed. Is Gore also indicting our military officials involved in the investigations?

Outside of MoveOn.org, the biggest cheers for Gore must have been coming from caves in Afghanistan and diehards in Fallujah. Bitterness over Florida and exile from most of the leaders of your own party are no excuses for such irresponsibility.

After the speech, Gore loyalists and Democratic leaders defended him as well as MoveOne.org. Former Gore spokesperson Doug Hattaway told Hannity that Gore's tone was "absolutely appropriate." Former Gore chief-of-staff Ron Klain spoke approvingly of MoveOn.org as "the largest-growing progressive group in this country" and a "powerful force in American politics." If Democrats are going to claim that they think Gore is a credible representative of the party, why not Kerry-Gore in 2004?

Most Americans will recognize that giving this kind of comfort to the enemy during war does not speak for our nation, and they are grateful Al Gore doesn't either. Yesterday Gore preached to us that we needed someone with "good judgment and common sense" in the presidency. We got that by not electing him.

Name:	Warf Rat
To:	All
Re:	Bunch of Liberals out in the sticks with no one to tax!

In response to:
Hilarious!

"A former vice president has never engaged in such a simultaneously self-destructive, menacing, and factually questionable speech during war."

Name:	Danny American
To:	Individual

In response to:
Under Bush, we have a DOW which plunged to about 7700 in 2003

Message:
I wonder if you have noticed that the DOW is within 380 points of where it was when Clinton left office? This is a miracle considering the events of 9/11 which were planned during Clintons inadequate presidency. Bush is a miracle. 999>Message:
Cannibals have taken over The Weather channel.

Name:	Danny American
To:	Board

Message:
Just kidding about the "Bush is a miracle" quote. You would have to be pathetic to believe a human can be a miracle.

Name:	PWT
To:	individual

Message:
There is, in fact, a cause and effect relationship in regard to economic events. For example, Mr. Clinton passed a tax cut for the rich in the form of the Capital Gains Tax Cut. This was the cause of the marked increase in the Dow and Nasdaq stock markets, aside from the systemic effects of Y2K and its increased computer hardware and software purchases and the .com revolution. So, why do democrats always complain about tax cuts for the rich?

Name:	Dept. of Discontinuance And Disposal
To:	Andrew Murphy
Re:	Soothing peace

In response to:
It's not like we don't know where they live you know...they don't exactly have any protection from us you know.....

Message:
We'll just kill you, Andrew. That way you won't have to worry about "them" anymore.

Name:	The Omnipotent Order of Oleo
To:	Pepe
Re:	Managing the Proletariate for fun and profit

In response to:
And What is IT doing Talking on -Some-Body elses "Disability - ???

Message:
Greeting: (szckxcczzxzzyxx) We perceive and acknowledge your madness. We will incorporate you into our system. We intend nothing less than a total takeover of the entire world through the judicious use of baggypants.

Name:	Matamoros
To:	Nick Aquino, Andrew Murphy

Message:
Well, it doesn't seem fair that Osama Bin Laden's mother lives peacefully in London. Arafart's wife and daughter live in Switzerland, and Daddy stays in Palestine blowing up buses full of Israeli kids. Khadafi's kids are hanging out with the Eurotrash...etc.

Name:	Moishe Mei
To:	Andy Executioner
Re:	Please them, is more like it!

In response to:
That would totally control them

Message:
I think that they would be proud to know that their actions had allowed their families to enter Martyrdom.

Name:	Harly Needleman
To:	Everyone
Re:	Fake terrorrism

Message:
I am a professional in US intelligence with over 30 years in the field and I can guarantee you all that terrorrist did not blow up the WTC on 911. And when Ashcroft and friends come out and warn us of 'terrorist' you can be certain of one thing, there will be terrorism, the terrorist made an anouncement.

Name:	Andrew Murphy
To:	My Friends

Message:
Marterdom...Yeah, let's give the guilty ones the pride of sending their families to heaven. Kill their families!! That's what I say!! My friends, and my people out there...if they were smart, they would understand that this is what needs to be done. Now, if you guys don't have the stomach to face such violence, well, I suppose you could do like Nick say's above and just kidnap and terrorize their families...that might even work better...Whatever you all decide is fine with me, but just please be sure to get it done today.

Message:
As is often the case with president Bush, his style is to allow his severest critics to overplay their hand, and then to go on the offensive with a new series of speeches and events, designed to explain more effectively what is going on and to restore confidence in ultimate victory.

Name:	Mercy Moi
To:	Individual, LOF, & ET:

In response to:
All the clamoring argumentative, hate-filled, name-calling, liars, spin-masters, disinformationists, psycho-ops guys, & other ranters on the Right, cannot ever displace your well thought out & dignified & reasoned opinions. Those with a Mind & a Brain, & an Education can easily see YOU are right

Message:
Dear Individual: They have picked on you mercilessly for a whole day now, and yet you continue. I guess we feel we must defend our candidates & positions, but THINK WHO you are trying to convince. The majority of right wingers on this forum do NOT come here to edify us, or to listen and debate us, or to learn anything. Their minds are made up, on the basis of heavy brain-washing & disinformation that has been spoon fed to them since birth. You cannot & will not ever reach them with facts, reason, or logic.

Rest assured that at least 50% of your fellow Americans are smart enough to see through their tactics, & their lies & falsehoods, & violent vicious attacks. Know that 50% is at least 135 MILLION of us, who will not be dumb enough to believe the Dung Beetles spewed forth by the right wing.

My sympathy goes to ET, who has to try to manage the debate in a civilized manner, while savages attack the truth all day long, based on ignorance & a blind faith in leaders with no brains, no ability, & no talent for the job they hold, --- But America is beginning to SEE the LIGHT. And those who KNOW the Truth will never be dumb enough to buy all this hysterical attacking of Al Gore, Clinton, & others, we see here today. The Reptilian Republicans, a very cold blooded animal, care nothing about America and what it stands for, & especially they cannot stand the Truth. It would be fun to blast back at them, their every sick twisted word that issues forth from their slimey and fork-tongued mouth, with beady snake-eyes gleaming wildly. They love to pretend to be "superior" to us, but the facts prove otherwise. WHO would consider Geo Bush to be the BEST their party has to offer? He is laughed at the world over for being a simpleton, who cannot think or talk like the other leaders. He ridicules the French, while our Canadian allies speak French, our French allies speak French, & many world leaders can speak French, but Bush can hardly even master English, his native tongue. Say anything you want about Al Gore, but he is an honest decent man & he has not been in any scandal, & HE CAN SPEAK AN ELOQUENT SPEECH at any time. And when Clinton Ad Libbed, it was like an oratory on Mount Olympus, compared to stuttering muttering monosyllables uttered by Bush on his best day. There is just no comparison. The wide intellect & ability to think on his feet, master huge amounts of facts, comprehend the incredible massive details of daily Reports & Legislation on his desk --- Bill Clinton was brilliant, & a gorgeous hunk of a man besides. Clinton was the best President we ever had in these United States, at least in modern times.

