For several years I have pondered how the Bush administration managed to hoodwink so many people into believing that it would be a good idea to go to war in Iraq.    Of course, their main tool was fear.  Fear that the smoking gun would become a mushroom cloud.  But this is America, home of the brave.  Why did so many pundits and politicians fall for this deception?  Much has been blamed on the media and there certainly is culpability there.  But why did the message of fear resonate with so many Americans?   Why did fear sell newspapers, magazines and TV shows?  Certainly 9/11 was a scary event, but instead of responding to it with rational efforts to combat terrorism in Afghanistan, our nation was led into war with a sovereign state that had nothing to do with 9/11.   We know that the Bush administration had come into office with a plan for this war, but how did they manage to distort the events of 9/11 into a rallying cry for the war they so dearly desired?  And why did some people resist the fear mongering and oppose the war?  Why did part of our country see the evidence and reject Bush’s claims, while others preferred to be led down the path to war with Iraq?

Last Fall the progressive Dems here in Delaware worked hard to elect John Kowalko in the 25th State Rep. District.  He had an uphill battle against an 18-year incumbent and he'd lost to her in 2004.  But John has courage and tenacity and he won.  So he went to Dover and introduced a bill that required former State Reps and Senators to spend one year out of the General Assembly before they could come back as lobbyist. Which set off the dominoes in Delaware.

How can the Republican administration train Iraqis to govern their nation when those same GOP administrators can't govern America?  This is the tragedy of Iraq and America in 2006.

The Dems have put forth a worthy plan for the first 100 hours of Congress in 2007.  Lots of good stuff to help Americans regain control of our nation from the Corporatists.  One thing that seems to be missing is for the people to regain control of the airwaves.