Free Republic

Doug Thompson, who many of us old-timers remember from the Clinton years, is in critical condition after hitting a cow while Doug was riding his motorcycle. Doug was a player in the anti-Clinton campaign with his website Capital Hill Blue. CHB was frequently cited on FreeRepublic during those years. He has since become a big broken-glass Democrat and retired to Floyd County to pursue photography.

In the days, weeks and months following September 11, 2001, George W. Bush both surprised and impressed me with his handling of a national crisis. Like many who watched Bush squeak into office via the Supreme Court’s intervention, I didn’t expect much of Dubya. Yet he appeared to grow into the job and handled 9-11 with an adroit mixture of compassion and anger. Maybe, I thought, this guy might be up to the job after all. That was then. This is now. Now I’m not so sure. As Bush prepares to lead us into war with Iraq, a war that...