Mark,
Hey, about that picture of McG, the one where he is playing Crocket, the Pioneers' mascot. I have to tell you a quick story.

I have season tickets to the Pioneers. I have since their very first season and as such I have great seats. At the game, sitting just to my left was Skrep, who still looks like he could suit up. Sitting just over my right shoulder a few rows up and about 10 seats over was Kim Martucci. She is even better looking in person. Sue I may need your help here.

Well, as I am leaving, Skrep was walking out just behind me. And who was walking towards me? None other than the VLP himself, with "bodyguards" on each side. Just seeing him at the game made me laugh. Isn't this the guy that is applying for unemployment? Skrep says, "Hey, mayor," and keeps on walking. I almost turned around and said "FORMER." But as I had my 6-year old daughter with me I figured I didn't need to expose her to any f-bombs. But it was fun to think about, and just seeing the little guy made me laugh.

So, I'm sorry to say that it wasn't McG inside the Crocket suit. Crocket is quite tall. And I have to say once again that the dance team girls are so nice. Every time my daughter stopped to say hello to one of the girls they spent time talking to her and actually listened to her. It made her feel important.

The game was fantastic by the way. For once we finally won a close game after some amazingly bone-headed calls by the opposing coach. The poor guy looked like he was going to have a heart attack the whole game. He was screaming at his team, and went into a fit after they had wasted all six of their time-outs and had a few delay of game penalties as well. First game jitters? Probably.

How about this from Geraldo Rivera-not a Bush supporter by any means, but at least brave enough to give some feedback:

** "When I got to Baghdad, I barely recognized it," he began, comparing his just-completed trip to two others he made during and just after the battle to topple Saddam. "You have over 30,000 Iraqi cops and militiamen already on the job.

This is four months after major fighting stopped. Can you imagine that kind of gearing up in this country? Law and order is better; archaeological sites are being preserved; factories, schools are being guarded." **

And just let me say to all the Ethels out there, no one wants to see dead soldiers, from any nation, including those of our enemies. War is not fun. Some things are just worth fighting for. 911 being a "one-time" deal would be one of those things. This battle has been coming to a head for years, not just the battle with Iraq-the battle with terrorism. And I don't think it is over. These religious zealots have had the US in their sights for a long time and regardless of what we do as a country, they will keep us in their sights because they are evil and they hate us. That is just a simple fact. There are evil people in the world. Face it.

Geraldo continues:

** "To say that Iraq is being rebuilt is not true," answered Rivera. "Iraq is being built. There was no infrastructure before; we are doing it. I just think the good news is being underestimated and underreported." **

I did a story a while back on all the good things that were going on in Iraq, from schools and hospitals to irrigation and salaries increasing. Those good things continue. But to hear the major media tell it, the whole country is at war, not just the last remnants of those that support Saddam or this new nut, radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. They call us cowards yet they hide in Mosques in the Shiite holy city of Najaf. Oh, well. Come out, come out, wherever you are! Nope. Didn't work. Well at first al-Sad (missing r intended) said he was willing to die. We got closer. Then he said he was willing to negotiate under certain terms. And we got closer. Now he says he is willing to negotiate. By tomorrow when we are on his doorstep, he will be saying "My American buddies-praise Allah." I guess some folks thought this battle was going to be easy. Wow. Compared to other wars, this one has been easy. Except that the mainstream media is fond of all the Vietnam comparisons.

Lets see. Most of our 58,000 Vietnam soldiers were killed between 1966 and 1972, during which we lost an average of about 8,000 per year. That's about 22 per day, every day, for days on end. Oh, yes I see the similarities already, especially in the amount of time. Is it similar to the 400,000 or so we lost in WW II, or the 10+ million the Russians lost? There is one similarity. One dead soldier is one too many. But would anyone deny that we did the right thing in WWII? Would anyone deny that we should have done the right thing in Vietnam and actually fight the war to win? How about WWI and the Revolutionary War? The Civil War? This is a different war for sure, but what is at stake is just as important. We have blood on our soil. And no amount of peace agreements or appeasing will change the view that these terrorists have on our country or our people. And this is the point that the appeasers miss. It does not matter how nice you are to a terrorist. He is still a terrorist.

One other question: Why isn't there this huge outcry from our country and other countries in regards to the terrorists using children as living bombs? Where is Hillary? She sure as hell can complain that Republicans are starving children, but when it comes to children being used as bombs, it's silence. Wait. I get it. Bush lied. Okay, I'm all better.

More Geraldo in response to the one-sided reporting:

** "I'm not into conspiracy theories, ...but there's just more bang for your buck when you report the GI who got killed rather than the 99 who didn't get killed; who make friends, who helped schedule elections; who helped shops get open for business; who helped traffic flow again.

"The vast majority of Iraqis are very happy to have us there. I would like to see a bit more balance." **

I know, I know. Bush lied.

Time for some Cranberries.
Keep the Faith. Private Sector Dude.