[ultima ratio]

You know nothing about politics. Bush's base is secure. You one-issue fools would lose time after time because you don't know the difference between tactics and strategy. If you want to win elections, you have got to gain the swing voter. This is because the country is divided into thirds: a third is conservative, a third is liberal, and a third is centrist. Neither the right nor the left can win without the middle. Politics 101.

[Desdemona]

Don't forget that some states vote on the Second Ammendment. If the perception is there that the right to bear arms is threatened, the threatening party has an uphill fight.

I think you're right. Bush is in no danger right now. He means what he says and leaders like that are few and far between.

As for the pope, he knows that this war is dangerous from many fronts and that all war is human tradgedy, but he has not outright condemned military force. He just cautioned that it should be the absolute last resort. The call of the last resort is the one that's hard, and who's right is anyone's guess. My own take is that this war had to happen. The sooner the better, else the fight would have been far more precarious.

[Aloysius]

If you want to win elections you have got to gain the swing voter.

You are correct if your only objective is to simply to win elections. Your strategy works for those who simply want power. If you want change, your strategy is a recipe for failure. How are we materially better off than when Clinton was in office? Under Bush the government still steals 40% of my paycheck. Under Bush we are still at war. Under Bush we still murder our own children.

The only difference I see between Bush and Clinton so far is that Clinton was an adulterer and Bush is not.