The right wing, feeling that they must continue to crucify that man, even 4 years after he left office, and then recalling the EIGHT YEARS of unending criticism from the right wing PAID hacks like Rush Limbaugh, to crucify Clinton & Hillary -- for what? All the charges they could find after endless investigation costing US taxpayers a huge bundle, was Gee, he did not want to admit having sex with an intern. Biggie Wow. Not quite as bad as putting our whole nation into needless war, killing off 800 & keeping it a secret how many are legless or armless or maimed in this war? That dirty little secret goes unrevealed.

Our Constitution lays in tattered shreds, our national security is dangerously weak, (Where did all the money go that we taxpayers & donators gave to the 9/11 funds to help the victims & raise firefighters equipment etc?) WHO stole that money? Look somewhere under Tom Ridge's mattress to see where TONS of Homeland Security money went, because it sure isn't showing up in the right places.

From Enron, Halliburton, Harken Energy, (where Bush himself is business partners with the Bin Laden Family, like as in OSAMA Bin Laden. Gee, I wonder why we can't ever find that elusive little devil? Hmmm Not (OH NO) not due to him being a business OIL partner in Bush's company??

Corruption & deceit & illegal business practices abound in Bush's admin, and jobs are going overseas faster than a wild flock of geese. Cuz Bush don't care about the normal average American. HE IS SET FOR LIFE, with all his cronies and OIL millionaires, & crooked Executive donors patting him on the back. Good little boy, Georgie, Screw America & just help the Filthy Rich (good adjective -- very accurate) get more money & Profits, and to heck with Americans. They are not worth our time of day. Well, I have NEWS for you big fat filthy rich industrialists, who go overseas to avoid paying your DUE TAXES, you are nothing but criminal TRAITORS to this country, and you should be exported along with your corrupt businesses. You just go there & live and never come back. And we do not want to BUY your crummy products anymore either. I am talking now to the Corporate Raiders and criminals who are NOW jumping ship to create a job deficit, (I am not talking retro-actively) since the ones doing it NOW are able to see the awful economic stage we are in, & we NEED corporate America to stand up & be a real Patriot, instead of a greedy son-of-a-bitch.

Yes, Individual, you speak the TRUTH on this Forum, and Lord of Flies, has always spoken the Truth on this Forum. And ET has given us her wisdom while trying to be equal and fair in her expressions. Trying to make us think and reach some kind of consensus. In this troubled time of DARKNESS (where reason & logic are discarded and ridiculed). We all should be TRYING to reach consensus & a point where we can compromise and be fair to one another. But I think some are just interested in disruption & insulting & being sarcastic to blow off steam, or else they are hacks for Bush. It does not even matter. The point is, as Americans, we are now so divided, & polarized, that sensible discussion is almost impossible unless you speak to the Elite people who have to compromise in their daily discourse. (like in Congress).

You will notice that it is the right wing who always goes over the top with insults, and when they can't scream & shout & get their way, they act like infants with their shrill name-calling. I swear, if I had to guess the age of them, I cannot imagine most of them being over 12 or 13, as I cannot imagine ANY adult being that stupid or childish.

There are also a few here, that try to make themself the Judge and Jury & Executioner of every word put here on this forum. Tear apart every word, syllable, & punctuation mark, in endless frenzy to find something to make fun of, or argue about. It is really pathetic, & they will pursue any topic to the ends of time, rather than admit they are wrong, or the other person has a valid point. They would rather DIE than be civil and courteous, & harmonious.

Lest right-wingers are unaware, MOST PEOPLE WITH A GOOD MIND and brains & education, can easily see the disruptive tactics and mind-numbing ignorant attacks you make on a daily and even minute by minute basis. You think that by the strength in numbers of attacks you can make the Truth disappear. Well, guess what? A German guy with a funny moustache thought the same thing. He goose-stepped into history in 1939, & almost ruled the world, with his cute little methods, propaganda, twisting the truth, attacking the Jews like you guys attack liberals, (exactly that way) and Guess What? Hitler is Gone. Kaput !! We all know how demented & psychotic he was, & possibly had syphilis of the brain. (What's YOUR excuse?) We also know there is a body of evidence he was homosexual. Not important, but you see, even He could not HIDE THE TRUTH forever.

Al Gore was duly elected by the popular vote, & only by the twisting of the rules, making the paid hack of Jeb Bush, (Gee, accidentally George's brother) refuse to allow the vote recount, & sending the decision to the Supreme Court, (full of right wing nominees, from Daddy Bush, who owed him a favor) -- & you have Rigged Election.

A DAY of RECKONING will come, if there is a God in Heaven, and certain corrupt entities will be taken down. For I believe in all my heart, that this IS one Nation under God, and that God will Keep us on the correct path. By the way, God speaks in mysterious ways. As in the Bible, -- plagues of Pharoah --(EXODUS) notice any locusts lately? (Also known as cicadas) Any floods, hailstorms, dying cow diseases, water pollution? Hmmm Exactly the same "signs" revealed to Moses that God was very displeased with the Pharoah (Leader) of Egypt. I guess God doesn't really like us messing around Bombing the Garden of Eden (in Iraq). ---- That was a word from our Sponsor --- Now you can go back to the usual bashing, lying, peddling propaganda, etc.

Name:	magpie
Re:	don't cry Esme!

In response to:
Andy Sullivan-my favorite fudge packer nails it again!

Message:
When you read the papers or watch the television, it is easy to succumb to the idea that the terrorist murders, roadside bombs, assassins and suicide bombers somehow represent elements of the native population. But it's clear to those running this war that the bulk of this well-armed insurgency is made up of remnants of Saddam's totalitarian machine. These dead-enders know that their days are numbered if their fellow Iraqis have a chance to run the country. So they fight. Their previous connections with intenational terrorism have also enabled them to import Jihadists from neighboring countries to beef up their forces. They are also joined by thugs supported and financed by the theo-fascist mullahs in neighboring Iran, terrified that a democratic, moderate Shiite state could be the tipping point for their own demise.

Ironically, the speed and success of our original victory made this current, morale-crushing warfare more likely. Saddam's war-plan, from the beginning, was to bog down coalition troops in bloody urban warfare in the battle for Baghdad and other cities. He knew he couldn't win on the conventional battle-field. He also guessed that American public opinion would not tolerate high casualties in horrifying urban street battles. So his strategy was always what we are seeing now - except much earlier and much bloodier. What threw his initial plans off was the brilliance of the American attack, which was so swift and so conclusive that Iraq had fallen before any urban warfare could take place. And so Saddam went to Plan B: which was to regroup, rearm and fight a guerrilla war from the trenches, to turn the liberation into an occupation, grind the coalition down, and win the long war.

It is, in other words, a complete misnomer to describe our current situation as "post-war." This is the war that Saddam planned and hoped for. It was unwittingly enabled by the demobilization of the entire army and by the slowness of reconstruction and elections. It was somewhat hobbled by the capture of Saddam himself. But it was and is clearly a long-held strategy from the recesses of the Baathist-Islamist military mind. That's why no one was surprised when Saddam was captured, and found to have on him documents coordinating strategy for resistance. And no one is surprised to find former operatives from Saddam's crack anti-terror brigades now coordinating terror against Iraqi civilians. It is what they always did. But now they do it in the shadows.

