1. David P: You have that Nixon thing wrong. Nixon did some bombing, but the Vietnam War was O-O-O-O-Ver by that time. Bombing would not have worked, anymore than it worked earlier. Plenty of people now alive remember. This is NOT yet a subject for abstract speculation. (Twit!)

2. Dr. Stan: That nuke info is the most interesting detail I ever have read about the end of Vietnam!

I am sitting here looking at CNN, waiting for them to announce that they have hanged Saddam...

"Final preparations underweigh (underway?)..."

"Perhaps outside of the Green Zone..."

It is gross. The Bushistas keep on coming up with stuff to surprise us. Will this have an effect on American attitudes? What effect?

Interesting Detail: A real Hangman's Noose has eight turns of rope, and it is placed behind the victim's left ear. (Source: The Ashley Book of Knots, by Ashley)

P.S. Ebonious, I like Jerry Ford, but I am on your side. As Poster Chas said, you are Batman. Please pay attention to all the old Jerry Ford interviews which are beginning to surface. Peace, Love, and Happy New Year!

Americans always say, "England," or, "The UK," which itself is a faggy Englandism. Pretty soon, we will have mandatory "English" with mandatory expressions, and mandatory pronounciations.

I finally may get a decent job, because I know a little bit about such things, even though I know how to use apostrophes correctly (treasonous in the USA, don't tell anyone, this is just between you and me, or "between you and I," as right-speaking Americans always say)...

Please call me clandestinely if you want grammar.

We have done it! Saddam is dead. This has gone on so long that we tend to forget, but this was the whole point. Ding-Dong The Witch Is Dead!

Let's leave, and let the people of Iraq solve their own destiny. Give them a few years, and see what they come up with.

The Republicans can tell people that, at worst, we can go back a few years from now, if necessary. They can say this to save face now, but even the neocons never would go back.

And even the Iraqi insurgents would be smart to stay quiet now, to get rid of us, and they can tell people they will flare up again in a few years, if necessary.

Can both sides fake us into peace and progress?

1. Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead! Now let's come back to Kansas, and let the people of Oz create their own future. I do not care if this somehow helps the American Republican Guard. It would be wonderful if this gives them an excuse to leave Iraq.

2. Let's not seem to be on Saddam's side here at Salon. Plenty of Iraqis right down Michigan Avenue from me will tell you how bad he was.

3. Impeach W. Bush and Cheney and their pals for torture.

The White House spokespeople are claiming that Geo. W. Bush already was in bed when Saddam swung, and they claim that they did not bother to wake him up to tell him about it!

Another reason to impeach him! Do you want a President who goes to bed at 8pm? Do you even want a President who thinks it's worthwhile to pretend he goes to bed at 8pm?

You know darn well Bush was up choking on pretzels and looking at the TV and taking calls from fundraisers. What a dumb lie!

Old folks who remember the military draft will understand that this cartoon is profound, but younger Americans just may not get it.

Maybe this is progress. We do not send EVERY young man to Vietnam anymore. Now we just send SOME young men and young women to Iraq.

So, maybe we are on course: Maybe soon, we will send NOBODY anywhere deadly.

Saddan's hanging rope looked to be about 7/8th of an inch, maybe thicker.

I have been thinking about this rope: This is thicker rope than needed for the job (only about a 200-pound load on a ten-foot drop, max).

But, maybe approriate-for-the-job (thinner) rope would have cut right through his neck and garrotted his head off.

Execution Buffs: Let's have a chin-wag about this!

Salon is not The Holy Scriptures, but Salon still is a wonderful thing. Happy New Year! See you soon. See you in the new world.

Mr. Hedges and Ms. Goldberg are correct: Rational Americans still do not know what the christianists are saying. Please tune in your local christianist radio show, and listen.

You will learn that superstition took over years ago. Talk of demons is commonplace. Reason, progress and science are diabolic.

This stuff no longer is beyond the pale. You cannot just laugh it off anymore. About a quarter of Americans seem to live within this superstitious sub-world, and the rest of us live right on their border.

We need border control around our hearts and our brains. Let Jesus in, but keep out the superstitious terrorists.

1. W. Bush now follows his dad into Somalia, as he followed dad into Iraq. Maybe he will invade Panama again, too.

2. Any doubt anywhere anymore that W. Bush is megalomaniac?

After the Baker report and American voters told him to begin to pull back from war in the Middle East, he escalates that war AND he attacks yet another country.

Are nukes next on the menu? He chokes on pretzels, but mushroom clouds slide down real easy. Cancel your tour of the Persian Riviera.