News and World Report, hardly a bastion of liberal thinking, included the following quote from our president in their current issue. When asked if the tide was turning in Iraq Mr. Bush said, "I think - tide turning- see, as I remember, I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of, it's easy to see a tide turn - Did I say those words?" Yes Mr. President, you did.

Probably the most to-the-point, concise, assessment of the way things are in Washington came from South African born musician Dave Mathews. He told a reporter, "it takes drowning polar bears to get our government to get their heads out of their asses and start to even, maybe, on occasion, talk about global warming". That's the issue that he considers primary and one about which he feels both parties are doing an appalling job. Dave Matthews, The Dixie Chicks, Bruce Springsteen; an interesting and appealing ,rapidly growing, group of entertainers who are highly critical and outspoken in their concern about the incumbent president.

President Bush paid his third flying visit to Baghdad in tribute to the fact that, at long last, Iraq has a complete government and to stress how pleased he is that Abu Musab Zarqawi is dead. When he first made the journey, back on Thanksgiving Day in 2003, he stayed on the ground for 2.5 hours and never left Baghdad airport. His second trip was twice was long and he went as far as the heavily fortified Green Zone that houses the American Embassy. It was a quiet and secretive journey with our chief executive informing the Prime Minister of his visit only after Mr. Bush had reached the Green Zone.
And the costs mount horrendously with the overall tab rising to $320 billion to date and the death toll now over 2,500.

Last year only four countries accounted for just about all the executions in the world: Iran, Saudi Arabia, China and the United States. We are keeping strange companionship on that issue. Anna Quindlen, who writes "The Last Word" for Newsweek magazine, pointed out that since 1976 more than a thousand men and women have been executed in this country. But during the same period 123 deathrow inmates have been exonerated. Consider this, if we didn't have the lengthy appeals process that death-penalty advocates frequently decry, they would have been wrongly executed.

Do you support the electoral college? Some states are trying to ensure that the winner of the popular vote (as was the case in 2000 when Al Gore took the national popular vote), becomes president. Legislative houses in California and Colorado have recently approved a plan known as the National Popular Vote proposal - taking it partway to passage. This idea could lead to a group of states teaming up and giving their electoral college votes to the winner of the nation-wide popular-vote. Maybe, just maybe, one day, in the not too distant future, every vote will count.