State of Denial

[First, a triviality: the following AP posting misspelled the word "advises" in the title of the piece of all places! - usually the news services are very good about that...

Sounds like a good book; Woodward is a dependable writer/reporter. However, I can't imagine anything really new beyond dotting the "i's" and crossing the "t's" of what we already know about the administration; its dogmas and aspirations.

Although -- I didn't know that Henry Kissinger was still around after all of these years. The gravelly old man kinda disappeared from the limelight after he married his second wife in 1974 and the Vietnam War ended the following year - guess he was distracted by his new young wife and let the war he had been enjoying die a natural death.

But guess he is back to his old practice of giving bad-advice to Presidents who are willing to listen. Probably his Teutonic roots relish war and he parades about the house with his cow-horned helmet and broadsword.

Hmmm... wonder if the state of Denial could be our 51st state? ...AG]

Woodward: Kissinger advices Bush
Fri Sep 29

NEW YORK - Henry Kissinger has been advising President Bush and Vice President Cheney about Iraq, telling them that "victory is the only meaningful exit strategy," author and journalist Bob Woodward said.

The Washington Post editor's third book on the Bush administration, "State of Denial," comes out next week.

In an interview airing Sunday night on CBS-TV's "60 Minutes," Woodward said that U.S. troops and their allies are being attacked, on average, every 15 minutes. "The truth is that the assessment by intelligence experts is that next year, 2007, is going to get worse and, in public, you have the president and you have the Pentagon saying, 'Oh, no, things are going to get better.'"

He said Kissinger, who served in the Nixon and Ford administrations, has been telling Bush and Cheney that "in Iraq, he declared very simply, 'Victory is the only meaningful exit strategy.'"

"This is so fascinating. Kissinger's fighting the Vietnam War again because, in his view, the problem in Vietnam was we lost our will."

Woodward's 537-page book describes the administration as beset by infighting, according to The New York Times, which obtained an advance copy and reported on its contents Friday. It is based on interviews with administration leaders, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. However, sources are not always named, and neither the president nor Vice President Dick Cheney agreed to interviews, the book says, according to the Times.

Asked about the book, the White House on Thursday night dismissed it, telling The Associated Press it didn't contain anything new. During a briefing Friday at a NATO meeting in Slovenia, Rumsfeld [another Teuton] declined comment on the book, saying he hadn't read it.

[Yeah, sure - but he certainly knows what it says.]

The future or end of a nation...

Our nation over the past two hundred years has faced much more serious threats than we face now with terrorists. We've had the British burn Washington during the War of 1812, we've had several Presidents assassinated and even more failed attempts.

My own fear is that we have an American militaristic government who in time wants to overthrow our present government, our Constitution and life as we know it. I fear our own government much more than I do a few Muslims who would go away if we went away!

Our nation is in deep trouble. We are faced in the near future with an economic recession (which used to be called a depression). We have amassed a huge debt we can't repay which is held primarily by China. We are dependant upon oil which is owned primarily by Muslims and our South American 'friends' who we try to dominate.

We go around threatening the sovereignty of other nations who don't agree with our policies. Such as Syria, Iran and North Korea. If the rest of the world, our jury, would agree with us - we'd have no problem, but we have actually alienated most of them - and those who are still with us are in a sense, shaking their heads in dis-belief over our policies.

We also have become a nation of ‘Jesus freaks'! Outside of the jungles of Africa, Christianity is going down the drain. Most of Europe has rejected Christianity. Most of Asia never was Christian and is thankful that it wasn't - and that includes our economic benefactor, China.

In a way that is sad. Personally, I don't believe in mystical religions but I think the teachings of Jesus - whether he actually existed as a man - has a message of tolerance, forgiveness and love which would be good and could survive in any of man's communities if not subverted.

However, the organizations who now claim to represent Jesus have become hateful, malevolent, and oppressive. They actually harken to the evil God of the Old Testament who was vindictive, malicious and most certainly not the God of Jesus!

