At last, our senior Senator from Ohio has taken the plunge, at least starting his break from unthinking, unblinking support for Bush.

When he was our governor in the 1990's, George Voinovich also had public displays when he was apparently overcome with emotion. One notable instance occurred when budget problems forced the state to cut off thousands of poor people from General Assistance, the last resort for many who had no other means of support like unemployment, etc.

He actually cried in public, asserting he and the state were doing the best they could with the limited resources currently available. He said he knew this would cause distress, and expressed his regret.

At the time, I dismissed all of that as crocodile tears, but over the years since, it's apparent he does have a conscience. He retains a sense of the effects government policy has on individuals, unlike at least one President.

Having a president without that conscience -- who doesn't REALLY feel the pain of others -- we now find ourselves in the Iraq quagmire, with no good options remaining. IF ONLY the Current Occupant had a fraction of the empathy of Sen. Voinovich. (And too bad the good Senator didn't come to his senses earlier!)

the left and the Bush haters are finally getting what they want. Total failure in Iraq.

Bush has to shoulder his share since he screwed up the reconstruction, but the haters have to shoulder it also. If the world had seen support from the left of this effort it would have had a greater chance for success.

But the left has fought against Bush as hard as any insurgents or terrorists. How much solace have our enemies received from this?

The sad thing for me is that my two year old will have to fight this battle when he is an adult because we don't want to take the responsibility now.

since 1990 when Bush I analyzed the possibility of success of occupying Iraq in Gulf War 1. Hey Joe, where you goin' with that gun in your hand?

No, he won't, Joe.

If your son grows up to be a typical right-wing Chickenhawk, he'll be working K Street instead of eating K Rations.

Count me among the Bush "haters" Joe, but, pray tell, exactly WHAT power have Bush opponents had to exert. Bush famously gives not a flying shit what others think. And Iraqi Bush opponents could give a flip about what ANY of us think. They don't get up every day to Google the latest USA Today or Gallup polls on Bush's JAR before deciding whether to rig another IED. They are fighting off an arrogant and incompetent occupier, effectively so.

You can't pin this loss on anyone but the Bushies.

This administration has adopted a cowboy swagger from the start. However, instead of a mighty bull, what we have here is a puffer fish: tough talk but no muscle behind it. A question presents itself: if the Executive are so damn tough that they can flout the U.N., wave off the allies (those, that is, who can muster more than a token 200 soldiers) and bravely take on the seemingly un-ending stream of extremist guerillas, why are they (and their apologists) suddenly blaming their failures on the "lack of support" from the opposition.

Oh, if only the majority of Americans were so patriotic as to jump off the cliff, lemming-like, with the rest of the war-mongering idiots, we just might have won this conflict. That's because, you see, the terrorists in Baghdad and elsewhere would have seen America united in its lunacy and uh, promptly surrendered.

Please. Our esteemed elected leaders have caved in, once, and authorized a massive political, diplomatic and strategic blunder that has, arguably, set our nation on a course of self-destruction unseen since the Vietnam war. Even then, in the shadow of 9/11 (back when its images were still potent) the administration had to use every lie in the Cheater's Handbook to dupe the nation into supporting the war. Even than, many Americans did not. Even THEN, many of those who supported smashing Saddam Hussein (like I did), did not support the occupation. Even those of us who aren't very smart could figure out that in order to hold Iraq together we will have to duplicate the ruthless dictatorship of the man we destroyed, and if we wouldn't do it, Iraq would produce someone who would. Hello, Mr. al-Sadr.

So I bet you, do not bring up that bullshit about "lack of support". Americans are freedom-loving people. We do not appreciate being lied to, we do not appreciate being taken for fools and we certainly do not appreciate being used. You fuck around with our faith and our values at your peril. Sure, the "haters" amongst us do not support this war. That's not because we are cowards. That's because we do not approve of our young men and women being killed for nothing and we are very, very angry with our administration. And we do not like being blamed for other people's mistakes.

But Bush sure as hell guaranteed it by bungling this optional war from beginning to end. Insufficient troops sent without adequate equipment, or the ability to handle the langauge barrier. Reconstruction money laundered through big corporations that had handsomely donated to the Republican party. Letting mercenaries run around Iraq and antagonize the locals, Turning blind eyes to the abandoned ammo dumps that would furnish the artillery shells used to make road bombs.

And joe, your only answer to this debacle is to say "That's what the Bush-haters wanted...." We so-called Bush haters all could have sat around for years chanting "we want....we want" and it wouldn't have made a bit of difference if Bush and Rumsfeld had had an inkling of what they were doing. Joe, it was "The party of personal responsibility" that wrecked Iraq - not Bush's critics.

And if you're worried that the problem won't be solved in this generation, well, you can still do your part. See your local recruiter today! I gained plenty of character in the day eating out of C-rat cans, sleeping atop armored vehicles and smelling cordite - it'll do you good!

Come on, joe, plenty of Army Reservists and National Guardsmen have 2-year-olds.

And soem of those 2-year-olds won't see their daddies anymore.