These thugs and murderers currently have a real advantage. They can claim to be fighting an American occupation. But that claim will be weakened after June 30 and destroyed after real elections early next year. At that point, these remnants will be more clearly and obviously fighting their own people. That's why the violence is intensifying. The terrorists know that their window of maximum political and military leverage is closing. In due course, they will do all they can to intimidate, to kill Iraqi civilians, to murder anyone who turns up to vote in a local election.

Could this have been avoided? History will judge. If the coalition had poured more troops into the occupied country and immediately restored order more effectively after the fall of Baghdad, the Baathists and Islamists would not have been able to exploit general Iraqi anxiety as well as they have. If an interim Iraqi government had been set up sooner, the suspicion of American "imperialism" could have been headed off at the pass. But the administration clearly believes now that even these two errors did not create the insurgency. It was always going to happen. And so they ask themselves: from a broader perspective, is it better to lose 800 men over a year of spasmodic fighting than to lose 10,000 in a bloody battle for Baghdad in the first place? Of course it is. From any standpoint, the military strategy in Iraq has been a remarkable success. And the administration has no reason to be defensive about it.

But now politics must take over. The administration is fighting three wars: one against the insurgents, another to win over Iraqi public opinion, and another to keep the American public on board. It is winning the first, has lost the second and is in danger of losing the third. By giving the extraordinary general Petraeus authority to remake the Iraqi defense forces, and by containing rebellions in Fallujah and a few Southern Iraqi cities, the coalition is confident about military success. The transfer of power on June 30, the possibility of more and more local elections, billions of reconstruction dollars, and the U.N.'s involvement in setting up a new government are all designed to help win back the second war. As for the third war, the president announced last week that he will be delivering a series of speeches over the next month designed to give the public a much better and deeper understanding of what we are trying to achieve in Iraq.

Bush's problem at home is not one of general disbelief in the war itself. It is a function of the fear that incompetence is ruining the war. History shows that Americans are not squeamish about war, if it's succeeding. But they are ruthless in getting out of conflicts where they seem to be failing. Bush's speeches in the next month will be designed to counter exactly that impression of drift. His advisers are confident. They note that even as his poll numbers have dropped, John Kerry has failed to take a lead in the race. It's also true that the press corps is in danger of over-playing its hand in attacking an administration for partisan and political reasons, when that administration is fighting a difficult and costly war.

There is, in other words, no panic among senior officials. There is a deep sense that neither the war nor the election is lost; and that victory against the nexus of terror and tyranny in the Arab-Muslim world is still within reach. In the president's words: don't mis-underestimate him. The gloomsters have overplayed their hand before; and they may well be doing so again.

Name:

Chomsky

In response to:
most likely voters say the Bush Administration’s close ties to the oil industry are hurting consumers

Message:
High gas prices and a ruined economy... only a partisan hack would call that good news. Oh wait, I've seen this show before, it was called the CARTER ADMINISTRATION

Name:	Individual
To:	Mercy Moi

Message:
Sticking with the facts annoys right wingers, no end. Right wingers avoid facts like vampires avoid sunlight. Clinton, in my opinion, was a miracle as regards the economy. As regards his personal dealings, there is definitely room for improvement. My principal gripe with Clinton is his treatment of people like Betty Curry. He pretty much hung her out to dry. This was immoral in my estimation. But which of us is totally morally "clean?" The partisan attack by the House was a joke as is evidenced by the fact that not even a majority of the republican-controlled senate ever voted for even one of the articles of impeachment. Go Kerry.

Name:	ET
To:	Merci Moi

In response to:
Dear Individual: They have picked on you mercilessly for a whole day now, and yet you continue. I guess we feel we must defend our candidates & positions, but THINK WHO you are trying to convince. The majority of right wingers on this forum do NOT come here to edify us, or to listen and debate us, or to learn anything. Their minds are made up, on the basis of heavy brain-washing & disinformation that has been spoon fed to them since birth. You cannot & will not ever reach them with facts, reason, or logic.

Message:
Fantastic post! Isn't Individual amazing! The right-wingers pick on him, bash him, insult him, but he just keeps coming back and quietly posts a rebuttal or a new concept. He (I think Individual is a he) never lets them get to him, which drives the right-wingers crazy.

You are right, the majority of right-wingers are not interested in the pursuit of truth, they only come here to sleaze and insult us. Unfortunately it's gotten very much worse than former years when we could debate with each other and also have a little fun.

Many of them that come here have been scraped from the bottom of the sludge pool. They will sink to the lowest level in human discourse in order to smear and insult us with some of the most egregious lies ever told.

I'm working on some changes, Merci Moi. I can't see much point in opening the forum every day just to have a pile of dung flung in my face. The same people come here every day with the same old fetid crap.

For many years I used to be excited about opening the forum every day. There was always something new to learn but now it's the same old insults every day. The same old twisted lies and ugly distortions. Same old images. Never a day goes by without the same old Clinton-Monica blowjob routine which they use to rebut any liberal post no matter how profound or who writes it.

I used to have such wonderful debates with highly intelligent posters on the right as well as the left, but now, as you well know, every post you, Individual or I make is immediately, and mechanically returned with a load of personal insults. These juvenile-level retards eagerly stand by with their buckets of crap ready to dump on us no matter what we say.

I'm proud of you and Individual for hanging in. Most other liberals can't stand it and leave after just one visit. This is not the forum I want. I have to find a way to filter out the scum without spending my day editing the forum.

Name:

Individual

In response to:
The administration is fighting three wars: one against the insurgents, another to win over Iraqi public opinion, and another to keep the American public on board.

Message:
What a simpleton. Even if Bush won all of the wars above, the Shiite religious flakes will eventually take over and form an Iranian-style "democracy." Let's see Bush win that war. Bush and his hen=ch=m=en should have known that the best deal they could get in Iraq would be an Iranian-style "democracy." The question for Americans is: Was getting an Iranian-style "democracy" in Iraq worth our losses? What did Americans gain by the war in Iraq?

So, the best we can hope for is an Iranian-style "democracy." The worst might be a civil war because the Kurds, in my opinion, will never relent. Bush appears to be a bungler on a grand scale. We'll see.

Name:	ET
To:	Merci Moi

In response to:
i'll give you one more chance. answer the question fool!

Message:
See what I mean. This poster can't respect anything posted by a liberal. They're sick and I am sick of them.

Name:	ET
To:	Merci Moi

In response to:
Laughable statement coming from a professed liar addressed to a tinfoil hatwearing conspiracy theorist...

Message:
Here comes another ad hominem attack. Too stupid to take Individual's statement an intellectually challenge it, so he makes meaningless ad hominem attacks instead. This person is wasting my time and my bandwidth. He is also losing my intellectual audience who are not excited by dumb ad hominem attacks.

Name:	ET
To:	Merci Moi

In response to:
You lose ALL credibility when you resort to name calling...So does Al Gore

Message:
Here comes another one. They like to insult us but if we return the favor they get upset.

Name:	ET
To:	Merci Moi

In response to:
Most rightwingers have pursued-captured-realized and know the truth. it's you leftwing brain dead butt hole hacks that need to keep pursuing.

