I've been following Tennis' column sporadically, but am fast becoming a staunch supporter. If Ann Landers had been so full of human wisdom, America would be a better place today.

Bravo.

Bush said a terrorist attack was launched from a failed state 7000 miles away. I, too, jumped to the conclusion that he was trying to link 911 with Iraq, but I checked it out.

New York to Kabul is about 7000 miles. New York to Baghdad is a bit over 6000 miles. So, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, and assume he was referring to Afghanistan.

How many of his listeners would come to the same conclusion?

exactly as we would have them do unto us?

Think of politics (The art or science of government or governing, especially the governing of a political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal and external affairs)during war as a football game. The President is the Quarterback. The Armed Forces are the team members. The People are the Team Owners. Congress writes the rules. The President just gets to call the plays.

The President is Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Congress writes the Rules and Regulations for the Armed Forces. If Congress decides that torture is verboten, it's the duty of the President to "make it so". If Congress decides that wiretapping is verboten, there is no power granted the President by the constitution that trumps their decision.

We don't have three co-equal branches of government. Congress is definitely number one. Congress has the power to remove anybody from office; Presidents for Treason or Bribery or other High Crimes etc. Supreme Court Justices for lack of "good behavior".

All that being said, the only reason I can imagine for Congress not having already taken BushCo to the woodshed is that suggested by an earlier poster; Cheney and Rove have made a Hooverian grab for power through the NSA's wiretapping program. Anybody who bets on the saintliness of a Congressman or Senator had better get long odds.

The only way out of this peacefully is to replace the lot of them. Not likely.

If we're going to erase all borders, we have to start looking at the big picture, in both time and space: how are humans going to distribute themselves?

The big picture includes the whole world, for the forseeable future. How are six billion people going to distribute themselves today? How many will there be in fifty years? Five hundred years?

Lack of energy, clean water, clean air, natural beauty; all these plague us already. What are our plans for the future? Wait for the Rapture?

In the long run, births equal deaths. Until births equal deaths in the short run, people will continue to move.

Please, let's never forget, WE ARE NOT AT WAR. Say it again. We are not at war. We are not at war. We are not at war.

Get off that train. Put that horse in the barn. Put away your toys, clean up your mess. We are no longer at war.

Once you get "war" out of your vocabulary, it all becomes clear.

We are occupying Iraq illegally, torturing and killing illegally, stealing and lying and bringing shame on ourselves and our posterity.

But we are NOT AT WAR.

Capitalism is great, right? It's so American, right? We've all been practising capitalism since childhood by playing Monopoly (the game), right?

Everyone knows how the game ends, right?

Oh, you forgot?

Silly you, you loser.

Poor misguided young women (and men), following some perverted idea of "Islam" which they want to spread to the rest of us, for our own good. How different they are from our own young women (and men) who sign up to spread "Democracy" throughout the world, for the universal good of all.

Poverty and lack of choices guides these unfortunate Muslims in their desperate decision. How different they are from our young people, who never enlist because of economic pressure since their lives are simply bursting with opportunity.

Such awful propaganda entices these young women with visions of glory! How wonderful that our young women are not subject to similarly rosy pictures of what their service will entail. Muslim women are social inferiors to Muslim men, subjugated and oppressed; martyrdom is a chance to achieve some sort of parity in the afterlife. Our young women, on the other hand, are treated fairly in our society, without oppression because of their gender; they do not have to sign up to serve in the military with the hope of escaping discrimination.

When the martyr brigades recruit them, they are subject to psychological indoctrination, stripping them of their individuality, making them cogs in the machine. Our soldiers are trained to be thoughtful, autonomous, responsible for their own actions, always seeking the moral and ethical course in a chaotic world.

Muslims claim that Islam is the only true way, and all others must convert or die. Christians, in contrast, recognize that all religions are equally true and valid, and that all souls will meet in a peaceful, just, and equal Heaven. Jews, of course, hold the belief that all people, regardless of faith, are the Chosen of Jehovah.

"Terrorists" choose to be "suicide bombers" instead of "homicide bombers" because they do not value human life, including their own; even if they had an airplane, and could drop their deadly weapons from a safe distance in the air, they would strap themselves to their bombs and fall to their death chanting praises to Allah.

I am so glad I am one of Us, and not one of Them.

Virtually any implausible thesis is arguable; witness the current arguments against global warming and evolution. There is a proper venue for arguments if they are to be conclusively decided. The proper venue for arguments about Bush's interpretation of the Geneva Conventions is at his War Crimes trial.

They were hilarious. They give new meaning to "intelligent design".