Anyway, "Get used to the protest, Gibson." This guy is in the U.S. Army. He writes to me from Tirrenia, Italy, on a U.S. army.mil [email account]. Can you imagine this? "Get used to the protest, Gibson. Americans are finally waking up and seeing the lies and the fallacies of the Bush administration. Fox News has done its best at bird-dogging the Iraq war." This guy is in the Army. Who knows? All right, find him and arrest him. Let's go now to Rick in Palm Bay, Florida.

"Satan is the great destroyer. His aim is to destroy thousands of families as a result of problems stemming from compulsive gambling. May we continue to diligently pray God would show mercy to our State – that every effort for state-sponsored gambling would be brought to nothing."

For political reasons, the president has a history of silence on America's war dead. But he finally mentioned them on Monday because it became politically useful to use them as a rationale for war - now that all the other rationales have gone up in smoke.

"We owe them something," he told veterans in Salt Lake City (even though his administration tried to shortchange the veterans agency by $1.5 billion). "We will finish the task that they gave their lives for."

What twisted logic: with no W.M.D., no link to 9/11 and no democracy, now we have to keep killing people and have our kids killed because so many of our kids have been killed already? Talk about a vicious circle: the killing keeps justifying itself.

You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don't think any oil shipments will stop. But this man is a terrific danger and the United ... This is in our sphere of influence, so we can't let this happen. We have the Monroe Doctrine, we have other doctrines that we have announced. And without question, this is a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that could hurt us very badly. We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.

After Mia Hamm retired, I was wondering if anyone would fill her void as the "cute female athlete who's as personable as an ironing board" ... and then Danica Patrick came along.

"I am flat-out, completely, horizontally opposed to CAFTA."
--Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC) Charlotte Observer, July 25, 2005

I think it's more accurate to say that ID does not belong in a science class because it ISN'T A SCIENCE. It isn't a scientific theory, it isn't a branch of science, and it has no relevance any form of scientific study.

Science is the process of finding explanations for natural phenomena by gathering empirical data to support those explanations (also known as theories or hypotheses). ID does not rely on empirical data of any sort to prove a hypothesis. In fact, it does exactly the opposite. ID declares that there is no need to gather ANY data about natural phenomena because the explanation or theory that supports it is not a scientific but a supernatural one.

So what it comes down to is:

Evolution = scientific theory subject to verification by gathering empirical evidence

Intelligent Design = unverifiable supernatural explanation for natural phenomena.

So what is this debate about, really?

Palmeiro: Probably not headed to Cooperstown.
Rove: Probably headed to Allenwood.

"I have never intentionally used steroids. Never. Ever. Period."
--Rafael Palmiero, in a prepared statement today, after receiving a 10-game suspension for steriod use.