And it is this Old Testament God who is prevailing in our country today - He must be stopped if we are to survive as a nation. We find Him in the majority of our Congress, in the top levels of our military at the Pentagon and most importantly, in some of our media.

Our nation really is in peril.

So now our representatives are going to allow "President George W. Bush's warrantless domestic spying program". If passed, this has to be the end of our nation as we know it, unless something surprising happens in November - I'm not holding my breath!

Text of released NIE report

Rather than read the proliferation of neocon and neolib talking heads who persist in trying to spin the NIE report, I found the text printed in the San Luis Obispo Tribune (Ya gotta join the club to read the New York Times - and I'm not a ‘joiner'.) http://tinyurl.com/gejak - anyway, here it is for you cousins to read for yourselves. I think it is worth reading and what was declassified is not all that long nor hard to understand.

The report mentions al-Zarqawi, who as you know was killed in Iraq last June. The report was published in April when al-Z was still alive. Otherwise, it seems that since the report, a number of events predicted by the report have taken place making it quite credible.

It gives us a good idea of what we're up against and indicates, at least to me, what we should and should not be doing - although specifics are not addressed - nor need to be.

Excerpts from the National Intelligence Estimate report
New York Times News Service
WASHINGTON--Following are the portions of the National Intelligence Estimate dealing with the key judgments, dated April 2006, that were released Tuesday by the Bush administration.

United States-led counterterrorism efforts have seriously damaged the leadership of al-Qaida and disrupted its operations; however, we judge that al-Qaida will continue to pose the greatest threat to the Homeland and United States interests abroad by a single terrorist organization. We also assess that the global jihadist movement -- which includes al-Qaida, affiliated and independent terrorist groups, and emerging networks and cells -- is spreading and adapting to counterterrorism efforts.

- Although we cannot measure the extent of the spread with precision, a large body of all-source reporting indicates that activists identifying themselves as jihadists, although a small percentage of Muslims, are increasing in both number and geographic dispersion.

- If this trend continues, threats to United States interests at home and abroad will become more diverse, leading to increasing attacks worldwide.

- Greater pluralism and more responsive political systems in Muslim majority nations would alleviate some of the grievances jihadists exploit. Over time, such progress, together with sustained, multifaceted programs targeting the vulnerabilities of the jihadist movement and continued pressure on al-Qaida, could erode support for the jihadists.

We assess that the global jihadist movement is decentralized, lacks a coherent global strategy and is becoming more diffuse. New jihadist networks and cells, with anti-American agendas, are increasingly likely to emerge. The confluence of shared purpose and dispersed actors will make it harder to find and undermine jihadist groups.

- We assess that the operational threat from self-radicalized cells will grow in importance to United States counterterrorism efforts, particularly abroad but also in the Homeland.

- The jihadists regard Europe as an important venue for attacking Western interests. Extremist networks inside the extensive Muslim diasporas in Europe facilitate recruitment and staging for urban attacks, as illustrated by the 2004 Madrid and 2005 London bombings. We assess that the Iraq jihad is shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives; perceived jihadist success there would inspire more fighters to continue the struggle elsewhere.

- The Iraq conflict has become the cause celebre for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of United States involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement. Should jihadists leaving Iraq perceive themselves, and be perceived, to have failed, we judge fewer fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight.

We assess that the underlying factors fueling the spread of the movement outweigh its vulnerabilities and are likely to do so for the duration of the time frame of this Estimate.

- Four underlying factors are fueling the spread of the jihadist movement: (1) Entrenched grievances, such as corruption, injustice, and fear of Western domination, leading to anger, humiliation, and a sense of powerlessness; (2) the Iraq jihad; (3) the slow pace of real and sustained economic, social, and political reforms in many Muslim majority nations; and (4) pervasive anti-United States sentiment among most Muslims - all of which jihadists exploit.

Concomitant vulnerabilities in the jihadist movement have emerged that, if fully exposed and exploited, could begin to slow the spread of the movement. They include dependence on the continuation of Muslim-related conflicts, the limited appeal of the jihadists radical ideology, the emergence of respected voices of moderation and criticism of the violent tactics employed against mostly Muslim citizens.

