Bush comes from a background in grounded in business as well as politics. I have been listening to an audio version of the book Wisdom of the CEO by G. William Dauphinais, et al. One of the problems one of the writers (I believe the CEO from AT&T) addresses is the need of businesses to act on incomplete information--even if there is a cost in mistakes from which they can at least learn--because change occurs so rapidly in our world that by the time they could gather complete information, the situation would have changed and the information would no longer apply. Does that concept mitigate any of your conclusions about Bush's acting prematurely? Either way, what do you think he should have done and what do you see as the consequences of his doing it as you suggest?

I think we would all be wise to follow your example in being vigilant because wherever power exists, abuse of power generally also exists because power does not exist in a vacuum and there is almost always opposition to any form of power just as there is support for it. That's probably a circular argument due to the essence of power. The nature of how one holds his beliefs often determines the nature of how he defends them, and it is in the defense of power where much abuse lies. Yet not to defend power (i.e. political power)is not to have power in a world with multiple views and people striving to unify the world according to their own view. It would be a utopia of sorts if we could live in a world of diversity without running into conflicts. Unfortunately holding to beliefs of any sort generally results in running into conflicts--sometimes on the perimeters of one's parameters (sorry--I was going to use the word "beliefs" but I may never get a chance to use that expression again in a lifetime--and then again I may.) and sometimes at the heart of what one believes. Some of the most absolutist thinkers feel the threat closest to the heart (i.e. roots) of their beliefs. Ashcroft tends to come across as more absolute in his beliefs, but I don't know of him well enough to characterize him fairly in some ways. I can respond to his public judgments but I cross a line if I am commenting on what he as a human being believes because I don't know. I'm only guessing, and maybe not correctly. I need to read his writings which I haven't done. I need to study his rulings which I haven't done. Alas, I am confessing a wide range of ignorance which probably disqualifies me from offering any opinions. But when has that ever stopped me before?

The problem with defending power from the standpoint of defending one's faith is, I believe, that it breeds arrogance to act under the belief that one knows God's will and that one is acting in defense of God's will. And yet to do so is to at least act out of conscience. But no action in this world is self-contained and the ripples which are sent out from each action often run up against oppositional forces with which one must contend. Each person determines for himself when to meet opposition with resistance, invasive force, or avoidance. Each person has to decide for himself when conflicts pose threats. Unfortunately the humanity which draws us together becomes perverted into something else when political power becomes the issue. I guess I am saying I find the dynamics quite confusing and overwhelming. And yet when I see people of action who get things done, I have to acknowledge that simplification has its advantages in being effective, even though there is a trade-off in that simplification overlooks the complexity which is needed to individualize and personalize the application of justice toward the ideal of perfect justice. In order not to be paralyzed by life's complexity we need to simplify enough to be able to take a stand to accomplish change which is itself as much of a threat as it is a solution.

What you do as a writer is important because you raise important questions to make us think things through. You invite dialogue to enhance further development of your ideas. I'm just not sure that in the end you or I or anyone else gets any closer to universal truths than Bush or Ashcroft--although I'd like to think someone does--because when I stand back I don't want the absolutism I rightly or wrongly associate with Ashcroft to be the way the world is. And I do want the openness in society you encourage. And I don't want to make issues so complex--as I have a tendency to do--that no position can be held and no action taken. But I guess what it comes down to is the image of slapping someone around like a red-headed stepchild for his beliefs does describe an appropriate response from one with a differing vision of the world, and the differing vision is worth defending, but the stepchild image also demeans what it stands for, but it does communicate the frustration clearly and simply and perhaps effectively. And so as I conclude, President Bush has taken a stand; Attorney General Ashcroft has taken a stand; you have taken a stand; and I have taken a side trip into La-La Land. This is why I would never make it as a political scientist or a politician. Still something I said makes sense to me even if it is "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." [NightListener]

I don't think any of the thoughts you've expressed here are cynical during this exploratory stage of recovery for you from your on-the-street trauma. I don't know--sometimes traumas are gifts to shake us out of our--dare I use the word?--paradigms. Someone once told me that years ago when they visited Japan there were not many public restrooms so it was not uncommon to see people urinating on the street, but it was seeing without seeing because people passed by and took no notice. There is sometimes a gift of privacy in detachment. But then there are ones out there with genuine need who ought not be overlooked. It's a hard balance and takes a leap of faith sometimes to bridge the gap between one's own privacy and one's desire to pass onto other's a share of the blessings one has received without violating their privacy.

