I'm a Canadian who grew up in India, and I watched with a horrified fascination as the whole bizarre and counter-productive adventure was launched into Iraq. It is a tonic to have read this article and feel some hope, a reassurance that the goodness that I see and defend in the United States is starting to find its voice. It is however, still frightening to watch the train wreck that is continuing. Dark days indeed.

I am not a american, but have been increasingly dismayed by the apparent suicide of the USA. Its articles like this which give one hope for the future of the USA.

It should have been the front page lead.

Indeed, and I have the qualified distinction of being an American. Cleland's words are sad, even harrowing, and one can only hope his faith in democracy will be justified. It is heartening that one who has "suffered so grievously" still believes in the process. And there are many signs that, as always, Republican success leads to excess (Abramoff, Libby, Iraq, etc.) that eventually gives way to a Democratic anti-thesis. This seems to be the way history works. How long we must endure the chains of capitalist demogogery and media manipulation remains to be seen. Free dialogue on the internet is certainly a positive counter force.

I would ask Senator Cleland if he feels any bitterness with regard to the far-too-many voters that cost him his Senate seat. Yes, certainly Karl Rove and his slimy pack of hooligans aided by Fox News and hate-talk radio initiated the deed, but the voters fell for it when they should have known better.

Karl Rove? Guilty. Emotional, jingo-stupified ignorant voter? More guilty. Without them, Karl Rove is just one more snake-oil salesman to be eventually run out of town.

Wow! Finally somebody who has been in public service (and a senator at that) who is actually human and vulnerable! Thank you Max Cleland for your sevice.

I worked on Max's 2002 campaign, partly because I admired Max and partly because even then I could see that Bush was destroying all the values that make this country great. The grenade that hit Max -- comparing him to Osama -- also hit us. He had been leading in the polls because people recognized that he had been doing a good job for Georgia. But then that awful, awful ad hit -- how could anyone with Christian values and love of America produce such an ad -- and the polls went south. And Max is right -- there were emotional side issues like the Confederate flag that also raised the ire of the good ole boys. I think southwest Georgia -- the poorest, least educated part of the state -- had its highest turnout ever that year.

I was at a Max fundraiser during the Clinton impeachment and he jokingly said, "Boy, am I glad I am not running this year." Unfortunately, Max had the bad luck to run during 2002, when Bush and Rove waved the bloody shirt of terrorism. How he managed to use terrorism as an issue is beyond me, since he had been both asleep at the switch on 9/11 and was in bed with the Saudis, who made up 15 of the 19 hijackers.

I am sorry to hear that Max is out of politics, although I can well understand. Saxby Chambliss, the draft-dodger who replaced Max, is up for re-election in 2008. I wish Max would run again then. Georgians are basically good people, and I like to think that they would try to redeem themselves for falling prey to fear-mongering in 2002 by voting for Max in 2008. At a minimun, I hope he gets actively involved in campaigning for whomever runs against Chambliss.

As a lowly campaign worker, I only chatted with Max a few times, but he always came across as concerned and thoughtful. But the more I read about him, and heard stories from others, I understood just what an inspirational figure he is. It was an honor to work on his campaign. Max, if you ever need anyone to lick envelopes and call voters, call on me.

Nick Wreden

I don't care about Salon's endless sob stories about procreation or celebrities and don't understand why they are frequently Salon's featured articles.

I came here for articles like Max Cleland's. His humility and honesty are a joy to behold, and because of him I'm feeling a glimmer of hope. Unlike a previous poster, I hope Cleland doesn't run for office any time soon because I believe we need his voice. I have an idea it's preferable that Cleland not to be fouled by the slime that's currently passing itself off as democracy in DC.

It's no shame on Cleland's part that he was powerless to fight the evil and satanic forces of Rove/Reed. It's a tribute to him, and I believe he (and we) will overcome.

Thank you, Salon. You occasionally hit one out of the park. Please continue to inform us via Joe Conason and great Americans like Max Cleland.

Starting this week the right-wing activist group Move America Forward will be running a series of ads in the Atlanta market protraying Jimmy Carter as un-American, an appeaser and a friend of terrorists. They will attempt to "prove" this by showing photos of the former President meeting with people like Fidel Castro, Yasser Arafat and Hugo Chavez along with their own misrepresented interpertation of his actions. Of course there will be no context. A photo of Carter with a Hamas member as part of the voting vertification process is the same to them as saying he condones the terrible things Hamas has done. All they care about is the photo and the innuendo they can spew. No context for those meetings or actions in their Swift Boat II hit piece.

Their goal? To draw focus away from the Feingold measure to censure on George W. Bush. By looking backward to Carter they hope the public won't look forward to a Censure of Bush. I think it will backfire this time. Something is truely wrong with these people that they aren't satisfied with taking out the people running for office, now they are going after people who AREN'T EVEN IN OFFICE!

They will attempt to turn President Carter's internationaly recognized efforts for peace and democracy in the world into "siding with terrorists against the United States." Will good journalists recognize it for the riduclousness it is? Yes. Might the lesser TV shows run the whole ad again on their news as "controversal"? Yes. That is part of their media strategy. Hopeful the news media will see past this Swift Boat trick this time.

In the past Move America Forward has targeted the mother of a dead soldier for daring to speak out and question the war. Way to go MAF, keep working to drag America backward in "your campaigns of character assassination".