- The jihadists' greatest vulnerability is that their ultimate political solution - an ultraconservative interpretation of Shariah-based governance spanning the Muslim world - is unpopular with the vast majority of Muslims. Exposing the religious and political straitjacket that is implied by the jihadists' propaganda would help to divide them from the audiences they seek to persuade.

- Recent condemnations of violence and extremist religious interpretations by a few notable Muslim clerics signal a trend that could facilitate the growth of a constructive alternative to jihadist ideology: peaceful political activism. This also could lead to the consistent and dynamic participation of broader Muslim communities in rejecting violence, reducing the ability of radicals to capitalize on passive community support. In this way, the Muslim mainstream emerges as the most powerful weapon in the war on terror.

- Countering the spread of the jihadist movement will require coordinated multilateral efforts that go well beyond operations to capture or kill terrorist leaders.

If democratic reform efforts in Muslim majority nations progress over the next five years, political participation probably would drive a wedge between intransigent extremists and groups willing to use the political process to achieve their local objectives.

Nonetheless, attendant reforms and potentially destabilizing transitions will create new opportunities for jihadists to exploit. Al-Qaida, now merged with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's network, is exploiting the situation in Iraq to attract new recruits and donors and to maintain its leadership role.

- The loss of key leaders, particularly Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahri, and al-Zarqawi, in rapid succession, probably would cause the group to fracture into smaller groups. Although like-minded individuals would endeavor to carry on the mission, the loss of these key leaders would exacerbate strains and disagreements. We assess that the resulting splinter groups would, at least for a time, pose a less serious threat to United States interests than does al-Qaida.

- Should al-Zarqawi continue to evade capture and scale back attacks against Muslims, we assess he could broaden his popular appeal and present a global threat.

- The increased role of Iraqis in managing the operations of al-Qaida in Iraq might lead veteran foreign jihadists to focus their efforts on external operations. Other affiliated Sunni extremist organizations, such as Jemaah Islamiya, Ansar al Sunnah, and several North African groups, unless countered, are likely to expand their reach and become more capable of multiple and/or mass-casualty attacks outside their traditional areas of operation.

- We assess that such groups pose less of a danger to the Homeland than does al-Qaida but will pose varying degrees of threat to our allies and to United States interests abroad. The focus of their attacks is likely to ebb and flow between local regime targets and regional or global ones.

We judge that most jihadist groups - both well-known and newly formed - will use improvised explosive devices and suicide attacks focused primarily on soft targets to implement their asymmetric warfare strategy, and that they will attempt to conduct sustained terrorist attacks in urban environments. Fighters with experience in Iraq are a potential source of leadership for jihadists pursuing these tactics.

- CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons) capabilities will continue to be sought by jihadist groups. While Iran, and to a lesser extent Syria, remain the most active state sponsors of terrorism, many other states will be unable to prevent territory or resources from being exploited by terrorists.

Anti-United States and anti-globalization sentiment is on the rise and fueling other radical ideologies. This could prompt some leftist, nationalist, or separatist groups to adopt terrorist methods to attack United States interests. The radicalization process is occurring more quickly, more widely, and more anonymously in the Internet age, raising the likelihood of surprise attacks by unknown groups whose members and supporters may be difficult to pinpoint.

- We judge that groups of all stripes will increasingly use the Internet to communicate, propagandize, recruit, train and obtain logistical and financial support.

It is about time!

[It is about time!

55 years ago as a twenty-year old airman 3rd class, just after basic training in the Air Force, I was ushered into a small conference room and introduced to a retired AF general who was then in the business of selling life insurance to 'captive' G.I.'s! He gave me a spiel about the benefits of a twenty-year endowment policy and signed me up for one (I can't remember the amount) under a payroll deduction plan. I didn't have to buy the policy but wasn't sure how my superiors would treat me later on if I didn't! I do know that I already had a government term life policy for $10K which had been provided free upon enlistment!

