Leftwing Reporter Nut: Mr. President... terrorism... blah... blah... civil war... blah... blah... losing... blah... blah... cut and run... blah... blah... blah... So, what are you basing your optimistic statements on?

El Presidente Bush: MAH HIPS DON'T LIE!!!

But, then again, who would have imagined 15 or 20 years ago that the prez. of the US, defendant of the Free World, grand Duke of Texmex, bestfriend of Kings and despots, the artist formerly known as 'Dumbo' - would call a press conference to announce that, without torture and secret killings and rapes, the free world would turn unfree and then, presumably, be taken over by 'the enemy' who are evil and torture and rape people.

Isn't 'existence' inseparable from consciousness or, if you want, awareness?

I know, trees do fall in the woods even when I am not there but trees are mainly mental constructs or it wouldn't be possible to separate the roots from the soil they feed off or the leaves from the wind that blows them.

Where does a tree end?

When do you begin?

The other day, someone asked: "do you love Israel more than America?" I don’t know why anyone would ask such a stupid question because even those who live in Israel should love America more than Israel but… here’s my take.

I see states as necessary evils. They are necessary because we expect them to protect us from the great abuse that could be inflicted upon us by other states. They are evil because they invariably end up themselves abusing the populace they are expected to protect.

From that prospective, and from my point of view, while the United States is a necessary evil, because it's the country/state I live in, the state of Israel is only evil because it is not necessary to me. Israel is able to compel 'my' state to abuse me more while Israel is providing me with the opposite of 'protection' in the form of trigerring terrorism and other unpleasant treatments against the inhabitants of my state. I end up being more abused because of Israel’s existence because ‘my’ state decided to throw some $3 billion in aid and other goodies at the state of Israel every single year and everything that Israel gets is moneys taken from me and other working stiffs like me or maybe borrowed from China to be paid back later by my kids and their girlfriends.

A state such as the United States is a necessary evil because, while oppressive, it is still marginally less oppressive than most other evil states. A state such as Norway is quite indifferent to me. A state such as the state of Israel, which takes wealth away from the United States, is by necessity evil and therefore unloved.

An inhabitant of Israel, on the other hand, should love the United States more than they love Israel because the United States gives money and other support to the state of Israel and therefore the state of Israel does not need to take away as much wealth as it would otherwise take from its own citizens. So, for such people, while the state of Israel is a necessary evil, the United States is clearly necessary but not evil because the United States is not taking wealth from the inhabitants of Israel but it gives wealth to Israel.