Ah! Thank you for your post, Cathryn. You've proven my point exactly about shallow thinkers. As Abe Lincoln once said, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt."

To say that "we have only Mr. Bush to thank for making us the most reviled country on the face of the earth" is to ignore the fact that WE WERE ALREADY HATED WAY BEFORE 9-11. (And you flaunt your Ph.D. from UCLA? It fails to impress me.) Do you forget the following?

--The 52 hostages that were held captive in Iran for 444 days 1979-1981?
--The bombing of the Beirut embassy in 1983 that killed 241 Marines?
--Pan Am flight 103 that was brought down by Libyan bombers in 1988 resulting in the deaths of 270 people?
--The first World Trade Center bombing in 1993 that killed 6 and injured 1,042 people?
--The bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996 that killed 19 U.S. servicemen?
--The 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that killed hundreds of people?
--The attack on the USS Cole in 2000 that killed 17 sailors?

I could go on and on. The point is they didn't like us before 2001 either and it sure wasn't George Bush's fault back then. And, Mike, when exactly was it that "the Arab world used to admire and respect us?"

I was being polite before, but now, Cathryn, you can really be put off by the tone of my message. I tried to engage some of you in a cogent discussion and instead, the very first comment back from Penny B. was the typical liberal Bush-bashing (oh, I forgot, you like to be called "progressives" now, instead of that pejorative term "liberal.") There was absolutely no substance in your remarks -- no comments whatsoever on the real message in my post about the Ogallala Aquifer situation.

At least, Mike, gave a very well-supported argument in favor of Chris' nomination of over-population as being the greatest environmental disaster. He had my attention in his post, right up to his last sentence: "The Arab world used to admire and respect us." Shee-e-e-sh!

As for my nomination of terrorist attacks, I think that it could have an over-whelming domino effect on our country that would be hard, if not imposssible, to overcome. I think we teetered after 9-11, but I think that Bush's tax cuts helped us to avoid going over the brink -- and I truly believe that from everything I've read in articles and opinions in the Wall Street Journal and other such financial publications.

For all you Bush-bashers, you shall soon be rid of him -- but just be careful what you wish for, you may end up with someone even worse.

I must take my leave -- for good, now. To paraphrase Chief Joseph: "I shall post here no more forever."

Thank you, Canie, for your hospitality in providing this site. It's been fun.

Barbara