I don't think I kept the endowment policy for even a year because $97 per month base pay didn't leave room for much other than necessities! Of course the general still got his commission!...AG]

Congress OKs insurance bill shielding troops

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation to protect U.S. military personnel from abusive sales of overpriced life insurance and investments was given final approval by Congress on Thursday and sent to President Bush for signing into law.

The House of Representatives voted 418-3 to approve a measure that had already been passed by the Senate. Work on the legislation began two years ago after media reports that aggressive sales agents were marketing high-fee financial products to unsophisticated young recruits about to ship out to Iraq.

Louisiana Republican Rep. Richard Baker, noting the risks that military men and women take every day, said that "risking their financial future should not be among them."

But the measure does not take action against payday loans, which are high-interest cash advances made against future paychecks. The Pentagon has urged Congress to cap interest rates lenders charge on these loans to American troops, as part of a still-pending defense spending bill.

The measure sent to President Bush on Thursday would ban sales to the military of contractual plans, a mutual fund investment product that has virtually disappeared from the civilian marketplace because of exorbitant fees baked into the payments.

The measure also would require military personnel be told about life insurance that is available to them through the federal government. In the past, some troops have been sold life insurance policies offering the same coverage as the government plan but costing far more.

The legislation would also establish a list of barred brokers and sales agents to be made available to military installation commanders.

Prelude to more war....

I'm really not an isolationist, I do believe that we have to be very involved with the rest of the world diplomatically and with mutual respect.

However, I think it is time for us to close our military bases around the world which are in other nations. We were justified in establishing those bases during the cold war with the USSR as a policy of containment and to discourage aggression on their part.

The cold war is over and the existence of our troops in those bases not only cost us an arm and a leg, but the citizens of those countries are beginning to resent the presence of foreign troops on their sovereign soil - just as we certainly would if France or even England decided to establish a base just outside of Columbus, Ohio.

Military capabilities have changed over the past fifty years such that we have the ability of rapid deployment and access which didn't exist then. I think we no longer need to have standing armies stationed all over the world in order to protect ourselves. As to protecting others, I think that nations should have the capability of protecting themselves.

It really disturbs me and I believe it, that this administration of hawks haves plans to attack Iraq, Syria, North Korea, Venezuela and/or Cuba. I think they want to either destroy the world or be destroyed - perhaps for religious purposes - just like the car bombers who do it in order to go to Heaven! .

'NO USA': Korean Farmers Protest U.S. Base Expansion
Aaron Glantz, OneWorld US Fri Sep 15

SAN FRANCISCO, Sep 15 (OneWorld) - Dozens of South Koreans took to the streets of Washington, DC Thursday in support of small farmers forced to relocate to make way for a massive new U.S. military base in their country. President George W. Bush was meeting with his South Korean counterpart just steps away in the White House at the time.

On Tuesday, it took 10,000 South Korean police to dislodge the protesting farmers. "They are elderly farmers," Kyo So of the group Korean Americans Against War and Neoliberalism pleaded from the protest outside the White House. "They have been living there for many years. They turned the old wetlands into arable farmland. They raised their children there. They don't want to move."

The U.S. military is increasingly unpopular in South Korea. Outside the U.S. base about 40 miles south of Seoul, protesters painted "NO USA" on buildings and stood on rooftops in a brief attempt to stop construction crews from tearing down about 90 homes.

Police had blockaded roads leading into the township, preventing more protesters from entering the area. Helicopters kept an eye on the protesters. "The government says they'll move the rest by October, but the sentiment in Korea is that the government is going too far and is using too much force. They are very angry with the government," So added.

The U.S. military plans to build new facilities on the farmers' land in order to improve quality of life for American soldiers stationed in Korea. According to the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, those amenities include a new fitness center "complete with a gym, indoor pool, running track, and four-story parking garage."

In addition to an eight-lane, 25-meter indoor swimming pool, the center will feature a 626-foot indoor running track; separate rooms for cardio fitness, circuit training, free weights, and group exercise; basketball and racquetball courts; a martial arts training room; and climbing walls, the newspaper added.

