Or they voted for it in fear that the American public was so scared and duped by the Administration that any protest vote would be taken as a sign of treason and be the end of their political career and whatever voice they may have. Not to mention that if they lost their seat it would probably be taken by some gung ho Republican further consolidating their stranglehold on power.

Sometimes politicians have to choose their battles knowing that they have to bank power for a more important one coming down the pike. That concept doesn't exactly set right with me but I'm not in their shoes.

And Tom, I'm simply not buying the notion that Al Quaida isn't attacking because we're in Iraq. I truly feel they're laying low because they've achieved their ends with Bush in power. They have the perfect patsy in power, a man that reacts exactly as they expect with every move they make. They could've hit us numerous times since 9/11. You know as well as I do that our borders are porous as hell and it doesn't have to be some exotic attack to terrorize the public. A small bomb in a public school, mall, bus, etc. is all they have to do and, if done by a lone bomber, is nearly undetectable. My guess is they figure an attack is unpredictable as to the effect on our politics and not worth it until the target is spectacular or there's some new major goal to achieve.

We'll be hit again but there's really nothing militarily we can do to stop it without a huge amount of luck. Good worldwide intel is the best weapon against motivated terrorists but the ultimate long term weapon is to stop motivating them as a group with sound foreign policy and good example. There will always be the insane ones that need no motivation but there's really no defense against them. It's like trying to stop a serial killer before he ever kills his first puppy in the woods. You just never see it coming.

Terrorism is a crime, not a valid military tactic for a country to engage in. We've been over this many times and you'll never get this concept. You're just way too stuck in this eye for an eye mentality that never got Israel anywhere.

Art