Someone commits suicide while taking 43 people with him in a Middle Eastern market. Another bomber takes the same number of people with him in a group of applicants for the police force. The media ascribes to both the term terrorist. Wrong.

Someone asks why do terrorists attack innocent civilians. The definition of terrorism will explain why.

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I just wanted to make a few short comments on a couple of items in the news - no, not the Olympics. It appears that most people don’t understand or appreciate the importance or complexities of Russia’s attacks on Georgia. I include the administration in this.

One of the problems, again, is putting amateurs in charge of our international affairs just because they share a totally discredited Neo-Con perspective. What else should they have expected?

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Have you thought lately about how good it would be to lynch someone? Well, Toby Keith has. He thought it such a wonderful idea that he wrote a pro-lynching song. He doesn’t just quit there. He made an unintentionally funny video about it.

But first, here are the lyrics:

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I could just kick myself in the rear. How did I fail to see the solution? How did you? How did we? The way to win a war is so simple, even, . . . only John McCain knew the secret. I’m a little angry with him for holding back and not enlightening us sooner. It is surprising that he didn’t share it with the generals. It reflects badly on them that they did know. But, of course, they can’t all be military experts.

McCain told us in no uncertain terms. He knows how to win wars. Reflecting a bit on this bold declaration, it was obvious that he was telling us the secret. He was a prisoner of war during most of the Vietnam War. But, he definitely used the plural.

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We are fortunate to have so many different tools, even though some of us are fairly inept in applying them correctly. With so many different tools, we would laugh at one who insisted on using a hammer, regardless of the situation. We would, likewise, be amused at someone applying only a screwdriver when other tools would be more appropriate.

We might call the first guy a Hammerist and the second a Screwdriverist. That sounds funny, doesn’t it? Does it also sound familiar? Capitalist? Socialist? Communist? Realist??? Well, they may share a suffix, you say. But, is that all? No. They have much more in common, though it hardly seems that anyone realizes it.

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Time once again to enlarge the number of people angry at me. I know that quite a few in this group already enjoy the pleasure of directing anger my way but it is possible that a straggler or stray remains. I operate under the assumption that, the more, the merrier.

With only a year of law school under my belt, I likely have a considerable advantage over those who failed to avoid the siren call of the ‘Dark Side of the Force.’ It quickly became clear to me that law was not a profession for anyone with a conscience. It does mean, however, that lots of otherwise unemployable undesirables are not a burden to the welfare department.

Perhaps it is sometime after the first year when they are inculcated with the notion that members of their saintly and sanctified calling are permitted to ignore the Beatitudes, the original Ten Commandments, everything they learned in kindergarten and the hallowed teachings of Perry Mason. This is something similar to the relationship too many physicians enjoy, or endure, with Hippocrates.

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Maybe you’ve heard the plaintive cries: get the government off of our backs (except in the bedroom and on the phone and the net). The ones shedding the tears can’t understand why sane people don’t acknowledge them as prophets and sages. The simple truths are so obvious. Simple? Yes. Obvious? Hardly.

Deregulation is just one of the two traditional foundations of conservatism. The other is tax cuts. These two miracles, when combined, give us, er, uh . . . the mess we are now enjoying?

We’ve recently had a substitute for a tax cut. Are you still trying to find ways to do your part to stimulate the economy? Some people, those who don’t love America as much as you and I, used their $600 to pay off debts. We patriotic paladins gritted our teeth, filled up our tanks (to help the economies of our devoted friends at OPEC) and drove to Wal-Mart (to help the economy of our devoted friend, China).

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Having been treated by at least 28 physicians and surgeons in the past three to four years, the subject is close to my heart, and my spine, and my artificial hip, and, and, and. Some are absolutely wonderful but 50 percent of all medical students were graduated in the lower half of their class. Not all are devils but neither are they all angels. Actually, there is another reason for this to be a subject of interest to me but I’ll get to that in a bit.

Some lawyers enjoy lawyer jokes. Others go ballistic. Many in the medical community will take offense at this post. Others, hopefully, will not see it a denigration of their chosen profession.

There may be a few old-timers remaining who remember Fidel Castro being referred to as Doctor Castro. Why was that? No, not why are there still a few of us geezers left. Why was Castro ever called Doctor Castro? It is due to a cultural convention. In some societies, mostly in Latin America, they address lawyers as doctor. It is an honorific.

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Having been a politician, the addiction never goes away. The interest remains even though what you see continually sickens. My intensity of interest may account for the fact that matters which go unnoticed by others cause a ‘fingernails on the blackboard’ reaction in me.

It is, therefore, perhaps my sensitivity to the question that makes it appear to be so prominent and so frequently appearing. What is this irritant under my skin? Many people are wont to exclaim that this country is a republic, not a democracy. The instance of such a proclamation seems always to be a condescending, even sneering, attempt to teach some great but simple truth to a dullard. The teacher reeks of self-satisfaction . He is so much more intelligent and enlightened than his audience. The problem is that they know not what they know not.

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I don’t know why I’m writing on this subject. After all, I am somewhat cowardly. This post will likely put me in jeopardy. Too many Christians are all too ready and willing to demonstrate that “God is love.”

I sometimes wonder if those most loudly proclaiming their Christianity have ever actually read the Bible. Comparing what I have read with what they say they’ve read is often a study in contrasts. On this particular subject, it seems that there is a problem with what they claim versus what they claim.

Creationists claim that the Universe came into being just the way it is written in Genesis. Have they read Genesis? Which version of the Creation found in Genesis is the one that they believe? Did God speak and the Universe appeared out of nothing? Or, did God find chaos already existing and organize it? Which one?

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