I understand your rationale about it being okay to steal the Muslims' oil. I'm currently raising a toddler, and I see this rationale put into action every day. If someone has something that you dearly want or need, then why the hell not steal it off him? We only live once, so we may as well ensure that we have the most toys when the whole thing is said and done.

The trouble with this philosophy, of course, is that it makes a functional society utterly impossible. Had humans not evolved beyond this kind of selfishness, we would still be isolated bands of barbarians killing each other off with spears. At some point, humans became more populous and more clever, and realized that a certain degree of cooperation was required if we're ever going to get anywhere.

My two-year-old is in the process of learning this now, as he more and more frequently bumps up against the competing interests of others. His mother and I are helping him understand that if he wants to lead a satisfying, functional life, he's going to have to learn to share.

Human society is again becoming more populous, and as a result we need to become more clever. We're bumping up against the competing interests of others. People like Anonymous and Dick Cheney would prefer to react like my 2-year-old, steal what they want, and scurry back to their own corner to enjoy it in private. But here's the thing: there is no corner to scurry back to that is private. That guy you just stole from is still standing there, and now he's pissed off. He's not going anywhere, and eventually you're going to have to reconcile this conflict if you're going to lead a satisfying, functional life.

As we come down from the high abundance of the post-war 50s, and begin to encounter the realities of life that the rest of the world has long accepted, many Americans are anxiously still trying to grab all the toys. What we need now if for more mature heads to prevail, and guide the immature among us to acknowledge that no, that actually belongs to that guy, and if we want it, we need to play fairly and share.

But I do wonder, what do you get out of this personally, writing such vacuous nonsense and then being ridiculed for it? I wouldn't be surprised if you were about 10 years old, except for the fact that you occasionally use a more mature vocabulary. So what's the deal? I'm curious.

You didn't actually include anything that the JBS currently stands for. Don't get me wrong, I know they've always been a bunch of right wing wackos. But by pointing out their wackiness of 40 or 50 years ago, you didn't give much indication of their wackiness today.

Folks, I want Bush impeached at least as much as you all do. He and his administration constitute the single biggest threat to our country since the USSR, or perhaps even the Axis Powers. Letting him remain in office is like letting a foreign enemy run rampant in our country after having already attacked us repeatedly.

However, here comes reality: impeachment will never make it through the senate. Never. Therefore, right now, it's a foregone conclusion that regardless how much energy gets poured into impeachment, Bush will not be removed from office. Sucks, I know.

So what to do? I reckon they should keep up the investigations, keep digging up the shit, keep the subpoenas coming, and hopefully indict a bunch of the henchmen. And then, after the next election, when the GOP has become a byword for corruption and mass murder, the Dem president, working with the Dem congress, can begin true criminal hearings against Bush, Cheney, and the others, Nuremburg-style. Hopefully Bush will spend his last days in Milosevic's cell in The Hague. I'm thinking, perhaps naievely, that when Bush is no longer C in C, he would be much more vulnerable to this kind of thing.

Wouldn't that satisfy everyone? No time wasted on Quixotian pursuits. But still full accountability for the worst president in history, and a big warning to other would-be depots.

I didn't know I could find something to respect in Pelosi. She realizes that trying to impeach Bush would do nothing but divide the country.

Nah, Tiberius, it wouldn't cause any more division than currently exists. A majority of Americans support impeachment, and that number would only grow as the hearings proceeded. Of course, it would never pass the criminal-enabling Senate republicans, but in terms of dividing ordinary Americans, we would have what we have today: a growing majority of informed Americans in opposition to Bush, and you and your ragtag gang of deadenders fighting for Bush's right to destroy the country by any means necessary. If anything, it would only further expose what your viewpoint is founded on (authoritarianism), something most Americans would find repellent.

There is no sound so sublime as the weeping, wailing, and gnashing of liberal teeth. The cacophony of collective moaning by people dependent on bad news for validation, is wonderful. Thanks.

Well, that's some special reading for you. I sure hope you don't have this much trouble comprehending street signs!

Shooter, we're all bemoaning the overt participation by the military in "dog-and-pony shows" for the press in Iraq, designed to leave the flawed impression that Iraq is going well. As a supporter of the war, Shooter, you of all people should be interested in the unvarnished truth. But instead, you and your dead-end 30%ers would rather flatly ignore the continuing assessments of our military leaders as they describe the lack of political process and other enormous hurdles to Iraq success, and focus instead on this made-for-TV movie filmed in Iraq. And you even sound proud of your ability to focus on what is clearly bullshit, and claim it as truth, as if this were the winning move in a game among children. Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.