What I'm about to write is painful, but, needs to be considered.

What if the only way for this President to see the error of his ways in Iraq is for the body-count of American soldiers and marines to be so high as to preclude any option except a phased near-term withdrawal of those soldiers and marines?

How many deaths will it take for him to realize his mind-numbingly arrogant decision to invade Iraq based on nothing but flawed intelligence was monumentally flawed? How many of our finest young men and women will have to be butchered by IED's, by jihadists and by some within the Iraqi government itself before Mr. Bush realizes his tactical error?

The "body-count" is a staple in the media: CNN runs a daily tally of killed, wounded and missing, MSNBC runs a similar grim statistic and the Sunday morning talk shows even run a sad pictorial "In Memoriam" featuring the entire last week's dead...with mournful music backgrounds.

Since Mr. Bush is now saying that we should prepare for "a bloody summer" and "I envision a long stay for our troops in Iraq...ten years perhaps", are we ready for thousands MORE of our troops to be killed in a systematic slaughter?

The body-count mounts, families continually grieve, shredded soldiers face a lifetime of difficulties and the drip, drip, drip of death continues unabated.

Ask yourself, Mr. President: how many will have to die for your lie?

When I think of the Presidents of these United States who have been marvelous men at monumental moments in our history, the names of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Lincoln, both the Roosevelts, JFK and Reagan come immediately to mind.

The name of George W. Bush...included in that long and distinguished list...seems like a cruel joke or a hoax, perpetrated upon us by the Almighty as a lesson that He also uses "humble" men as object lessons.

I do find it interesting, though, how "humble" rhymes so nicely with "bumble" and "stumble". God has a sense of humor.

How sad that some people will believe that any actor, who's reading a prepared script and playing a part, is a "real" person. Republicans suspended belief for Ronnie Reagan and they're all fawning over Freddie Thompson now, with the same glazed-eye blank-stare.

Both men have sold and are selling the John Wayne-esque vision of a cigar-chompin', winkin' 'n' grinnin', gool ol' boy who can connect with the average Republican: red-necked and red-blooded. Reagan was a little more subtle about it than Thompson, but, the sham is the same.

After the faux-folksiness of Dumbya, are we really ready for a taller version of the same? Personally, I don't need another intolerent, far-right President who is going to divide farther the American people instead of being a true uniter.

The only Freddie this guy reminds me of is a guy whose last name is Kreuger.

Watching the Democrats engage in a serious discussion of international politics, the war, the environment, healthcare, et cetera, is to watch a group of people who are informed, engaged and in control. If one or the other exhibits a modicum more of passion during that discussion, we are all well-served. I want a president who believes passionately in issues generally viewed as important to the nation and the world.

Watching the Republican candidates engage in a fealty-fest or an homage to their Religious Right masters is odious and distasteful. I'm waiting for the entire bunch of them to don sackcloth and ashes and self-flagellate/scourge themselves to show how obeisant they are to Robertson, Schlafly, Dobson, et al.

No, I'll take a vigorous discussion of the issues by the Democratic candidates over a parroting of polemics by the Republicans any day.