Hey, it's more plausible than the crap coming out of Washington these days. Interesting how darn near everyone below the level of Rumsfeld is coming out and saying the Administration made mistakes in Iraq. But not Dubya, not Cheney. They may preach personal responsibility but they don't walk the walk. That's the sign of BS leadership.

After the debate which even many Republicans say Kerry won, some lauded Bush on his long range plan to bring peace to the Middle East and chided Kerry for focussing on the near term and not the long term. That may be - Bush may have a valid long term plan for the Middle East but it doesn't mean that (1) he can carry it out; (2) Kerry can't carry it out. One would hope that our leaders would recognize worthy plans outside of whom came up with them. The other problem with Bush's long term vision with the Middle East is that it doesn't jibe with his religious views, which don't want peace in the Middle East (*cough* Armageddon *cough*). More importantly we can't bring peace to the Middle East alone. The overwhelming majority of people there have to want it, otherwise all we're doing is knocking over Governments and occupying lands, something Bush has proven very poorly at doing.

Likely it's the women of the Middle East who will bring about change. When they flex their political muscles, things should change for the better. "Should" but likely "won't" for a long time. They'll have to change the fundamentals of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism to take back their rights and THAT won't go over too well.

Anywho. Should be an interesting debate tonight between Dick Cheney and John Edwards. Unlike Bush, Cheney can actually talk without cue cards. Should be a good, ol' fashioned, American, blood bath.

Impropriety Investigations
Anyone have any statistics on the number of Republicans vs Democrats currently being investigated for impropriety or somesuch. It certainly seems that more Republicans are being investigated, rebuked, or chastised but maybe it's that goshdarn Liberal media...

Four More Years
Judith Hayes AKA The Happy Heretic notes that if Bush wins the election he can pretty much do whatever the hell he wants because he won't have to worry about campaigning for 2008. That is, he can be even less accountable for his actions, an even bigger loose cannon. Scary thought.

Bush must think he's living in a biblical past where exploits travel slowly by word of mouth or via caravans, where heroes and leaders stand tall against the overwhelming enemy, where communication can be easily sanitized. But this isn't 2000 years ago. This is the age of information where despite Bush's best attempt to stifle information and dupe the masses, communication of peoples around the world is near instantaneous.

Maybe Bush needs to bring out that bottle he has hidden away. He's not fooling anyone. At the first debate he repeatedly stressed the difficulty of being President. If it's that difficult that he can't do it or isn't interested in doing it then quit. Spare us the martyr act. I read elsewhere that you didn't want to run for President but were talked into it. What happened to stadning tall and firm? What kind of mixed message is that, where you can be easily manipulated into doing something you didn't? Hey, if you don't want to be President, bow out.

But if Bush does win flash-forward to 2008. You can imagine the campaign slogan for Jeb Bush:

Jeb - Smarter, Sober - the better Bush for a better America