Message:
And here the ad hominem attacker is back. Doesn't get the message. Even if you shame them they don't get it.

Name:	Ad Hominem Watch International
To:	ET

In response to:
He is also losing my intellectual audience who are not excited by dumb ad hominem attacks.

big fat filthy rich industrialists, or Look somewhere under Tom Ridge's mattress to see where TONS of Homeland Security money went, because it sure isn't showing up in the right places.

Name:	8^)
To:	ET

Message:
How'd ya feel after Hillary didn't highlight ya on Dateline?

Name:	ET
To:	Merci Moi
Re:	Relative Morality

In response to:
What a simpleton. Shiite religious flakes hen=ch=m=en Merci Moi... big fat filthy rich industrialists, or Look somewhere under Tom Ridge's mattress to see where TONS of Homeland Security money went, because it sure isn't showing up in the right places.

Message:
If it's not ad hominem attacks they respond with relative-morality. They believe that they cannot rise past the bar set by liberals.

I think this may be the crux of the matter. They may truly believe that until we raise the bar and have every single liberal in the world on a higher level than every single conservative, only then can we make a point.

Unfortunately even then, while if we could really achieve that impossible social engineering task, they would still have their never-ending ad hominem attacks to insult us. You can't get through to them.

I know there are a lot a great conservative out there. We get lucky now and then and have some peaceful and thought-provoking moments, but they're getting less and less.

Name:

It's a New Dark Age

In response to:
They believe that they cannot rise past the bar set by liberals.

Name:	Changing The Tone
Re:	Guilty Gore Goes Gaga

Message:
"It is now clear that Al Gore is insane," writes the New York Post's John Podhoretz. "I don't mean that his policy ideas are insane, though many of them are. I mean that based on his behavior, conduct, mien and tone over the past two days, there is every reason to believe that Albert Gore Jr., desperately needs help. I think he needs medication, and I think that if he is already on medication, his doctors need to adjust it or change it entirely."

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times agrees. When he delivered a speech to the far-left outfit MoveOn.org yesterday, she writes, "Mr. Gore hollered so much, he made Howard Dean look like George Pataki." She says the erstwhile veep represents "the wackadoo wing of the Democratic Party."

Well, give Gore credit for helping liberals and conservatives find common ground in this era of polarization. Pretty much everyone agrees Gore is nuts. Well, OK, we did get one e-mail in Gore's defense, from a reader whose name we'll withhold because that's the kind of compassion we practice here at Best of the Web Today:

Al Gore spoke the truth, the real truth, and American truth. The hate speech that we are exposed to on a daily basis comes from the likes of you and the rest of you lying fascist scum that contaminate this country. You are the Republican taliban.

This charming missive pretty much captures the tone and spirit of the Gore speech, though our correspondent at least understands the virtue of brevity. Gore's speech, by contrast, ran more than 6,500 words. Maybe he's hoping for Fidel Castro's job.

How did things go so terribly wrong for Al Gore? When he ran for president in 1988, he was a fresh-faced, moderate "new Democrat." He lost the nomination to the electrifying Michael Dukakis, but he was only 40 and his future looked bright. Yet he never lived up to his potential, and today he is a pitiful, though scary, old man.

An Associated Press account of yesterday's speech notes that "Gore, who served in Vietnam, predicted greater problems for America's involvement in Iraq." The AP apparently means to suggest that Gore suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder, since the Vietnam reference is otherwise a complete non sequitur. But according to WebMD, "symptoms of PTSD usually occur within three months of the traumatic event." True, "they can occur months or years later"--but three decades later?

We've got a better theory: Gore, in our view, has cracked under a crushing burden of guilt.

To explain why, it helps to remember that a desperate anger pervades Gore's entire party at the moment. That's not surprising. For the first time in half a century, the Democrats are out of the White House and have a majority in neither house of Congress. A decisive GOP victory in November would leave the Dems a minority party for a very long time.

Oh, they put on a brave face, noting excitedly every Bush swoon in the polls. They say the president is manifestly incompetent and John Kerry will beat him easily. Maybe they'll even turn out to be right. Who knows? Certainly some Republicans are spooked about Bush's re-election prospects. But the shrillness and hysteria of the Democrats' rhetoric tells us they are far from confident.

Still, the immoderation of Gore's words, combined with the fury of his tone, puts him in a class by himself, or very nearly so, even among angry Dems. And while political candidates routinely engage in hyperbole in order to stir up the party faithful, Gore isn't running for anything. Gephardt stopped ranting about Bush's being a "miserable failure" when he left the presidential race. Gore has nothing to gain by sacrificing his dignity in this way.

How did the Dems come to such a pass? In large part, it's Gore's fault. The Democrats held the White House in 2000, at a time of apparent peace and prosperity. They should have won the election that year, and they surely would have had they only had a decent candidate. But instead they had Al Gore. Even he came close enough to winning that he was tempted to try to steal the election.

There's a telling line right at the beginning of Gore's speech: George W. Bush, he says, "has brought deep dishonor to our country and built a durable reputation as the most dishonest president since Richard Nixon." Here Gore is engaging in what psychologists call "projection": attributing one's own faults to others. The most dishonest president since Richard Nixon obviously is the one who was impeached for lying under oath--the president, that is, whose No. 2 was none other than Al Gore.

Gore would have become president had Bill Clinton resigned after his 1998 impeachment, or had 17 Democratic senators voted to convict him in his impeachment trial. President Gore likely would have been re-elected in 2000, since he would have had the advantage of incumbency and been free of the Clinton taint that (unaccompanied by the Clinton charm) hurt him so much in the "red" states.

Instead, party discipline held, and the Senate acquitted Clinton. This was another missed opportunity for Gore. Had he publicly broken from Clinton and called on the president to resign, other Democrats might well have followed his lead. Instead, he appeared at a White House rally immediately after the impeachment vote and described Clinton as "a man who I believe will be regarded in the history books as one of our greatest presidents."

Thus it was Al Gore, more than anyone else, who assured the election of George W. Bush as president. And if Gore actually believes all the paranoid nonsense he utters about "global warming," "an unprecedented assault on civil liberties," the "American gulag," the "catastrophe" in Iraq and so on, he let down not only his party but his country and the world, which will soon be destroyed thanks to Bush's decision to withdraw from the Kyoto treaty.

Name:	ET
To:	8^)

In response to:
How'd ya feel after Hillary didn't highlight ya on Dateline?

Message:
When I heard they were going to interview Hillary in order to respond to my Hillary-4-Vice-President promotion, I knew that if Hillary repeated, once again, that she was not interested in be Kerry's Vice President, that there would be no point in bringing me into the picture.

I had already been interviewed. They knew beforehand what I was going to say because they had the tapes. What I said on the tapes was passe in view of what took place in the interview with Hillary.

No, I did not expect Hillary to highlight me. Hillary's team have done their part for me in their quiet and anonymous way. Hillary can't openly highlight me. I'm a free spirit. I speak openly and am often controversial. I don't tow the party line all the time. You know that.

