What song best sums up the previous year?

Paul,
Thanks for the support but you, too, have stated quite succinctly (Jeez, my spelling is bad!) where we are. I also think most of these responses are based on an emotional state caused by a thought package into which one is heavily invested.

I want to do everything possible to avoid being incinerated in a fireball (or beheaded or shot between the eyes) so I am willing to give the current administration some wiggle room when dealing with suspected Muslim terrorists in this country who are contacting other thugs who are in the Mideast. Remember what Osama said:

"We will not rest until we kill 4 million Americans on American soil, and half of those must be children." Only way to do that is with nuclear weapons. Anyone else thinking something immediately has be done about Iran?

And, Jeez Louise, is anyone still upset that some Army soldiers made terror suspect prisoners wear panties on their heads? You can watch any Madonna video and see worse than that! Or, pick any one of a dozen MTV shows like Jackass, Bad Boys, and that one where the adults kids assault their parents while we are supposed to be laughing. Raise a generation on this crap and how do you expect them to act in a degraded situation like an Iraqi prison? I remember in the days after 09-11-01 that people such as Thomas Friedman, Jeff Greenfield, and even Al Franken all advocated some form of torture of terror suspects. Even some Democrat congressmen (whose names I can't remember now) preached the same thing. We wisely realized in those brightly lit days that things had changed. We were now fighting for our very existance.

Breadman, I was wondering what happened to my pants.

Uppermidfi, The vagabond was you, and the person you are now took over the pants of the person you used to be before you became the person you are now. ;)

A Republican in a wheelchair entered a restaurant one afternoon and asked the
waitress for a cup of coffee. The Republican looked across the restaurant and asked,
"Is that Jesus sitting over there?" The waitress nodded "yes," so the Republican
requested that she give Jesus a cup of coffee, on him.

The next patron to come in was a Libertarian with a hunched back. He shuffled over
to a booth, painfully sat down, and asked the waitress for a cup of hot tea. He also
glanced across the restaurant and asked, "Is that Jesus over there?" The waitress
nodded, so the Libertarian asked her to give Jesus a cup of hot tea, "My treat."

The third patron to come into the restaurant was a Democrat on crutches. He hobbled
over to a booth, sat down and hollered, "Hey there, honey! How's about gettin' me a
cold glass of Miller Light?" He, too, looked across the restaurant and asked, "Is
that God's boy over there?" The waitress once more nodded, so the Democrat directed
her to give Jesus a cold glass of beer. "On my bill," he said.

As Jesus got up to leave, he passed by the Republican, touched him and said, "For
your kindness, you are healed."

The Republican felt the strength come back into his legs, got up, and danced a jig
out the door.

Jesus also passed by the Libertarian, touched him and said, "For your kindness, you
are healed." The Libertarian felt his back straightening up, and he raised his
hands, praised the Lord and did a series of back flips out the door.

Then Jesus walked towards the Democrat. The Democrat jumped up and yelled, "Don't
touch me... I'm collecting disability."

Tomryan

I do indeed clearly remember those very words which you quoted from Osama. If one actually tries to visualize that senario, which Osama graciously laid out for us - I think smiles would disappear from everyone's face.

It is sad, that in 4 short years, we have forgotten the way it felt during the brightly lit days following 9/11/01. It would be wise for every American to understand we are facing a far more dangerous enemy than we've EVER faced before. The Nazis and Japanese of WWII were noble in comparison to the enemy we face now. At least the enemies of WWII fought as soldiers, who understood the rules of war - not terrorists, who know, no boundaries.

Hopefully we will all become guardians of our land, and keep a vigilant eye out for anything that appears out of the ordinary. Sadly, we can never really rest as easily as we once did. We are certainly living in un-certain times.
As you said Tom - "we are the solution". We all need to realize that, and accept it. As the saying goes...it's lonely at the top.

Thanks again Tom.

paul

Be well fellow Agoners - shoulder to shoulder.
btw - Lee Greenwood's - "Proud to be an American" :-)