The confrontation and construction is part of a larger redeployment of the 35,000-strong U.S. troop presence in Korea. Under the terms of an agreement between Washington and Seoul, American troops are being moved away from major population centers and the North Korean border.

Paradoxically, observers say, that could increase the likelihood of war on the Korean Peninsula.

"It's an offensive move," argued George Katsiaficas, a researcher at Harvard University's Korea Institute and president of the Peace Island Foundation. "It takes American forces out of the range of North Korean artillery and creates a situation where the United States could attack North Korea without Americans necessarily being directly threatened in the immediate counter attack."

Katsiaficas doesn't believe war with North Korea is imminent, but he sees the redeployment of U.S. troops in South Korea as part of a larger strategy by the Bush administration.

"Right now the governments of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea are all preparing for a U.S. attack," Katsiaficas added. "They all believe a U.S. attack is coming because the neoconservatives in Washington are pursuing a very aggressive military policy. The Iranians are preparing for an attack modeled on Israel's attack on Lebanon. So the North Koreans would be remiss not to consider this realignment as a way for the U.S. to position itself in a way so that it could make such an attack."

A treatise on death....

The 19-yr old boy who drove into the power pole on the roadway behind my home was apparently well known by many young people in Kingman.

Indeed, an 8X10 photo of the boy who didn't survive the shearing of the pole has been stapled to the new power pole at the site. There is a card or something stapled above it and there has been a fairly regular flow of visitors with some of them writing on the card. They stop, look around, some go down the embankment, return, get in their cars and leave. Someone put a post in the ground and attached balloons to it which won't last long in the strong winds we get around here.

I'm a bit surprised that my witnessing the accident seems to bother me as much as it does - I mean, people are being killed around here - they're listed in the paper - every day!

Many years ago I witnessed the crash of a B29 into a housing area where 30 men, women and children were killed - mostly burned beyond recognition. I heard the plane, heard the crash and saw the smoke! Later that morning as a dental tech I helped identify the remains with dental records and then helped haul them down to the morgue at the Naval base. -- Now that was and is a horrible memory which I relive every once in a while - but then we can become hardened to such things - used to death. I know our brains are designed to get used to things - mine did as I got used to assisting in oral surgery, for example.

I recall taking my father to the airport so he could seek yet another wife he had in mind back in Ohio. He had made the arrangements himself with a local travel agent so who was I to tell my 97-year old father that it would kill him? So at the San Francisco airport, I stood there at the ramp to the plane as the stewards wheeled him down the tunnel knowing that I'd never see nor talk to my father again - I felt sadness and loss - a reluctant letting go of part of my life, but I didn't have the feeling of violence and horror which I had experienced with the plane crash.

Again, when the assisted living home (not far from my home) where my 94-yr old mother was living called and said my mother had what they called the "death rattle" and asked whether I wanted to drive her to the hospital or have an ambulance, I, of course, opted to drive her.

They placed her in the seat beside me and I went ‘down the hill' to the hospital. If you've never heard the "death rattle" it is an unnerving sound. Every breath gurgled as she semi-reclined half-asleep beside me, I felt so helpless - this was my mother! I drove directly into the ‘ambulance only' entrance to ER and they took her up immediately as I re-parked the car.

In ER, the doctor gave her a shot of morphine and the gurgle stopped and she seemed peacefully asleep. Then the doctor asked if she had a medical will (which she had) - but I lied, said no, and asked for a prognosis. He told me that she was dying, that they could put her on life support, but even that wouldn't work for long - she's a very old woman.

You can't imagine the rush of thoughts through my mind in those few seconds until I finally asked that they make her as comfortable as possible and let her go - knowing full well that I was ending my mother's life. I knew by her will that she would have agreed. Again, I felt sadness and loss even more so than the death of my father which I passively had allowed to happen.

The reason I tell this is that I think there is a great difference between death when it is normal, calm and expected, sooner or later, and when it is sudden, unexpected and violent.

