That conservatives are ignorant of the world is proved by the failure in Afghanistan, by the disaster in Iraq, and by the sad truth that in five short years the entire known world outside of No. 10 Downing Street has come to hate the U.S. I'm simply trying to understand WHY this is so; and I am continually struck by the fact that so many Bush-Cheney apologists share the characteristic of never having been elsewhere in the world. If you have a better explanation for the foreign poilcy fiasco set forth by Mr. Blumenthal (other than "it's all Bill Clinton's fault, because he had sex! with a woman!!"), then please enlighten us.

-- If you really have actually traveled on your own, then bravo, sir (though you'll have to excuse me if I observe that I don't know anyone who goes to Sudan as a private citizen); but in any event, your personal example hardly negates my more general observations.

-- Similarly, that some New Yorkers struck you as provincial also doesn't begin to negate my observations; though I will add that your apparent assumption that there are no right-wing New Yorkers displays your own (ahem) lack of familiarity with that great city.

Despite being so well-traveled, the only places you've seen that are "not worse" than the U.S. are Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand? Everyplace else in the world is worse, really? Uhh, who's the snob?

Thank you, though, for proving my point about conservatives, and how your (ahem) ill-informed view of the rest of the world has led to the Bush-Cheney foreign policy fiasco.

These failures: a resurgent Taliban, recovering territory formerly controlled by the central government; opium production up significantly; warlord control and the cruel oppression of women beyond downtown Kabul; mob violence against U.S. forces; and by all accounts a despairing populace that is much less optimistic than five years ago. Not to mention the failure to catch Osama bin-forgotten and destroy al-Qaeda -- which continues to attack the West, and was (I seem to remember) the original reason for invading that country.

Shall we talk about Iraq next? Or would you like to make more blanket denunciations of entire continents that are filled with vibrant cities and dignified human beings?

Thanks for admitting your travels have not been as a private citizen, although that was already obvious from your mention of Sudan. I remember reading awhile back that NGO's are now disliked by the people of Kabul, for living well on western salaries while doing virtually nothing to help. Any perspective on that phenonemon you'd care to add?

Robert the Bruce, my point is that a person who sees (certain parts of) the world in the employ of someone else -- the U.S. Army, Exxon-Mobil, the Mormon Church, etc. -- is bound to come away with a different (and, I dare say, more Imperial) perspective than someone traveling on their own dime. I would think this is especially true regarding the developing world, where "Proud Well-Traveled American's" work has left him with the sour view that the entire planet (excepting only Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand) is "worse" than the U.S. I disagree, and none of this contradicts my point that conservatives share the characteristic of being so profoundly ignorant of the world (see: Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.) because they've never really seen any of it, except perhaps while on spring break or on shore leave -- or from the Imperial vantage of corporate/NGO employment.

The bottom line is that right wing conservatives, almost by definition, have never had their horizons broadened through the enlightening experiences of foreign travel. If you have a better explanation for the Bush-Cheney foreign policy fiasco, then please tell us (but first check out Sidney Blumenthal's piece in Salon today on the new book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" -- my god the ignorance of so-called republicans is truly sickening).

Adorable Colleen Haskell was the sole reason I've yet found to watch 'Survivor'; but if this stunt is the only way to get African, Asian, and Hispanic people on TV -- and apparently it is -- then we ought to give it a fair chance. If making television in America actually LOOK LIKE America is still considered an "experiment" in the year 2006, then I say it's high time for a whole lot more such stunts.