jerry,

Ah, I’ve been brainwashed by propoganda have I? Well, I certainly hope my handlers — be they ChiComs or Eeeeevil Business Men — don’t say the magic words that turn me into a crazed assassin.

Seriously, I don’t judge Bush by what school he went to or what his grades were anymore than I judge Kerry by only his four “glorious” months in Vietnam. Both are just datum points. I also happen to think that a large number of very bright people, judged in the rarified air of the Oval Office, would be found pedestrian.

I do agree that the nature of this war, which is not a conventional war of battles and moving fronts, makes it difficult to sustain momentum. I also agree with your Democrat Copper-heads remark. Much of what they’ve done or tolerated has been distressing to watch and hard to stomache.

Yet, I’ve been thinking about the great wartime leaders, primarily Lincoln and Roosevelt, and was has struck me is how both laid out a very clear vision of where they wanted the nation to be when their wars were over. They may not have understood how to get there, or even what the weight of the burden would be, but with a relentless clarity they sustained the public with their visions of the future.

Beyond, “we’re gonna get those thugs”, where are we headed?