Most certainly I was most affected personally by the deaths of my parents - those deaths involved a sense of great sadness and loss to me. I could add to the list my grandfather and mentor and others I have lost over the years. I might add that Terry's death this Spring was not unexpected and was also of sadness and loss.

On the other hand, the deaths I had to deal with directly in the plane crash were horrifying and sickening due to the violence and destruction of people who had only moments before been living normal happy lives. It is, I think the same when the boy drove his truck into the power pole. At one moment he was a young kid with a future, friends and family and the next he virtually ceased to exist!

Thus it seems to me that it is not whether you die (we all will, of course), but how you die which makes a great difference - not to you necessarily - but to those who witness or are involved with you and your death.

On the one hand your death can be of sadness and loss but on the other - shock and horror!

Ann Richards.... r.i.p.

My favorite Texan is gone! I would have loved to have known her, her honesty and wit - especially her wit. "Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, only backwards and in high heels."

I bemoaned the loss of Lloyd Benson - the only other Texan I've really admired, but today is a sad day to know that I'll never hear a scintillating interview of this girl (I'm older than she) and her quiet funny verbal daggers pushed right into the hearts of ‘the bad guys' - and in Texas there are a hell of a lot of bad guys!

Smokin' and drinkin' will do you in, girl... What can I say... So long, girl.

Former Texas Governor Ann Richards Dies
By KELLEY SHANNON, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Former Gov. Ann Richards, the witty and flamboyant Democrat who went from homemaker to national political celebrity, died Wednesday night after a battle with cancer, a family spokeswoman said. She was 73.

She died at home surrounded by her family, the spokeswoman said. Richards was found to have esophageal cancer in March and underwent chemotherapy treatments.

The silver-haired, silver-tongued Richards said she entered politics to help others — especially women and minorities who were often ignored by Texas' male-dominated establishment.

"I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.' I think I'd like them to remember me by saying, 'She opened government to everyone,'" Richards said shortly before leaving office in January 1995.

She was governor for one term, losing her re-election bid to Republican George W. Bush.

Her four adult children spent Wednesday with her, said family spokeswoman Cathy Bonner, a longtime family friend. "They're a strong group of people but they're broken-hearted, of course," Bonner said.

Her family said as governor she was most proud of two actions that probably cost her re-election. She vetoed legislation that would allow people to carry concealed handguns, automatic weapons and "cop-killer bullets." She also vetoed a bill that would have allowed the destruction of the environment over the Edwards Aquifer.

She grabbed the national spotlight with her keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention when she was the Texas state treasurer. Richards won cheers from delegates when she reminded them that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, "only backwards and in high heels."

Richards sealed her partisan reputation with a blast at George H. Bush, a fellow Texan who was vice president at the time: "Poor George, he can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth." [Actually Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, on June 12, 1924 and definitely not a Texan - and is not, today.]

Four years later, she was chairwoman of the Democratic convention that nominated Bill Clinton for president.

Richards rose to the governorship with a come-from-behind victory over millionaire cowboy Clayton Williams in 1990. She cracked a half-century male grip on the governor's mansion and celebrated by holding up a T-shirt that showed the state Capitol and read: "A woman's place is in the dome."

In four years as governor, Richards championed what she called the "New Texas," appointing more women and more minorities to state posts than any of her predecessors.

She appointed the first black University of Texas regent; the first crime victim to join the state Criminal Justice Board; the first disabled person to serve on the human services board; and the first teacher to lead the State Board of Education. Under Richards, the fabled Texas Rangers pinned stars on their first black and female officers.

She polished Texas' image, courted movie producers, championed the North American Free Trade Agreement, oversaw an expansion of the state prison system, and presided over rising student achievement scores and plunging dropout rates.

She took time out to celebrate her 60th birthday by earning her motorcycle driver's license.

Throughout her years in office, her personal popularity remained high. One poll put it at more than 60 percent the year she lost to Bush.

"I may have lost the race," Richards said after the defeat. "But I don't think I lost the good feelings that people have about me in this state. That's tremendously reassuring to me."