I'm a swing voter. If I think the conservatives have a better position on an issue I'll support that position. I don't get special interest money, or lobbiest money. I'm beholden to nobody and free to go my own way and do my own thinking.

Philosophically I am a liberal in that I'm a progressive, forward thinking person. Conservatives believe that everyone must fend for themselves and the winner take all. Conservatives believe in the survival of the fittest. This is the old way of thinking. Almost all the species on this planet act and think this way. This is the way it has always been.

I look at the world as a mother, a dreamer and a visionary. I see the world as one huge family, and as such we must create a society where all of us can survive and thrive. Unfortunately all our efforts at various social experiments have fallen short, or failed miserably so far. But that doesn't mean I've given up.

Society must be fiercely competitive with entrepreneurs encouraged as much as possible. Business must be stimulated to compete successfully in the world market. This is my conservative side speaking.

My liberal side says that the larger the middle class the better. The middle class is the buffer between the rich and the poor. If there is too much disparity between the rich and the poor there will be revolutions or a very high crime rate.

Ethically I believe that in judging a nation, it is not enough to judge it by it's ability to defend itself against other nations, or by how wealthy it is, but it must also be judged by it's health. If children are not receiving enough of the right food, shelter, education and medical care to make them viable citizens we are doing something very wrong to ourselves. Future generations will suffer for it. When we stress out parents so much that they do not have the time or the money to properly care for their children something is wrong. This is the liberal part of me.

Name:	Democrats in Free Fall
Re:	Kerry's slip-sliding away...

Message:
By Bill Sammon THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published May 27, 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- President Bush's political strategists have concluded that the way to battle back from record low job-approval ratings and months of bad news from Iraq is to talk about Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry. "The more people know about him, the more they find a Kerry presidency troubling," said Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman. "Poll after poll after poll after poll shows that." Although the press has been focused for weeks on the president's low job-approval ratings, the Bush campaign has taken solace in largely overlooked poll numbers that show Mr. Kerry's support plummeting in several crucial areas. For example, an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Monday shows that in the past 11 weeks, the percentage of Americans who say Mr. Kerry is "honest and trustworthy" has fallen 11 percentage points. The number saying he is a "strong leader" has dropped nine percentage points, and the number saying he "understands the problems of people like you" has dropped six percentage points. In March, 59 percent of voters viewed Mr. Kerry as honest and trustworthy, and 30 percent did not. That had shrunk to 48 percent to 42 percent in the most recent survey. On the question of whether he is a strong leader, in March, 61 percent thought so, and 29 percent did not. By May, only 52 percent agreed -- and 38 percent disagreed -- that he is a strong leader.

"Since March, Senator Kerry has suffered deterioration in nearly every key leadership attribute, while President Bush has stayed the same," said Matthew Dowd, the campaign's chief political strategist.

Mr. Bush's numbers in the same three categories are either up or down a statistically insignificant one percentage point, according to the poll. Mr. Mehlman said the president's numbers haven't changed much because voters already know him, his leadership style and his beliefs. "People are still getting to know John Kerry," he explained. "John Kerry's net numbers have changed hugely." Still, Mr. Kerry remains virtually tied with the president in head-to-head matchups. The Bush campaign expects the race to remain tight for months, as they continue to help shape perception of their opponent. "We are going to continue talking about it through ads, through the Web, through surrogate events, through remarks by the president, by the vice president, through talk radio, through all kinds of different sources of information," Mr. Mehlman said. As for the president's job-approval numbers, which are in the mid-40s, Mr. Bush's strategists think the worst is behind them. With months of bad news from Iraq having already happened, the campaign thinks Mr. Bush has hit a firewall of support that is comprised of stalwart conservatives. In fact, the campaign hopes the job-approval numbers improve as Mr. Bush delivers a half-dozen major policy speeches explaining his vision for Iraq before the transfer of sovereignty on June 30. The first of these speeches was held on Monday, and campaign officials said it was too early to gauge its impact on public opinion. Mr. Dowd has said that if Mr. Bush's approval rating dips below 40 percent, it will be difficult to win, and that if the president's numbers rebound to above 50 percent, he'll be tough to beat. Mr. Bush realizes that as a conservative Republican president in an election year, his speeches will never satisfy liberal Democrats or even the press. A new Pew poll shows that national journalists are nearly five times as likely to describe themselves as liberals, as opposed to conservatives. Thus, Republicans hope the president's Iraq speeches will go over the heads of Washington elites and connect directly with the American public. "I think you do connect with people that way," Mr. Mehlman said. "If you look at this president throughout the course of his presidency and as a candidate for president, I think he has connected with the American people. "And I think he's connected because he's talked from a position of principle he's a straight shooter," he added. "On Monday evening, he laid out a very specific plan and steps by which that plan could be judged." Republicans think it is easier for Mr. Bush to go over the heads of the liberal press than it was for President Reagan two decades ago. "The days of there being three networks that provided people all their information that they needed to know are gone," Mr. Mehlman said. "Today, they get information from cable; they get information from original newspapers; they get information from blogs; they get information from talk radio." The campaign has resolved to push its message through all these outlets whenever possible.

"The benefit of so many sources of information is that a larger marketplace tends to keep everybody more honest," Mr. Mehlman said. "And makes sure that everybody presents information as effectively as they can."

Name:	ET
To:	Well Golly

In response to:
Now when are ya gonna tell us the name of your FBI agent?

Message:
What is this baloney about demanding the name of the FBI agent that I called during the Boortz attack? Where do you get this right? It's none of your business.

Message:
I'm so sick of this moniker. I begins with a taunt against Democrats. You are telling us that you don't care how we respond because you have already made up your mind.

This forum is not the place for you. The Freak Republic is perfect. There you can begin every post with the assumption that everyone is going to agree with you.

I know you won't go there, of course, because you get such please out of insulting us.

Name:	Chica
Re:	Good News Watch

Message:
Shiite hoodlum Muqtada al-Sadr has agreed to pull his militia out of Najaf, the Associated Press reports. "Coalition forces will pull out of most of Najaf once Iraqi security forces reenter the city and assume control of strategic buildings from al-Sadr's militia, coalition spokesman Dan Senor told reporters in Baghdad." Until then, the coalition will "suspend offensive operations but will continue to provide security," Senor says.

Meanwhile, blogger Arthur Chrenkoff has another good-news roundup. Here's a summary:

Rebuilding society. "Democracy is moving forward, step by step," with elected local councils taking on more authority. Iraq is conducting its first postwar census. Exiles are flowing back in. A new Shiite university is open in Hilla, south of Baghdad, which aims to reconcile Islam with modernity. And Iraq's Kurds are inviting Israeli relatives to visit northern Iraq.

Reconstruction. "Falling unemployment, rising wages, lower interest rates and higher foreign investment" are not only improving life for Iraqis but drawing in hundreds of thousands of Iranians looking for work. Construction is booming in both Baghdad and the Kurdish north. The Trade Ministry has registered more than 2,000 foreign and Iraqi companies in the past year. "Iraq's small business entrepreneurs overwhelmingly predict a stronger economy in the short term, and are planning to expand."

