Atheists are always welcome at the Temple of the Golden Globes, the only religion ever founded in the Mudcat threads. In fact, they tend to make more devout members with a greater capacity to carry out the tender mission of the TGG; they are excellent at support functions, as well, and are unusually pious when asked to make a clean breast of things.

I concluded based on a number of discussions under Cointreau last night that what Bush should do is not declare war. After all he has no nation to declare war against.

What he should do instead is announce to the woirld that for the sake of humanity he is going to exterminate a vicious antisocial cult.

And furthermore, that one of the reasons and benefits for so doing will be to return the name of Islam to those who are true to its actual tenets and undo a group which sullies the name of Allah by diverting it to criminal purpose.

This would put 80% of the East on his side, and would pull the rug out of the jerks such as the leader of Afghanistan, who made the claim that Bush's war was about Islam as much as it was about terroism. Someone needs to defuse that line right now, because it is untrue and because it is a dangerous lie. This approach would give the lie to it; Dubya could go on TV with a Koran and read from it.

I think it would be masterful PR stroke -- saving Islam from the vipers. And it really is true that the enemy is not a nation, but a distorted maniacal cult.

A