I hope that down the road you're able to look back at the bruise and possibly the scars and find a reason to give thanks for everyone of them. Right now though, I'm sorry you've had to deal with any of the trauma related to your experience when the light went out on the street. [NightListener]

Now I know what to say. Namaste. [NightListener]

P.S. When I cross over, don't think for a moment that you've heard the last from me! [NightListener]

Yes it's a tough market for writers right now, but when has it not been? Your conviction, attention to detail, curiosity, openness, determination, innate intelligence, educational background, and ability to structure and articulate ideas will eventually put you in demand as you become known. I have complete faith in you and in the path you've chosen for yourself. --Fondly, NL [NightListener]

And there's the song from the musical "Mack and Mabel" that goes:
"If a sky full of crap
always lands in your lap
Make a curtsy and tap your troubles away."

And when we were in fifth grade we used to recite:
"Little birdy in the sky,
Why'd you do that in my eye?
Now I'm no baby; I don't cry,
But I'm sure glad that cows don't fly"

But I must admit I am moved by the scene from "Mary Poppins" with the song "Feed the birds, tuppence a day."

You have a big heart and I really like you for it. But just the same, I'm glad you don't fly. [NightListener]

As for the influence of movies on how we feel, yes, I agree it's a problem. But no one ever said "It takes movies to love life." Edgar Lee Masters wrote "It takes life to love life." Self-acceptance takes work. Even thin, stereotypical attractive people sometimes worry that people are attracted to them for external appearances and not for who they are inside. The movies are fantasy, even when presented in the guise of realism. Real living involves getting beneath the surface of life. Some things we cannot learn from the movies, but must learn on our own. The media play on our fantasies. But we are the ones who reward them because we are in the habit turning to them frequently for the purpose of escaping from reality.

One of the things I like about MDD is that each person's appearance is basically undefined. I don't ordinarily assign the appearance of a movie star to anyone here. More often I'll be walking in a grocery store or at a restaurant or out somewhere in public and someone will appear who has some spark or attitude or aura, and I'll think that person makes me think of so-an-so; I could see that person writing what so-and-so has written. That's fantasy too. But I find that such fantasy has me bestowing love on a diverse group of people, few of which fit stereotypes set by movie stars and fashion models. [NightListener]

1)What message do you think the President ought to be giving out to the world now? 3) What constitutes peace in these circumstances?

4) What should the United States do to promote peace? 5) What should the United States refrain from doing to promote peace and preserve the safety of the nation?

5) What changes must the people of the United States accept in their expectations for the future?

6) What about the American lifestyle should we fight to preserve?

7) What aspects of the American lifestyle should we relinquish to promote peace and correct imbalances in the world?

8) Who are the enemies we need to be concerned about?

9) What symbolic messages should we be giving to the world?

10) What messages, symbolic or otherwise, should the United States avoid giving the world?

11) What support can we expect from the world and what do we need to do to maintain that support?

12) What is the worst case scenario of what could happen?

13) What serious case scenarios which are not worst case should we avoid at all cost and why?

