State of the Onion

There are so many current political oddities to comment on. Although Bush still needs more time after four years, Kerry admits that his time has run out. Which one seems to have a better sense of reality?

Bush's speech was right on one account; this is not the war we entered. And, if honest, we can admit that we actually did win the one we entered. Sadam is history. But now we are in a different war and that one looks more and more like a loser. Noone, especially Americans, likes to admit to less than victory, but third party bullets don't seem to have much impact on internecine conflict. The combatants do not appear to want peace and we may have to settle for batting five hundred on our last two wars. Backing out slowly and watching from the sidelines for a while may be a prudent course. Since the predictions of chaos are no more sure than predictions of victory, perhaps, given more total responsibility for their country, the Iraqis and the various other Shite and Suni states may decide that negotiation between the religious factions is better than a total Mid Eastern conflagration.

In the domestic health care part of his address, Bush declared at one point that the best medical decisions are those made between a patient and a doctor. That is something I can fully agree with and I wonder if he is really ready to let that occur in the case of reproductive choice. Noone else seems to have made this connection. Maybe I misheard.