I'd like to start out by maintaining that I don't believe President George Walker Bush is lying when he states that he received false intelligence about Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. I don't believe he "just made it up." But I DO believe, based solely on quotes Bush dropped early in his presidency mixed with the testimony of Richard Clark, that Bush was hounding his cabinet for anti-Iraqi intelligence to fuel his own agenda in Iraq. It's certainly reasonable that a cabinet under heavy pressure from a presidential administration would jump at the first opportunity for a pat on the back that came their way. Disturbing.

More disturbing than this: We have no fighting allies in this war. Because we have no fighting allies in this war, the National Guard and Army Reserves are being backdoor drafted directly to Iraq. I have a friend right now who joined the Guard a couple of years ago, serving time currently. I have two family members in similar situations. They don't want to be there, and I don't want them there. It is ridiculous to go into ANY war, regardless of validity, regardless of partisan agendas, without strong allies in Europe. It is REDICULOUS to remove yourself from the U.N. Coalition for Peace in order to invade a country.

Also disturbing: Polls run by CNN and NPR show that 83% of Iraqis see our troops as an occupying force.

Is Bush an idiot? I'm not sure I'd go that far. He has a serious knack for backing himself into corners in speeches. His views on the necessity of war are most definitely warped. His fiscal direction of "Cutting taxes makes jobs" is superficial and surface-dwelling, at best. Yes, he got a C+ average at Yale. Yes, he failed High School and college economics.

I don't believe Bush is an idiot. I believe Senator John Kerry needs to be elected, and I believe the time has come to exercise our voices. Are you going to wake up on November 3rd, under an administration you do not support, and say, "Gee, I didn't do anything to stop this"?

Get out there. Make some noise. Vote in November.

While you're at it? Check out [link] It's totally soft money, but there's some great stuff there.