You don't have to answer these questions, but they do express thoughts which occur to me regularly. [NightListener]

This thought just occurred to me. If I were a terrorist in Afghanistan I would want women to be covered from head to toe, restricted from interacting as much as possible, and to be remain silent because then if I were Osami bin Laden, I could dress as a woman and pass within limits unnoticed without the expectation that I would be accosted on the street by a stranger and revealed to be who I am. Peace or no peace, terrorists make their own rules, come in all nationalities and religions and from within as from without, and will strike again. And again. And again. The man in Tennessee who cut the bus driver's throat and caused the bus to crash was a terrorist. He may not have been born elsewhere and he may not have been affiliated with a group, but he created terror and death and injury and mayhem as much as if he did represent a terrorist group with as much purpose as Osami bin Laden. I admire you for going to the peace demonstration because it's important that a full range of American voices be heard. I am certain you will hear much, and I will be looking forward to hearing your observations and conclusions after you have this experience. The fact that not everyone will be clear about why they are there does not diminish the importance of the message they bear. In addition we who hear the message must commit ourselves to living with the complexity and humility which diversity requires. [NightListener]

In time of war situations become very complex. Our ideals may lean toward punishing the guilty and protecting the innocent, but we discovered in the O.J. Simpson case that even with the most energetic attention to details, it's difficult to separate fact from fiction and next to impossible to reach consensus us a nation about guilt or innocence of a single individual. Simpson's verdict was determined by a selected jury. The outcome of the 2000 Presidential election was determined by the Supreme Court. And yet consensus is not a matter of complete unity.

Personally I would hate to see McCarthyism brought back because of the damage it did to many lives of good people. And I would hate to see ethnic internment brought back because the damage done to innocent Asians during WWII. But I also want to feel safe and provide safety for those on the front line in this war. Those who stand to risk the most for the welfare of this nation deserve whatever support and protection we can offer. On the other hand the military machine of this country needs to be kept in check and balance by the balance of powers in government. Yet the military needs the license to get the job done. Yet determination of action should be based on a balance of strategies designed to put an enemy in check while protecting our system. We also need to show strength while fostering good will in an even more diversified world at large in order to garner allies. And it goes on. And I personally don't have answers--only more questions and a splitting headache as my head spins because it can't manage all the thoughts. And yet each of us, including myself, must put our headaches aside as soon as possible to resume our exploration. The problem too is that there isn't a single one among us who knows everything there is to know about the issues. We are interdependent but we don't even know whose opinion to trust. I tend to trust people who are more open about their own limitations than the people who come across as feeling certain that their way of seeing things is absolutely the way it is. I think for every issue there are plenty of reasons for each of us to doubt the correctness of our own responses. And yet even though public officials are just regular human beings like the rest of us, someone has to make judgment calls and decisions on action. And being human we're going to be fallible and some of the mistakes are going to be horribly costly to some individuals at home and abroad. There are people who have been in wars who had to act on instinct without adequate time for analysis who have lived a nightmare ever since because they had to make deadly decisions based on pure instinct which was often colored by fear, but were the best they could do with the danger and stress which confronted them. Attrocities and horrors as well as injustice and violations of personal rights are often by-products of our best efforts. Being human has no assurances and at times can be dowright dangerous. Civilization constantly fights its way upstream agains waves of anarchy and chaos. Edvard Munch's "The Scream" is certainly not our ideal response to difficult times, but sometimes it's hard to get beyond that. These are scary and anxious times. Reason does not always reign. Neither does prayer. It's hard to find a balance between hope and despair, and difficult to preserve our ideals in the face of potential hysteria. Sometimes the best we can do is to pray for guidance from above. This statement is a first draft. I'm not rereading it. It may make no sense in its rambling. My purpose was not to be critical but merely point out the levels of complications we face. [NightListener]

We are learning to find non-abusive ways of dealing with one another in personal interactions. There are many people who have learned how to settle disputes in their personal and community lives without resorting to violence. And yet for some violence remains a way of life. Child abuse and spousal abuse continue at high rates in our culture. And yet at personal and community levels those of us who can see beyond violence as a possible solution work hard to prevent the violent of the community, the violent within our families, from taking over our lives.