Humanitarian efforts. "Iraqi education system is being rebuilt - slowly: after years of neglect under Saddam and post-liberation looting." Foreigners are now allowed to own and operate private schools in Iraq. The U.S. Agency for International Development "has been working with the Coalition Provisional Authority, the United Nations, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund to [assist] Iraqis in reconstructing their country on literally hundreds of projects." And "the fragile marsh ecosystems" are being restored "so that Marsh Arabs can return to their traditional ways."

The troops. A Marine intelligence officer writes: "This is my third deployment with the 1st Marine Division to the Middle East. This is the third time I've heard the quavering cries of the talking heads predicting failure and calling for withdrawal. This is the third time I find myself shaking my head in disbelief. . . . Nothing any talking head will say can deter me or my fellow Marines from caring about the people of Iraq." Coalition troops are working to rebuild utilities in a Shiite slum of Baghdad and "played a major role in establishing the first Baghdad Police Academy." Australian troops are " 'adopting' the children of the local kindergarten."

Security. Fallujah is still quiet, and Muqtada al-Sadr is losing ground. The Army is buying guns from Iraqis. "By Tuesday night hundreds of Iraqis had been paid $761,357 for 56,536 items, from bullets to assault rifles to mortars and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, according to the military." And a new Iraqi militia called Black Flag is working with the coalition. It claims 5,000 Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish members.

Name:	Democrats in Free Fall
To:	ET

In response to:
This forum is not the place for you. The Freak Republic is perfect. There you can begin every post with the assumption that everyone is going to agree with you. I know you won't go there, of course, because you get such please out of insulting us.

Message:
Madam you have stated repeatedly that you are disillusioned with the Democratic Party and that you are NOT affiliated with it...were you dissembling?

Name:	ET
To:	magpie
Re:	Why can't you be like Chica?

Message:
Why can't you be like Chica?

When I see her name I look forward to reading what she says. She states her case with facts and intellectual consideration. Whether I agree or not it doesn't matter. Chica is the ideal conservative.

Name:

Julie "I feel wonderful tonight." Caesar

Message:
"All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae inhabit, the Aquitani another, the third, those who in their own language are called Celts, and in ours, Gauls. All these differ from each other in language, customs and laws. The river Garonne separates the Gauls from the Aquitani; the Marne and the Seine separate them from the Belgae...".

Name:	Patriot
To:	Individual

In response to:
What a simpleton. Even if Bush won all of the wars above, the Shiite religious flakes will eventually take over and form an Iranian-style "democracy." Let's see Bush win that war. Bush and his hen=ch=m=en should have known that the best deal they could get in Iraq would be an Iranian-style "democracy." The question for Americans is: Was getting an Iranian-style "democracy" in Iraq worth our losses? What did Americans gain by the war in Iraq?

Message:
You seem awfully sure that we will have an Iranian Theocracy. I think these kind of things won't be known for years, possibly decades. I believe the whole war and its impacts won't be known for years. Dems say we stirred up a hornets nest of terrorists, this may be true but I know the last time I found a hornets nest in an area which a child could get hurt, I destroyed it. The hornets nest was stirred but soon it was gone. Things like hornets nests and Iranian Theocracies can not be known until we see the result many years down the road. If Iraq turns into a great democratic society in the middle east it will be a great victory in the middle east, if it turns into a dictatorship or a Theocracy it will be a great victory for terrorists. But we won't know which occurs for quite awhile. On the other hand we had Hussien which was a known factor and to reach for a goal is what liberals have advocated for years. I think no matter which occurs it was worth the effort to drive a stake in the heart of terror and actually see if the good people in the middle east could overcome the militants. After all I have faith in the good people in Iraq that want a society which respects them and works in thier best interests, they have never had one. Nor have any of the middle east countries. Give it a chance, trust human nature and pray to god they make it.

Name:	"IN THE BEGINNING"
To:	the Journey of a Lifetime (to Iraq)
Re:	by Bruce Feiler

In response to:
When the fall of Saddam Hussein flung open the doors to the past, I knew I must go - to where it all began, at the crossroads of the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers, in whose lushness once stood the Garden of Eden.

Message:
The US led effort to rebuild Iraq is taking place not merely on the landscape of the modern Middle East, but also on the most storied, most volatile & most important canvas in the history of mankind. This land between the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers (the cradle of civilization) was once known as Mesopotamia, & gave birth to the earliest empires in history, from Sumer to Babylon. The Garden of Eden was located here, the Tower of Babel was here, the first alphabet was scripted here, & some of the greatest stories ever told were first uttered here, from the saga of Abraham to the epic of Gilgamesh.

I set out with photographer Gwen Cates, starting in Kuwait. We took a C-130 to Baghdad, making a corkscrew landing to avoid shoulder-launched missiles. The road south from Baghdad is cluttered with bombed out bridges, scorched tanks, looted oil tankers. Every few feet is a fruit stand.

Soon the scenery changes. Women in black veils swarm the roadside, giant portraits of Shia ayatollahs arise. And water appears everywhere, rivers, puddles, canals. We have reached the womb of the world. Around 10,000 years ago, the earliest civilizations tamed these rivers and then invented agriculture. For millennia, the rivers were filtered by an intricate web of marshes. Saddam drained these marshes so his enemies could not hide there. Today it is a feeding ground of poverty & crime. We could only travel between 8 AM and Noon, darkness is ruled by highwaymen and pirates.

The Bible suggests that the Garden of Eden was located at the convergence of 4 rivers: Tigris, Euphrates, & 2 more were unknown to the author. We turned north from Basra, into an ethereal landscape filled with date palms, water buffalo, straw huts. The Tigris & Euphrates merge today in the abject town of Qurnah. But this is a recent event due to the 1954 flood. On the banks is a tiny park about the size of a basketball court, with a shrine to Abraham, a few trees, lots of concrete, & no grass. Joni Mitchells song was right, they paved Paradise.

A swarm of children engulfed us, climbed the trees, and filled the air with hope. But soon a huddle of men appeared brandishing guns. Our guide insisted we must go. Suddenly we were in the "real world of peril". Not Eden.

A few hours west from Qurnah is Nasiriyah, a dusty city with a narrow road that leads to the ruins of ancient UR, the birthplace of recorded thought. The site contains an enormous ziggurat, a stepped pyramid, to reach to the sky. It is now only 60-75 feet tall, built by the Sumerians in 2013 BC, out of clay & baked bricks. For the moon god.

Arriving at the base of the ziggurat, I threw off my armor and climbed the 122 steps to the summit. Some US soldiers had gathered, to say farewell after their year at an adjacent base. Capt Scott Barnett said there were a lot of times, during heat & sandstorms, that life here got to be very demoralizing. But to get up at sunrise and see this monument to the past, right outside the back of your tent, it made us realize we should get with the chaplain & do a little devotional. Some guys had a baptism here, while a soldier played "Amazing Grace" on a saxophone.

The ruins of UR, span 30 acres, full of royal palaces, shops, & tombs. Woolley excavated Ur in the 1920's & it has been partially restored. The caretaker pointed to where a 4,000 year old golden harp had been taken from the ground.

