***...you were flat out wrong about Bush, the war, etc.... ***

Sorry I'm late in responding. I just had a laminectomy and I'm kinda laid up and a bit drugged up; flexerill, vicodin, oxycodone.     X^))

I'll make this quick; I voted for Bush because, each time he was the lesser of two evils. (Gore? KERRY??? c'mon...) I supported the war in Iraq because EVERYONE said Saddam had WMD's; Russia, England, Clinton, Kerry. Ask a Kurd. He had 'em. Now, what happened to them between dropping them on the Kurds and before we went into Iraq; who knows.  He had them and he has used them before. That was good enough for me. The risk was too great NOT to do anything and hope for the best. His biggest mistake in Iraq was not going in stronger. He thought once Saddam was gone Iraqi's would be sooo thankful that they'd fall at our feet and start to play nice.  Once Iraq was behaving then Iran would have to lessen it's rhetoric because we would have a presence on both sides of them in Iraq and Afghanistan. And with Iran controlled, they might've stopped funding Hezbolla. And without Iranian funds and arms, maybe they'd stop firing rockets into the homes of Israeli civilians. What a nice plane, eh? But a funny thing happened on the way to war; our "friends" the French, the Germans and the Russians (hell, the UN!) were all in Saddams back pocket with the Oil for Food program. They all thought removing Saddam was a baaaad idea. (you are right; this mess IS all due to oil afterall). So we went in with a few other countries not corrupted by Saddam and we went in half assed without an exit strategy. Hope is not a strategy.

I get a kick out of some postes here who state, "We all knew this was going to happen." Bullshit. Give me a link that shows me where ANYONE forsaw the shit we're dealing with now. We were all making educated guesses based on the information we had at the time. Our individual ideologies also played a large role in our guesses.

Personally, I hope this mess gets resolved soon. Pulling everyone out, IMHO, will result in a far worse mess. I'd like to hear why some of you think this is such a great idea. Don't forget to include Iran's reaction to our "re-deployment".

I don't like the way he has dealt with our boarders, I don't like the way he's throwing our money around. I also don't think this guy or his administration are "criminals". I think this SOB is the unluckiest president in the history of the United States. Look at what has happened on his watch; he inherited a bloated economy from Clinton which led to a recession, 9/11, Katrina, millions of illegal immigrants flooding our boarders and overwhelming our cities. He and his party are no more corrupt than any other. This whole "Culture of Corruption" crap leveled at the GOP is the ultimate in hypocracy. The Dem's are the shining examples of honesty and purity?? Puh-leeze.

Give me a capable democratic candidate and I'll vote for him. Show me a republican who dishonors his office and I'll be the first to scream for his head. This is the difference between the conservatives here (me, Pat, Marc, Kevin G) and the liberals; we're more consistant. We recognize bad behavior on BOTH sides. We do NOT make excuses or alibis for our fellow conservatives just because they're on our team. Can you imagine the screaming here if Sandy Burgler was in the Bush adinistration?? But, since he's one of yours what do we hear? Nothing.

Sorry this took so long and sorry for the typos. Time for a pill and a nap. Wake me when this is over.