The larger the scale of conflict, the more complex it becomes and the more difficult it becomes to solve. There are no simple answers, and yet we must not dismiss what we have learned from simpler solutions to simpler problems.

We have improved our society by coming to understand the diversity among us and to accept the differences and to learn how to be ourselves among those who are different.

When examining death penalty issues, whether we are for or against or undecided concerning the morality of the death penalty, the arguments have forced us to look at the depth and breadth of the issues. The same is true of the abortion issues. Regardless of where we stand, we have all been forced to consider the other side and to acknowledge with humility the complexity of the issues involved.

We owe it to ourselves to learn and become informed about what we do not know and about what we do not understand. We must learn how to fine-tune our reactions. I suppose fine tuning may not be helpful if someone is approaching us with a bomb strapped around them in preparation to take us out with them. I know that may seem like a melodramatic example to offer, but in light of recent events, it is a possible scenario. One is often called upon to act impulsively in situations. But where we are permitted forethought, we need to be prepared to look beyond our gut reactions and to temper those reacttions with reason. In the world we live in the "WE" and the "THEY" are not as rigid as they once we. The "THEY" of today may very well be the "WE" of tomorrow as the world continues to grow smaller and as we continue to increase our understanding and acceptance and love of one another.

In personal relationships we cannot change others. We can change only ourselves. But by our example we can inspire others to consider that they have choices available to them which they have never before considered. By behaving with respect, we can provide role models for change which others may choose to adopt on their own. We can show the world we are better than they think we are and that given the choice of enemies, there are worse enemies to them than we are.

Someone I know has diverticulosis--a condition where little pockets are formed in the walls of these intestines. Small food particles such as nut fragments and seeds get caught in these pockets and decay causing the lining of the intestines to become infected and making the person violently ill. Terrorism exists like infections in pockets of our society in much the same way. We can not always solve the problem by direct attack. Sometimes we have to solve it by considering our input at the other end of the problem. A healthy diet of education, honor, respect, justice, dignity, reason, good will, and genuine concern for the well being and points of view of others is called for. We cannot rid the world of terrorism. Unfortunately, modern technology and the variety of human nature will probably always make terrorism a factor in our lives. We can only do what we can to be vigilant, to monitor threats, and to prevent what we can prevent.

What follows is a horrible thought. Please read it carefully and try to understand what I am trying to say before you jump to a conclusion--IF OKLAHOMA CITY'S TRAGEDY HAD TO HAPPEN ACCORDING TO FATE (I'm not saying it did have to happen), I'm glad it happened before September 11, 2001, because if Timothy McVeigh had been around to learn from the events of September 11, his terrorism in Oklahoma City might have been much worse in its death toll. Timothy McVeigh is dead, but he was not the only person around with his attitudes. Others remain who were around to witness September 11. Even if we were able to render the terrorists centered in the Moslem world helpless, we still have enemies who walk among us and to bomb them out would be like disemboweling someone to save them from diverticulitis.

Note: (-osis is a condition; -itis is an inflammation related to the condition.) [NightListener]

You have a powerful ability to influence people because even in passing, you are very much there. My wife can read a thick book in a few hours and comprehend every page. You can walk through a city and comprehend the people behind the masks. You have a great gift. Thank you sharing it with me and with all of us. --Fondly, NL [NightListener]

I'm sitting here watching "Almost Famous" and loving every minute of it. Thanks for your reading list. I requested from the library everything on it. Lester Bangs' Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung is lined up on my reading runway waiting for its turn to take off.

Right now I'm reading Folktales as Therapy by Verena Kast and The Immortal Class: Bike Messengers and the Cult of Human Power by Travis Hugh Culley, writer and bike messenger currently of Chicago. Culley's book reminds me of your writing in the way it grows out of strong work ethic, democratic humanitarianism, and political activism.

Oh, my God! Stillwater's on a plane in a lightning storm and they don't know if they'll survive and everyone's shouting their confessions to everyone else. This is great! [NightListener]