I asked this weathered old man, "Of all the people who ever lived in Ur, who would you most want to meet?" He said "the person who invented writing" (referring to engraved cuneiform images scratched into clay tablets). "Writing is the basis of all things: education, industry, trade."

"You served the whole world. Anytime anyone anywhere sits down to write a letter, they should thank you. For they are a child, a descendant of ancient Iraq."

Several hours North, we came to the crown jewel of Iraq sites, Babylon, home to the world's first complete legal text, the Code of Hammurabi, & to one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The Israelis were exiled here by Nebuchadnezzr in 586 BC.

Modern day Babylon is located inside a coalition base, with satellite trucks, mess halls & abuzz with troops. We noted that the Tower of Babel was built here, which ended up with God destroying it, & creating many languages. A Major from Hungary, standing nearby, observed that all the soldiers who are here now, all speak in English.

Babylon has been restored as a sort of Six Flags over Hammurabi, with canals, picnic grounds, gift shops selling plastic trinkets. And Saddam's huge palace looms above it.

I walked through the Ishtar Gate, with John Russell, an archaeologist from Boston, -- he came at his own peril to help mitigate the devastation to Iraq's 10,000 ancient sites. He said, "Major sites still look like Swiss cheese, with looters digging everywhere, grabbing objects randomly, --- some sites that could have re-written our history books countless times over, -- are just gone."

He added, "We call this the cradle of civilization, and if there is any evidence of that, we will Find it Here. But IF we destroy that, -- what does that make us?"

"One of the most passages of the Bible is: "By the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept". His voice cracked as he said, "You can't fly over hundreds of acres of our PAST and see that it is destroyed, and not weep."

BAGHDAD, is alive with commerce and trying to make a fresh start. Bombed out govt bldgs share streets with shops selling satellite dishes and air conditioners. The pedestal that held Saddam's statue, now has a woman holding a moon.

THE IRAQI NATIONAL MUSEUM -- Last April, looters rampaged the central depository of Mesopotamian Art, with 14,000 objects stolen, and hundreds broken or destroyed. It was spoken well by Donny George, museum director, when he said, "This is not only the heritage of Iraquis, it is the heritage of all humankind."

Then we went North, thru the Sunni Triangle, to the mountainous region where sheep wander grassy slopes & ravens pluck at vegetable fields. Here are concentrated many ancient sites: Hatra, Nimrod, Nineveh. We felt right at home here, since we had read about these places in 2nd grade & in Sunday School. It felt so familiar, like we had found our identity, & had touched the bedrock of history.

What thoughts did I come away with? (a) Political power is fleeting, from Nebuchadnezzar to Saddam. Yet each empire leaves echoes behind, embedded into the onrush of history.

(b) No civilization has the exclusive claim to truth. History is written by winners and losers. But the largest claims on Memory, like Saddam's statue, can be toppled over night, & the names on the pyramids wash away with time.

The one icon image is the ziggurat, the Tower of Babel, that was built to reach God. Some think of it as warning that God does not want humans to cooperate & so he divided them into separate nations. But wandering thru these ruins, I suddenly saw it as a Plea and a Blessing: God wants there to be many peoples in the world, living alongside one another, dignified & respected for their differences, and striving upward, ever upward, toward a future of Peace.

Name:	ET
To:	Democrats not in Free Fall

In response to:
Madam you have stated repeatedly that you are disillusioned with the Democratic Party and that you are NOT affiliated with it...were you dissembling?

Message:
I just completed a whole long paragraph that rebuts what you just wrote. You never read it.

Yes, after I came back from the peace rally, shortly before the war, I was very disillusioned. When I constantly hear anti-semetic remarks on the left I am very disillusioned, and also very disturbed. When I hear the anti-American remarks from my left wing friends I am very disillusioned.

But when I hear and read what a mess the Bush Administration has created in Iraq I am both angry and disillusioned. I supported the war in Iraq. I supported Bush in the War on Terror. I even fought against my left-wing friends in defense of Bush in Iraq. But the Bush Administration has made one mistake after the other, bumbling and bungling all the way. I could eventually forgive that, but I cannot forgive the Bush Administration for losing our moral authority in the world. When you lose your moral authority you lose everything.

DOUBLE STANDARD: The Bush Administration fought dragons and slipped into dragon-mode themselves. The Bush Administration thought they could be "moral liberators" on the surface while secretly behaving like immoral dragons in the dungeons of Abu Ghraib.

The Bush Administration sold itself as the religious, God-fearing group that held prayer meetings every morning to do God's will. This is the group that went into the White House to clean it up after the Clintons? Bush was going to put morality back into the White House??? What hypocrites!

There are still some right-wingers on this forum that think Clinton's blowjob was worse that anything that occurred in Abu Ghraib. They actually believe the Bush Administration is more moral and the Clinton Administration was not. If you guys on the right think the Abu Ghraib sexual abuses are more moral than a consensual blowjob and lying about it you are crazy.

Yes, I'm very disallusioned with the right because they are carrying the water for the sexual abuses in Abu Ghraib. They are on this forum every day still trying to convince us that the Clinton Administration was immoral and Bush Administration is moral.

What the Bush Administration allowed in Abu Ghraib is the most immoral and hypoctical thing that has ever been done by an American, God-fearing, Christian, religious administration.

And please don't tell me it was just a few low-level folks. You haven't done your homework. The Bush Administration admits it contracted this work out to private companies to circumvent the Geneva Convention. Yeah! That's like the husband who pays a hit man to kill his wife. "I'm innocent. I didn't kill her."

And the conservatives come on to this forum and say: "The Bush Administration is innocent. They didn't do anything." Yeah! Right!

Name:	Block Grand
To:	Catty Pissants
Re:	I'm al Gore. I was in Viet Nam longer than what's his name, I think...

In response to:
Al Gore Sucks Hugely.

Message:
ET, who occasionally tries to manage the debate in a civilized manner, while savage liars and delusional lunatics like Merci Moi and "Individual" attack the truth all day long, based on ignorance & a blind faith in leaders with no brains, no ability, & no talent for the job they hold, many of whom are traitors and criminals besides...

Name:

Inquiring minds want to knoiw

In response to:
And please don't tell me it was just a few low-level folks. You haven't done your homework. The Bush Administration admits it contracted this work out to private companies to circumvent the Geneva Convention.

Message:
And just where it exactly did the "quote" Bush administration admit this?

Name:

>+<

Message:
"If you fight dragons one must remember they find you quite delicious and filled with a gooey centre..."

Name:	Humvee Snakepit
To:	Molly Coddles

In response to:
Nice people acting in righteous wrath, so sayeth Gore!

Message:
Under President Gore, Terrorists will seek United Nations authorization prior to blasting Jewish civilians all over the streets of Tel Aviv.

Name:	MK
To:	LOF
Re:	5 sticks up your rear

In response to:
4 ever 4 ever 4ever I will open every forum and link it baby................every left wing nazi gay homo kill mommy children devil bill car paint sky toaster oven kill children for et --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name:	ET
To:	Humvee Snakepit

In response to:
Under President Gore, Terrorists will seek United Nations authorization prior to blasting Jewish civilians all over the streets of Tel Aviv.

