ambisinistral,

I think you gave a pretty good reprise of the politics of Vietnam. It was the coverups that did people in, no one likes to feel manipulated, and if they do, they lose trust in the leadership.

I agree with you that Bush is no Churchill or Roosevelt, that he is pretty inarticulate and does not stand up as a leader. However, I made my switch to Bush and the Republicans some months ago. The Democrats struck me as deeply unserious, spending their time spreading FUD. Kerry strikes me as plain weird and out of touch. And the MSM completely turns me off with biased articles and reporting. So there you go. Not much choice, really, from my point of view.

Speaking of deceptions, my father and stepmother are convinced we are in deep recession. Nevermind that her business is picking up, it’s just what they believe. Strange how folks can live in a world of manufactured facts without ever looking at reality. Wasn’t this a Boomer theme back in the 60′s? The human condition strikes again.