The accusation, fact-checking, counter-accusation cycle is getting tiring - ALREADY! Obama has articulated policy differences vs. McCain, but now he needs to inspire us with some policy initiatives of his own. Tell us what he is GOING TO BE ABLE TO DO with the hundreds of billions of dollars which will no longer be going to fund the preposterous Iraq war and tax cuts for the rich. What about a "Manhattan Project" for alternative energy and US energy security? What about restoring education and research funding and health care and the vitality of the US economy? To the extent that he lets the Republicans frame the debate, he looks defensive and "change" will be limited. I want to see a bold new direction for policy and politics in this country - I had hoped Obama could deliver. I remain optimistic, but am not yet convinced that he will.

These tactics (and so many others) by the fear-mongering, ultra-paranoid Bush administration have thoroughly eroded the moral authority of the US to the point that it is hard to listen to any adminstration official lecture China - or even Myanmar - on the value and importance of human rights. I hope that some day they are tried as war criminals. International travel has become a long process of apology for the brash incompetence of our subprime President and his amateur agents of state who are in the process of destroying international goodwill, the environment, the global economy, and the American standard of living - all for the sake of continuing to overhype the war on terror so that they can raid the treasury and erode our ability to stop them. What a fine legacy you leave, George W. Bush: torture, debt, divisive politics, and an ineffectual government incapable of fixing the problems or helping its citizens. W: Worst President Ever!

YEAH - I fly A LOT. And airport security annoys the hell out of me too. I mind my business and do as I am told and think calming thoughts so that I don't go crazy with the inanity of it all. But what bothers me most is that all of this costs a lot of money. And when you add airport security to building security to homeland security to national security, we are spending vast amounts of money for completely non-productive work (dare I mention Iraq?). This is a gigantic waste and a recipe for deficits, falling standards of living, and waning national influence. Maybe this is what the perpetrators of 9/11 had in mind all along?