Mr. Schneier's reading between the lines rings true. It makes sense that Echelon-style info-slurping is what the adminstration is trying to cover up. Maybe the story will spark public discussion, and embarass those in power into putting an end to it. For once, let's hold this President accountable for breaking criminal laws.

The present administration seems to make decisions based, not on the effectiveness of a strategy, but on maximizing of political power.

For example, they claim to need information extracted using unsavory methods, but meanwhile ignore advice given by knowledgeable military experts, which would probably be (and have been) of greater benefit. One wonders how many lives could have been saved in Iraq had the administration listened to intelligent analysis.

Ultimately, the quest of power for its own sake has got to be like quenching one's thirst with salt water.

Why does the author's name sound so familiar? I think I heard it once between blipverts.

Republicans once promised that if obscenly enormous gobs of wealth were accrued into the hands of the lucky few, it would trickle-down in a just fashion to the rest of us.

What happened instead, is that the dough has gone into polluting information channels with falsehoods that promote the right-wing agenda, basically: further aggregation of wealth and power into the hands of the greedy few.

The means have become more subtle, the deception more effective, and the opiated masses have been hypnotized into slitting their own throats.

Mr. Gore is quite correct that our elected officials need to do more to protect the principles of fairness and justice. But democracy cannot function unless the voters demand change from their representatives. And for that to happen, there needs to be a massive increase in the vision required to see through the lies. (thank God for Salon.com!)

So there's the real test -- will "we the people" now asleep at the wheel (half of us, anyway) wake up in time to avoid the terrible impact ahead?

Very clear and informative.

Unfortunately, nobody in the white house will pay any mind to what he's saying; unless he emails it to Pakistan.

Watch for falling anvils!

Amen brother. Great article!

Another example of why I remain a proud subscriber.

Those in high places who were responsible for this need to be held accountable.

Bush was too stupid to know what was going on, but he ought to be impeached for (among countless other violations)

• allowing this to happen on his watch
• failing to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Cheney definitely needs to be impeached, and Gonzales ought to be sent to live in the prison he designed.

I liked the article, but I didn't find anything quite 'crashing in.'

The 'crashing-in' I'd like to see is for mainstream Christians to start coming out more publically with statements of how ridiculously the zealots twist Biblical interpretation to justify their callous narrow-minded agenda.

The whole LaHaye/rapture idiocy is a perfect example.

Besides, you're really negelecting a key prophetic element: what about Cthulhu!?!

I really enjoyed reading the story. The styling, and skillful handling of the narrative were both effective at making me feel the tragedy.

Valid journalism? A good question. While some of the skepticism raised by fellow letter writers is worth considering, I think it's good to have a piece like this amid the "impartial" journalistic pieces. A piece that's openly biased in order to convey the power of emotion, to break through the infuriating apathy of the typical American.

And yes, I think it's entirely valid to trace the problem back to the historical fact that whites enslaved blacks long ago. Just try to subtract that historical event, along with all of the progressive ramifications (starting with: OK dude, you're in North America now! Not to mention the tragic disruption of culture and politics on the continent of Africa), and you'll see how intimately entwined with the current state of racist poverty and its associated trappings, is the ugly history of American race relations.

Republican suck-ups love to whine about "Bush haters" and thus complain about those who call the president stupid.

Well, sorry. (as if Republican strategists’ typically dishonest and sleazy smear campaigns never contained anything hateful)

But this really tops the list for personal stupidity. I mean, it's one thing to forget what one had for lunch yesterday; but to sit there and blame Saddam for not allowing inspectors when he himself was the one who withdrew them!

Whether he's lying or not, it's an incredibly stupid thing to say. To forget what happened would be pretty idiotic, but only a complete cretin would believe that nobody else notices the lie.

Guess those years of cocaine abuse left a few holes in those synapses. Hard to drink from the fount of wisdom when one's cup is a sieve.