Well, perhaps Maine is considered expendable by the people in Washington. (grin) Do people there tend to vote Democratic? That could be it. I mean, consider the immense danger that Maine was in, having a desperate terrorist-sympathizing miscreant like Yusuf Islam on its soil for a few hours!!! I would have been shaking in my little booties if I were a citizen of Maine... (not!)

I also think that virtually any country in the world would be well justified at this point in considering George Bush a terrorist, and denying him entry, along with Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Condi Rice, and most of...Karl Rove. Now THERE are a real bunch of died-in-the-wool, high profile terrorists who have already caused the deaths of many thousands of people.

You see, I am not under the false impression that those people are protecting me. No sir. They are endangering almost everybody, including their own avid supporters.

They may, however, fully believe that they are doing the right thing. I'll grant that. So in their own eyes they are certainly not terrorists. Most people, Osama Bin Laden included, feel that they are doing the right thing...but are they acting out of love or fear? Are they doing it out of love or hatred? Are they doing it out of the spirit of unity or the spirit of division? Are they doing it out of humility or out of pride? If it's any of the latter emotions which is in charge, then they are not doing the right thing, because you cannot accomplish rightful action with a destructive motivation behind it. The motivation colors the action and gives it basic character...negative or positive.

A "war on terror" is a completely negative idea which cannot be brought to any reasonable conclusion and cannot accomplish any good thing whatsoever in this world. Peace will be achieved not by a war on terror, but by improving people's lives in key areas, such as political and social freedoms, economic well-being, educational opportunity, equality before the law, respect for others' religions and cultures, sharing of crucial resources (rather than hoarding of them by a wealthy few), employment opportunities, and so on.

Positive iniatives! Those will bring peace and prosperity. Wars and counter-wars will bring nothing but destruction, misery, and more wars and counter-wars.