It's clear - at least to me - that what Sen. Kerry was referring to was this: The Iraq occupation is a poor man's fight. Those who are well-off serve rarely, if at all. They don't wear the uniform, they don't bleed, they don't leave their limbs, eyesight, and comrades in the bloody streets of Baghdad. They don't come home, hidden away in the dark of night, in flag-draped boxes. That "honor" is reserved for the less well-to-do, much as it was in the days of Vietnam.

I only wish Senator Kerry would say it again, more succinctly, more clearly, to be sure, but repeating it like a mantra. The issue is the current administration's reliance on economic conscription to achieve their ends - the seizure of Iraqi oil and the enabling of Halliburton and other war profiteering contributors.

For that, Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld continue to throw away the lives of American youth. It is Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld who should be apologizing to the American people, and to the over 2,800 American dead, the victims of their misbegotten adventurism. And since whatever they say by way of that apology, in the unlikely event they say anything at all, will necessarily be insufficient to erase the tragedy of those thrown-away lives, their next stop should be the dock at The Hague.

Governor Dean has revitalized a party structure too comfortable for too long with trying to bring in the longshot. Conceding half the country is no way to be a political party, nor is trying for the top of the ticket and ignoring much of what lies below, both of which the Democrats had done for far too long.

Howard Dean has given the Democrats back a ground game, and it looks like a very good start. Now the real work begins.

Robocalls, voter intimidation, misrepresentation of a candidate's political party affiliation, nuisance "challenges", and more, need to fall under a revised federal law: Interference in any way with the conduct of an election redefined as a federal felony, prosecutable under RICO statutes.

Hard time for interfering with the conduct of an election, coupled with asset seizure, might finally make a dent in the sorry history of voter suppression.

On the other side of the coin, revising election law, nationalizing elections, mandating paper ballots nationwide in all elections, same-day voter registration with proper ID, and possibly even the Australian model of fining non-voters.

Public campaign financing might be nice, too - hey, a guy can dream!

"Yes, there will be more women in Congress than ever before, but so far the percentage has only gone up from 15.4 to 16.4485981."

I like the idea of more women in Congress. I'm represented by women in both the House and Senate - as of January, anyway. And I suspect the way to get a higher percentage of women elected officeholders at all levels is to first get a higher percentage of women seeking office.

I am the first to admit, I have not seen anything on the percentage of women candidates for Congress. Has anyone? Do women run and lose more often, or do they win and lose in roughly similar percentages as male candidates?

...and while you're at it, send yourself too. Downtown Najaf or Fallujah ought to be a good first venue. Perhaps set up a kiosk on a major street corner, offering your advice to every passing Iraqi like the Great White Father you think you are.

And don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Last night, "Good Rex" played. With Good Rex, Da Bearss can win. With Bad Rex, they still have a decent chance because of their defense. Now, admittedly, having three mainstays out can't help. Getting even one back will help significantly, as will having the rest they'll likely get with the first-round bye. This late in the season, that week's downtime will be magic, and I for one doubt Lovie Smith will let any rust accumulate during that stretch.

As for "America's Team" being any team, anywhere, who cares? Short of Da Bearss, my three favorite NFL teams are, in no set order: Whoever is playing the Packers, whoever is playing Dallas, and whoever is playing the Vikings.

And as for the Cubs, well, let's see if their offseason spending spree (thankfully, lots of it on pitching) will make any difference come April through October. It's far too early to tell now.

2050 is also the year suggested as when ocean food-fish stocks will be all but gone. This is ominous, as is the onrush of climate change (2040 predicted as the year when the Arctic is ice-free in summer).

These are developments, each alone worthy of concern, that I rarely if ever hear mentioned in connection. They presage a future of privation, refugee migration, hunger, water wars, and other undesirable ends.

I suspect that in short order, there will be a widespread recognition that we will need to devote virtually all industrial and agricultural activity to developing the means to adapt to the inevitable changes coming in this near future. Literally anything that does not either mitigate the impacts of these changes, or support the lives and work of those who are working on those mitigations, whatever those activities may then be, will need to be put aside, or humanity will have a very ugly future indeed.

The Manhattan Project and the Apollo Project will indeed look insignificant by comparison.

The one thing we do not need to hear is this: "We must save the planet!" Our ball of rock and iron, with its blue oceans and haze of atmosphere, will do just fine, with us or without us. The biosphere, well, that's another question...

Every last participant in that video needs to be busted to E-3 and then expelled from the armed services.