But it's early yet.

She seems to be preserving Bush's and Gonzalez's and Cheney's option to say that they can't quite remember. Scooter and Gonzalez already have followed that route, with mixed success.

But nobody actually believes them. Does anybody want people who cannot remember important things to be in charge of the USA? Somebody here should take the Oliver North route:

Just say, "Yes, I did it. Blah-blah-blah." Do you remember that this made Ollie a big hero? And, note that they have not gotten very much trouble for admitting that they ran illegal wiretaps.

Stop acting stupid. Throw some shan up, and see what happens when it hits the fit.

She says, "No." So she is not the Alexander Butterfield of the 21st Century. But if "No" turns out to be a lie, at least we can come back and get her, and use her lie to get her boss.

1. McCain really did speak out against the Rev. Mr. Falwell and the other christianists. Even though he went back later, and tried to make friends again, he deserves some credit for trying. No other big-time Republican has dared. Democrats have not dared either.

2. McCain is the only Republican presidential hopeful who has expressed reservations about torture. McCain even tried to legislate against torture. The other Republicans candidates compete to be seen as Crueler Than Thou.

John McCain is more human and more real than the other Republicans. That may be sort of like being The Best Ballerina in Galveston (Charles Emerson Winchester's line).

He would not be a good President. But he deserves some credit.

That's Shoes For Industry! Those soldiers and Marines have to fight on until free hands on both sides of The Big Ditch can press The Button at the same time!

(Or words to that effect)

Recruiting Poster Idea:

Show some handsome, smiling US Troopers and Marines on a beautiful sunny beach, on the Tigris River or the Euphrates...

And show their Water Boards... And make sure they have some cute Trooper Chicks with them, Lyndie English et al...

"Uncle Sam Wants YOU! Join Up, And Learn To Waterboard! Surf on the Surge!"

Who wouldn't join up? If they get more recruits, they can give everybody longer breaks from combat. And if they believe they can surf during their Iraq tours, maybe they won't even want to come home.

Ossama don't surf!

Conceivably, Miss Miers has sent a letter to the Committee. Conceivably, this conceivable letter may implicate W. Bush and his pals. Stay tuned!

All her jabber sounds preposterous. It sounds like some Texas hick getting her first real exposure to the real world. It sounds like somebody who suddenly realizes, late in life and too late for her, that manners and discretion and wisdom reside far beyond the Crawford Ranch, and that the navel of the world is far, far away from the Lonestar State.

How does she talk? Does she say, "This-here," and, "Y'all?" Does she say, "Ahmo," as G.W. Bush says, when he means, "I am going to?"

YEE-HAW! Hook 'em horns!

Not believing in God or gods is a defiant thing. It suits a young person. Maturing brings humility. Things are not as they might be, not as we expected them to be, not as they ought to be. Now you know.

So, please think about the infinte wonder of love and physics and Jazz. These things are greater than you. But you are in touch with them every day. Hallelujah!

Start thinking about believing in things greater than your own mind and your own self. This will be your comfort. You can't figure it out; you can't take credit for it, but there it is.

You cannot understand it. But that is okay. Somehow, mercifully, you still have contact with it, every day, more and more, as you grow older and wiser.

This humility (understand that you cannot understand) is the first step. Then, please explore the ideas of forgiving and starting over and laughing. Whatever you do, though, do not seek certainty. Paradox is wisdom. Heaven is a crazy concept, but no more crazy than love or physics or Jazz. No less real, either.

1. Do not cling to the idea that you are smarter (or that you seem smarter) when you rationally refute the notion of God. That is a 14-year-old thing. Really smart people know that reason is not all. They grant a mystical, beyond-reason realm.

2. Happiness is an emotion or an attitude, not an intellectual position. Love and Humor are more important for happiness. So laugh at your old notion that you could logically refute God and spirit! And prove to yourself your spiritual side by remembering love.

3. Everything and anything are possible, but please take a look at at what spiritual people have come up with over the past few millenia. I mean, please read what Buddha and Jesus and Socrates et al. have said. They were not stupid. They were much smarter (and much more spiritual in the good sense) than I or, probably than you. They have some good advice.

Then, please make up your own mind. And if all else fails, tell jokes to your kids, and laugh like crazy until you have a laughing stroke and die like a pig, or die as a saint.