Well, it has finally happened. The man who stole the presidency is now trying to steal the oil. When Saddam Hussein's information officer referred to the coalition invasion of Iraq as a gang of thugs, was he that far off the mark?

Instead of watching the non-stop news coverage for answers, I now watch the coverage to see just how far our forces are going to take the fighting. Once Baghdad has been reduced to a smoldering crater, how will we know if we've successfully taken out Saddam (pronounced "Sodom")?

We faced a similar problem with Osama. Let's say we did blow him to smithereens. How would we ever know? I'm not sure if they keep detailed dental records in Afghanistan or Iraq, but maybe they do. That's a lot of teeth and bone to have to go through to get a positive ID on someone.

I would have to say one of the most compelling things so far has been the situation where a soldier tossed three grenades into the tents of commanding officers and fellow troops, resulting in one death and several others being seriously injured. I must be the only person who wasn't surprised to hear that something like this has happened. It seems to me that it's not a very smart thing to allow someone who you've just reprimanded have access to hand grenades and a firearm. They might try to hurt or even kill you. I guess this has shown that when we're at war, we can't trust anyone.

The soldiers involved with the fighting face various degrees of conflict. There's the one that is the obvious campaign against the Iraqis. There's the conflict they face with having to follow orders and having personal feelings against the war. And then there's also the thought that back home there are people who don't agree with what they're doing. If there are so many people opposed to the war, then why did G.W. engage Hussein the way he has?

In a democracy, the officials are elected to carry out the will of the people. That is the general concept. The only problem is that we are not a democracy anymore. We tend to function more like a republic. The further the people become removed from their representatives and senators, the more this is true.

So if all of these protestors really want to do some good, they should individually contact their representatives and members of the Senate. Flood both the state and federal legislatures with letters of concern. Petitions are cute, but nobody is going to take the time to read 300 signatures and contact each of those people for comment. Even if they don't read the letters either, the sheer numbers will be so staggering that they just might change their minds and decide that maybe it's time they listened to their constituents instead of big money and big brother.

I applaud Michael Moore, the director of "Bowling for Columbine," for standing up in front of the tremendous audience and the world at the Academy Awards ceremonies and speaking the truth. It made perfect sense for the audience to boo him. What do they know about truth anyway? These are the people who spend their lives profiting on make-believe, not unlike G.W. and Dick Cheney, who spend their political careers profiting from war. The fact that Bush still has ties to corporate oil and Cheney holds major stock in the arms production industry is no coincidence. Wake up America! It's Howdy Doody time!