I thought I'd point out that Americans are the highest per-capita givers to charity in the world, and the Red States and lower middle class are by far the highest givers in the country.-- gene

Not that I give a rat's ass about somebody who comes in here as a sniper, probably the same guy as "Joe" and struggles to give birth to a stillborn idea, but just for the record, ASSHOLE:

World Bank's World Development Report of 1995, and presented the following table detailing the estimated official development assistance from industrialized countries as percentages of their GNP (From first, to last place):

Denmark

Norway

Sweden

Netherlands

France

Finland

Canada

Belgium

Germany

Australia

Switzerland

U.K.

Italy

Austria

Japan

New Zealand

Ireland

and finally, in 18th place the late, great, United States

of greedy consumption.

You can't read, you can't write, you're too lazy to even use Spell Check, and you write letters in support of yourself under different screen names. You pathetic troll. I think it's time for Salon editors to pull your ticket.

Actually, the concept of paying a monitary sum in retribution for a killing or maiming is as old as the Koran and the Bible. But a lousy ten large? That's adding insult to injury.

Wasn't Saddam paying the families of Palistinian suicide bombers $25,000? Uncle Sam is pretty cheap compared to that. But I guess we're making dead Iraqi civilians at such a clip we're going to have to borrow another $100 BILLION from the Chinese Communists again pretty soon.

But isn't a lump sum payoff a part of American culture also? Insurance companies put a discrete value on an eye, or a foot, or a leg. Show me one disabled American who ever tore up a check from an insurance company for the loss of an arm.

But does Blood Money in any culture buy off the eternal hatred of the victim for the person(s) responsible for ruining their lives? Uh uh. The hatred is still there along with smoldering thoughts of revenge.

Only in the Middle East, revenge never smolders, it's a raging fire. No matter how much Blood Money, a person is bound by honor and tradition to exact a punishment on the perpetrator in equal or greater measure.

This is what the dumb bastards in Washington don't understand about the Middle East. Every day we are in Iraq, we cause death -- some of it on purpose, some of it accidental. But there is no distinction in the minds of the victims' relatives. Blood revenge is the only cure for the shame and humiliation brought upon their families.

Bush says they hate us for our freedom. But it's pretty simple really: They hate us because we are killing them.

Gore at this point can whip the bejesus out of any Republican in 2008. If he won't run, we're going to see another eight years of borrowing from the Chinese Communists, more endless war on terror, more crazy religious nut jobs deciding every aspect of your private lives, more drift-net fishing by the NSA on every word you speak or write, more cutting of benefits for war veterans, more nightmare energy policy decided by a cabal of Big Oil executives, and the total evaporation of the American Middle Class.

Oh, and yeah, the global warming thing too.

Hillary? Hillary is a weather vane. She's shrill, she's ice cold, and she's Kryptonite for the Democratic Party. She's the Right Wing's ace in the hole. Run her in 2008 and you are going to make Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter rich beyond their wildest dreams.

And she'll get beaten like a yard sale rug.

Why? Because the vast majority of men in this country would rather have another dumb ass white male Republican in the White House than a smart ass white woman Democrat. Add to that the fact that women in this country find Hillary repulsive and that's enough negative right there to make the Democratic Party a dead duck in '08.

So stop sniveling about idealism and all this symbolic "First Woman President" crap and unite behind someone who can actually win and stop this Republican dynasty before it permanently ruins this country.

Oh, and for Christ's sake do not take another drink from that "third party" alternative candidate cup. Ralph Nader is one of the reasons why we have Bush in the White House.

Bah!