Message:
Now you know why I am so upset with Bush. It didn't have to be this way. Liberators must take the high road. They don't have a choice.

Name:	ET
To:	Bruce Feiler

In response to:
The one icon image is the ziggurat, the Tower of Babel, that was built to reach God. Some think of it as warning that God does not want humans to cooperate & so he divided them into separate nations. But wandering thru these ruins, I suddenly saw it as a Plea and a Blessing: God wants there to be many peoples in the world, living alongside one another, dignified & respected for their differences, and striving upward, ever upward, toward a future of Peace.

Message:
I have that dream too. A miracle could still make it come true. That's what it would take, at this stage, a miracle. But miracles do happen.

Name:	Humvee Snakepit
To:	ET
Re:	Krugman sucks. Gore is a traitor. Kerry is a worthless fop.

In response to:
Now you know why I am so upset with Bush. It didn't have to be this way. Liberators must take the high road. They don't have a choice.

Message:
BULLSH!T! IT WAS "THIS WAY" BEFORE GEORGE BUSH WAS BORN. WE ARE TAKING THE HIGH ROAD. YOU ARE TOO DAMNED BLIND AND GULLIBLE TO REALIZE IT.

Name:	ET
To:	Dooly

In response to:
You ran them off. You are left with the hacks like Hacker LOF, Delusional MOO, and that pukebag compulsive liar "Individual".

Message:
What would it take to make you leave this board forever? A miracle? Could you not just leave on your own accord and go somewhere else where you can hate the left? Is this the only site on the left where you can dump your hatred?

Name:	ET
To:	Humvee Snakepit

In response to:
BULLSH!T! IT WAS "THIS WAY" BEFORE GEORGE BUSH WAS BORN. WE ARE TAKING THE HIGH ROAD. YOU ARE TOO DAMNED BLIND AND GULLIBLE TO REALIZE IT.

Message:
Yes, of course Bush is taking the high road. How stupid of me to think that the abuses at Abu Ghraib were immoral. How foolish of me to believe that lying about the reasons for going to war is the not the highest of moral values.

I'm obviously behind the times regarding the definition of "high road". I thought high road had something to do with moral values.

Name:	Yeah He Chopped Off Hands
Re:	But OUR GUYS MADE 'EM WEAR LINGERIE....THE HORROR!!!

Message:
Yeah I knew my post about SADDAM's ATROCITIES and the press's bias would get deleted...Was it it too gruesome?

Name:

...

In response to:
How foolish of me to believe that lying about the reasons for going to war is the not the highest of moral values.

Name:	Humvee Snakepit
To:	ET

In response to:
Yes, of course Bush is taking the high road. How stupid of me to think that the abuses at Abu Ghraib were immoral. How foolish of me to believe that lying about the reasons for going to war is the not the highest of moral values.

Name:	Humvee Snakepit
To:	ET
Re:	Tirelessly Tooting McAuliffe & Co.s' Horn

In response to:
Obviously my version of moral values needs revision.

Message:
Your slave-ish devotion to anti-administration propaganda put forth by recklessly self-serving pissants needs revision.

Name:	Democrats in Free Fall
Re:	Kerry's drippy event: No umbrellas allowed

Message:
By DAVID AMMONS

A John Kerry rally Wednesday on a downtown pier was one wet affair when security guards made people leave their umbrellas in a heap outside the security checkpoint.

The rain ranged from drizzle to downpour as about 2,000 people huddled to await the Democratic presidential candidate.

To make matters worse, the rally started nearly an hour late, apparently because hundreds of people still were queued up outside the checkpoints.

Some grumbled. Others cheerfully created ponchos out of garbage bags, and others relied on the ubiquitous Seattle parkas. Kerry himself wore a windbreaker and chinos, and nary an umbrella appeared onstage for him or other dignitaries.

"It's the Secret Service's call for all rallies - no signs on sticks and no umbrellas," said Democratic spokeswoman Kirstin Brost.

The emcee, U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash, Kerry's state chairman, thanked the drenched crowd, saying they had passed a rite of passage.(ie too stupid too get out of the rain)

"It's a test," he said. "If you can do two hours in the rain, we know you'll be dedicated to work for John Kerry. You all passed with flying colors."

Kerry commented on the "bedraggled" crowd, and said with a chuckle, "I'm worried about the hospitals tomorrow."

Name:	Loofa Madness
To:	ET

Message:
The Japanese Freedom fighters who were burned to death in the island caves by President Roosevelt were completely contained! ROOSEVELT WAS A WAR CRIMINAL!!!

Name:	Mercy Moi
To:	ET

In response to:
What if we REALLY raised the bar? People would be expected to discuss things as IF they lived in Olde England, or in the Colonial Period, using that language of the day.

Prayest thou to recommend me to thy master, for pursuit of his divine mercy, in this instance. My own inferior speech dost not giveth eloquence to my testimony, enough to please his lordship with my endeavors. Sufficeth to say, we are prone to dueling with pitchforks, without intervention by his Majesty, and even this cannot stem the tide of wrath which devoureth whole cities. My entreaty wasteth not on self pity, but begs forth the issue of township security, which lasteth but a space of a few minutes, before falling into defiling names, livid detestations, & foul vulgarity.

Begging your permission, Governor, we ask only that you give your devout attention to this matter we present here today. It is unwise to discuss details, given the brevity of time, but human discourse hath fallen to new levels of penetrating odious depravity. Political Parties have been accustomed to waving the Red Flag to the bull, so to speak at every opportunity. Such animosity ariseth, that tends to open hostility and threats of violence, upon the streets of this great city of Philadelphia. We do not condone this at any event, but are helpless in the face of hordes of evil mobs, bent on destruction of our civil tranquility. It is therefore necesssary for me to plead for your intervention to restrain these rebellious few, to acquire safety for the rest of our law abiding citizens, hereunto signed on this petition, year of our lord, May 27, 2004, in the USA.

Name:	William Watterus
To:	MOO
Re:	Who'll go with old Ben Milam? Who'll go with Ben Milam to the Alamo?

In response to:
Your best effort yet

Message:
Begging your permission, Mr. President, we ask only that you give your devout attention to this most urgent matter we present today. It is unwise to discuss details, given the brevity of time, details being altogether lacking regardless, and recognizing, as we must, the vagaries and uncertainties of war. We do not condone this murderous mayhem thrust upon us at any event, but are individually near-helpless in the face of hordes of evil mobs, bent on destruction of our nation's and our world's already sore-pressed and irregular civil tranquility. Our situation is become intolerable, and demands remedy. It is therefore necesssary for me to plead for your intervention to restrain or dispatch these rebellious few, even with women's undergarments, if need be, to acquire safety and tranquility for the rest of our law-abiding citizens of this, our fair nation and, indeed, the world. Hereunto signed on this petition, year of our Lord, May 27, 2004, in the Republic of the United States of America

Name:	Bungles The Clown
Re:	Bombs Away Billy

In response to:
Bumbling About Kosovo while the Inhabitants Freeze And Starve

Name:	Macquette
To:	Krugpotty
Re:	High taxes and inequality before the Law. Cool!

In response to:
enabling the public to make a contrib

Name:	Global Community
To:	Pepe'