Is it possible for George Bush to deliver a speech before anything but a uniformed audience? If he's not giving a speech before a military audience its because he's giving a speech before a law enforcement audience. Of course its a rediculous and shallow ploy that has become a joke, but at some point the American public should start feeling queasy with a president who only address them with a show of military behind him. It doesn''t make him look strong. It makes him look like a craven, threatening bully. Its our country, too.

Thelma Huston, Don't Leave Me This Way

Diana Ross, The Boss

David Bowie, Young Americans

Dead or Alive, Brand New Lover

New Order, True Faith, Bizarre Love Triangle

Iraq is often being equated with Viet Nam. There is a profound difference, however. In Viet Nam we intruded upon an existing situation. In Iraq we created the situation. Any rational person realizes this misadventure has been a complete (and avoidable) disaster from concept through execution, but it is a disaster of our own making. Colin Powell famously warnned before the war, "If you break it, you fix it." Well we certainly broke it. What exactly "fix" means is the big question.

George Bush's "stay the course" and "total victory" lunacy is clearly not the answer. The Democrats should not be falling into the trap of trying to play Mr. Bush's game. What the Democrats need to do is clearly present to the American people what is a realistic expectation for the "new" Iraq, what we can do to enable the Iraqis to pick up the pieces and forge their own history. Once they can deliver that realistic picture (and not Mr. Bush's "model democracy" fairytale) then a real plan can be set for our exit from that country. As long as the Democrats continue to box themselves into George Bush's agenda then we will have no real constructive, alternate discussion on a reasonable exit from this shamefull episode in our history.

Why doesn't Ms. Newman just turn Limbaugh's time slot over to someone who is "informed"?

I find it quite funny that supporters of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" are rubbing their hands together waiting for the big showdown between this film and a much smaller film opening on a handfull of screens ("Brokeback Mountain"). The real showdown comes when "King Kong" anihilates "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe."

I saw Capote several weeks ago and loved seeing a deep, intelligent film with NO computer generated effects, NO booming sound effects, NO annoying intrusive music and NOT a slave to focus groups. I'll probably see "Brokeback Mountain." I'll definitely take a pass on "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe."

The vile, scatalogical Mancow has become a mouthpiece of the Republican shill machine...the very same Republican party of morality, family values and all that is good and Christian.

"John Guillermin's wonderful, sorely underappreciated 1976 remake"

I'm often mystified by Stephanie Zacharck's reviews. Does she go out of her way to lavish praise on the banal and vilify the heartfelt? But "John Guillermin's wonderful, sorely underappreciated 1976 remake" is beyond the pale. Next she'll be writing of the "sorely underappreciated" Tintorerra. Let's face it, no one is going to see this thing for a romance between a dumb blonde and ape. People will go for the dinosaur fights, Skull Island, trashed elevated trains and the big fall. But Ms. Zacharek, once again, hits the bulls eye by claiming the Skull Island scenes weigh the movie down. Take out those scenes and this film would have taken a bigger fall than...well you know who.

Let's not forget two things:

A. the Producers has gotten some very bad reviews

B. Nathan Lane has made a career out of being laughed at by straight people.

The truth is that Mr. Santorum would walk down the aisle with Elton John if he could pimp a few votes out of it. That is the most frightening part about the movers and shakers of the Christian right whether its George Bush, Rick Santorum, Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed, etc. They fuel the ignorance of the masses to their own end.

It reminds me of the famous story about Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was walking into church one Sunday morning when a passerby called out, "Hey Mr. J. there you are walking into church with a bible in your hand, and you don't believe a word of it!"

"The Show Buiseness. It ain't all that different from real life." Buffalo Bill Cody

That was one of the worst top lists imaginable.

And The Grizzly Man was a wonderful film.

So Jack Abramoff was known as a "religious man." When are people going to recognize these phonies for what they are. George W. Bush deeply religious? Like many ex-acoholics he traded a scotch on the rocks for Jesus on the rocks. Any faith he has is completely self centered and self absorbed. His actions, demeaner and policies do not point to a deeply religious man. Bush, Cheney, Abramoff, Ralph Reed the whole bunch of them have masterfully manipulated the great mass of the ignorant Christian right, nothing more.

Jack Abramoff was not a religious man. He was a venal crook. He is not guilty of a lapse in judgement, he is guilty of a long criminal career.

"Words will not be able to even express my sorrow," Abramoff muttered. "All my remaining days I will feel tremendous sadness and regret." Sorry he got caught. May he rot in prison...and I hope he drags the rest down with him.

Here's an idea. Instead of bickering over what this or that passage in the Bible means to who, why don't we just throw that Bronze Age bestseller in the fiction section where it belongs.

God, Jesus, Allah, Buddah...whoever won't be throwing Abramoff, Delay, Reed and Lapin's, etc. asses in prison. It will be a federal judge.