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"Laura, is the face in the misty light”, goes the song. Not so Laura Bush. Instead of a face in the misty light, this Laura wants to be, and may well be, the driving “light” behind her own agenda for America. A sort of Martha Stewart of politics, or out-Hillorying Hillory, if you will.

Reports indicate that Bush will advocate an increase in troop strength in Iraq when he publicly announces his new policy for Iraq. This policy has been dubbed “surging” and is also supported by Sen. McCain and other hawks. Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid have already spoken out against a surge. How this will all play out from a public relations and political standpoint remains to be seen.

It is the consensus of most Christians that God speaks to us in mysterious ways: visions, signs, dreams, symbols, and of course through the Bible. The Good Book indicates that God has “voiced” messages to so few individuals, that it’s hard to take someone’s claim of oral communication seriously.

As the United States reviews its plans to secure, stabilize, and rebuild Iraq, the Government Accountability Office submitted several reports forCongressional consideration in developing its oversight agenda for the 110th Congress and analyzing the President’s revised strategy for Iraq. On Wednesday night, President George W. Bush is expected to reveal his new strategy in a televised speech to the American people.

Nobody, especially this writer, should have to tell you that we’re sitting ducks with our “traditional” kind of democracy. Traditional, because that’s how most Americans (including most politicians) think of democracy. You know, the kind of democracy that’s supposed to keep America free; the kind that Bush & Co, are desperately trying to impose on the rest of the world, whether they like it or not.

Imagine a Super Bowl football team quitting the game in the third quarter simply because they were behind. The premise is so absurd it is inconceivable. So too would be our quitting a war to protect our way of life simply because battlefield conditions are not going perfectly. 

Funny how things work out. After World War II, I waited 50 years before joining the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Don’t ask me why the delay, I don’t even know myself. All I can tell you is that one day I found myself wanting some camaraderie with other vets, even though only a few were of my vintage.

History washes away lies and the truth eventually comes out; the greater the secret, the greater the likelihood of its being revealed.  Whether one is a Democrat or a Republican, supports the war or opposes it, we all feel we’ve been lied to about the war in Iraq.  The truth comes out.

In mid-December, at the invitation of the Middle East Forum, I attended a luncheon in New York whose featured speaker was Avigdor Lieberman, a Deputy Prime Minster of Israel. He wants the Arabs out of Israel. It cannot be done.

In my humble opinion. sir, you seem to be incapable of weeping, or at least feeling a smidgeon of sorrow, about much of anything. Well, maybe if your dog died.  But the death of our soldiers and Marines in Iraq, trapped in this monstrous, endless war, appear to disturb you not at all. If it does, perhaps you tell one of your advisors how you feel and let him do the crying for you.

When I hear George Bush say he wants to make every country a democracy, like America, it shows that he knows less about America than I do.

This was my first full year as a critic screening 10 or more movies a month. You learn a few things from having to see so many moving pictures. One, it’s discouraging to see so many bad and mediocre movies. When they say they don’t make ‘em like they used to, they’re right. If you look at a list of all the movies made in 1939 in Hollywood, a quarter to a third are good to excellent films. Today, you’re lucky if five percent released are any good.

Gone are the days of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and the Rat Pack, who engaged in questionable behavior but kept it private. These days Americans are left with semi-celebrities like Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and Paris Hilton. And like never before these semi-talented semi-celebrities are on the front cover of major magazines, in the tabloids, in the news, and on our televisions, and worst of all, influencing young girls across the country on what it takes to be famous, or more appropriately, infamous.

Having heard on radio President Roosevelt’s “day of infamy” speech; and having spent three years on Pacific islands “avenging” Pearl Harbor; and having spent the next 50 years watching what has been happening to America since then, I feel somewhat qualified to speak my piece.