I might write a brief note saying something like, "Dear Friend, I am at a loss to understand how one day we were best friends and the next you're not speaking to me. I therefore have this request: Would you grant me 5 or 10 minutes on the phone to explain to me why you have cut me off this way? If you don't want to talk to me, please call between x a.m. and y p.m., when I'm at work, and tell it to my answering machine. I promise to accept your explanation and respect your wishes regarding future contact."

If I received no response within about two weeks, I'd have no problem scratching that person off my list of friends, get on with my life and never look back. I wouldn't want to be close to a person who could ignore a plea like that.

... in which Kerry attempted to take the sting out of his earlier words, to the effect that if you don't make it in school or, by extension, if you don't find a lucrative career, you're likely to end up in Iraq. It happens to be true where I live -- many kids who don't make it in school find themselves faced with the following choice, or some variation thereof: McDonald's or the U.S. Army.

If there was a fair draft, the Iraq war would be over in a week.

Don Singleton, Liberal Democrat

9

. . . . keep your powder dry, Old Scout. Today's column made you look a bit starry-eyed. Compare Hillary to the other Democratic possibles before you lay your blessing so heavily on her.

My opinion: I don't like her. She's much too opportunistic, feet not planted in one place, thus unpredictable, thus untrustworthy. Hasn't she already proven this, with the slippery help of her husband (for whom I voted -- once)?

There are a bunch of real Democrats out there, and I would prefer any of a half-dozen of them to Hillary. Her negatives are way too high, and her character doesn't come up to my standard for Presidents. What does she believe in? Will it be the same tomorrow? It's a long way to the election, but barring some epihphany on my part or dramatic character change on hers, I don't think I could vote for her.

Worth the price of my year's subscription to Salon.com.

enjoyed it.

A world without the possibility of Rumfeldstiltskin? I can hardly imagine such a sad prospect.

Even though I never bought a copy, it always brightened the checkout line. (And I was glad to discover what's really going on with all that missing glacial ice! Damn you, teenage space aliens!)

My condolences to Stan Sinberg, if he was still at it when the paper folded. And my compliments to him for his work there and on Salon.

Don Singleton

The power of Riverbend's writing evokes "The Diary of Anne Frank," but -- thank God -- without the horror of Anne's death.

I am so ashamed of my nation's behavior vis-a-vis Iraq, and of most of our policies and actions -- and inactions -- in the Middle East.

I am so happy that George W. Bush's borrow-and-spend administration is coming to an end; I only wish it were today rather than more than a year in the future.

And finally, I am profoundly disappointed in the Democratic members of both houses of Congress for their failure to even begin to bring an end to the insanity of our involvement in Iraq, the tragedy that is taking an unconscionable toll on both Iraq and the United States. I only wish I felt better about the likelihood that whoever follows Bush and his cronies will survive the corrupting election process with his or her integrity unsold.

Don Singleton

I have as low an opinion of W as anyone, but I don't hold that pronunciation help against him. I'd rather have him pronounce the names correctly than insult officials or citizens of other countries through mispronunciation a la The Ugly American. And besides, I'm sure there are people and places in the world whose names I might mangle. Would you score 100% in a quiz?

There are plenty of real issues with Bush; no need to fish for red herrings.

Don Singleton

A couple of weeks ago I caught my eldest daughter (age 47) drinking from a bottle labeled Fiji Water. Wondering what the title could possibly mean, I read and discovered it meant water taken from a well in Fiji, shipped halfway around the world, put into clear plastic bottles and sold as water to people who virtually all have potable water piped into their homes. What an amazing tale of insanity in commerce, marketing, economics, consumerism and utter insanity.

I laced into her real good over breakfast in the diner last Sunday. I hope it took.

Don Singleton

I'm with you on the Versed-with-colonoscopy thing. I know what goes on down there and I'm happy to let it go unremembered, as in "When are you going to start . . . . You mean it's over?"

If Gore were on a ballot with all the current Democratic primary candidates, I would vote for him.

If Gore were then on a ballot with any of the current Republican candidates, I would vote for him.

If Gore should decide not to run, I would certainly understand, but I would also feel sad; I think that having learned a lot of painful lessons and having gained wisdom and maturity over the past eight years, he would make a great president.

Don Singleton