Richards went on to give speeches, work as a commentator for CNN and serve as a senior adviser in the New York office of Public Strategies Inc., an Austin-based consulting firm.

In her last 10 years, Richards worked for many social causes and helped develop the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, scheduled to open in Austin in 2007.

Born in Lakeview, Texas, in 1933, Richards grew up near Waco, married civil rights lawyer David Richards and spent her early adulthood volunteering in campaigns and raising four children. She often said the hardest job she ever had was as a public school teacher at Fulmore Junior High School in Austin.

Richards served on the Travis County Commissioners Court in Austin for six years before jumping to a bigger arena in 1982. Her election as state treasurer made her the first woman elected statewide in nearly 50 years.

But politics took a toll. It helped break up her marriage. And public life forced her to be remarkably candid about her 1980 treatment for alcoholism.

"I had seen the very bottom of life," she once recalled. "I was so afraid I wouldn't be funny anymore. I just knew that I would lose my zaniness and my sense of humor. But I didn't. Recovery turned out to be a wonderful thing."

The 1990 election was rough. Her Democratic primary opponent, then-Attorney General Jim Mattox, accused her of using illegal drugs. Williams, an oilman, banker and rancher, spent millions of his own money on the race she narrowly won.

After her unsuccessful re-election campaign against Bush, Richards said she never missed being in public office.

Asked once what she might have done differently had she known she was going to be a one-term governor, Richards grinned.

"Oh, I would probably have raised more hell."

Survivors include her children, Cecile Richards, Daniel Richards, Clark Richards and Ellen Richards; their spouses; and eight grandchildren.

Our International Troubles...

That is an old one, dear sister. "Turn the other cheek" from (Matthew 5:38:45). Or sometimes, when in doubt, change the subject - that is an old female ‘trick' (not the oldest, of course)!

However, I doubt that such passivism has saved lives today or ever. And I'm not certain that since it is of the "I will overcome." syndrome that it is not those more overt actions of others who made the changes - not the passivists who cried out.

Sure, everyone likes to think that the stubbornness of Martin Luther KIng changed anything. All he did was to bring attention to the problem and it was the activists who made the changes. That was also true of Gandhi. All he got was the attention of people who rose up and said, "Hmmmm. This just isn't right!"

So what I'm saying is that people like Gandhi and King and other whistle blowers are to be admired for their efforts - but they were only successful because many thousands of others decided that changes should be made.

Our problems today, I think, are quite different and won't be changed by hunger strikes, marches of the Gandhi or King ilk or even popular opinion. The American people could create a wailing wall of their choice, but to no avail. We have made our bed and we must sleep in it.

No one is going to dissuade the Al-Qaeda and its myriad of splinter groups to stop terrorizing westerners by anyone in the west going on a hunger strike - as Gandhy did, nor someone claiming that we're just innocent lambs being led to slaughter by oil people like Dick Cheney.

We are imperialists, have always been since at least the Civil War, and are paying the price for our aggressions. We didn't get where we are as the lead nation of the world simply by hard work and innovation - that is BS! We got where we are through aggressive business dealings and power mongering.

We have created a world of hatred by those who feel they should have been better served and also those who envy us because with good reason they feel they certainly should live as well as we.

So here we are, the fifth year after 9/11 and a few of us huddle together in fear of yet another attack by the evil "fascist Islamics." Yet what do we hear from our elected leader?

From the AP, we find that: " WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush has in recent days recast the global war on terror into a "war against Islamic fascism." Fascism, in fact, seems to be the new buzzword for Republicans in an election season dominated by an unpopular war in Iraq.

Yet from Wikipedia we learn that, "Fascism is a radical totalitarian political philosophy that combines elements of corporatism, authoritarianism, extreme nationalism, militarism, anti-anarchism, anti-communism and anti-liberalism." Hmmmmmmm! Doesn't that sound a bit Republican?

Perhaps if we apply a little logic to this ‘hatred of us thing' (as George Bush, Sr. would say) we could take the heat off us by not occupying and controlling most of the world! Just a thought.