The war. I'm not the least bit interested in how the war began, how bad the intelligence was, or who voted for it. I'm far more concerned with the fact that the war is now the longest in history and we're farther away from establishing democratic peace in Iraq than we were the day Saddam's statue came down. We continue to sacrifice American lives and spend gobs of money in a war that cannot be won and which increases the hatred against us and thereby increases rather than decreases the prospect of more terrorist attacks in our homeland.

Bush Bashing. Even though I wasted a paragraph in an earlier post, there's little value in whining about what this President accomplished or didn't accomplish in his eight years in office. We'd all be better served spending out time choosing the right person to succeed him.

The Economy. My comments on the economy are not at all short term. If the stock market and the rate of economic growth return to previous levels, that won't cause me to reduce my criticism of the fundamental structure and competitiveness of the U.S. in the world economy. We are failing to provide our business community with an educated workforce and under the guise of maintaining a "free market economy" we're encouraging market participants to operate with an extremely short-term perspective. I agree with you on the danger of inflation. But the fundamental underlayment of our economy has been damaged to an extent that we are becoming a second rate economic power in the world. Inflation is dangerous because it might be the issue that most quickly reveals the depth of our problems.

Rating Presidents. Again, I'm not too interested in which of our recent Presidents will be rated by historians as best, average or worst. I think we all might be better served by studying and understanding how they lead the country, how they governed, and how their governance addressed the most fundamental problems facing the country during their terms of office. Did they make America better or worse on their watch? Did they leave their successors with a firm foundation for continued improvements or a bushel of problems that must be cleaned up before any positive leadership can occur? The purpose for seeking such understanding is for Americans to exhibit more wisdom in choosing political leaders and to equip future political leaders with the lessons of history so they can do a better job of leading and governing.