ouldn't it be wonderful if we had true representative democracy? That would require nonpartisan drawing of electoral districts. That would surely help, along with more restrictions on campaign finance. Whatever happened to our legislators doing the job that we, the public, are called upon to resolve; ballot initiatives. As the Christian Science monitor observed in a lead editorial "These types of money-driven initiatives have gotten so out of hand that California, the state which ignited a boom in initiatives with its 1978 vote on tax-cutting, Prop.13, has a measure this time that would limit the amount that companies and organizations can contribute to citizen ballot initiatives". While many of the ballot initiatives are perfectly valid as issues, in the best of all worlds, shouldn't they really be resolved by elected leaders? Until the time comes, when we can overcome monied special interests, it's most likely that we'll be asked to vote on a growing number of these propositions written in a most complex manner. Poor Arizona voters, they are asked to digest 19 measures this year. Voters in 37 states will be considering 203 state-wide measures on November 7th. The range of issues includes whether or not to permit stem-cell research in Missouri to minimum wage issues in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Ohio. Others will be voting on immigration, election reform and same-sex marriage. And in South Dakota, which has the strictest anti-abortion law, now has a referendum, giving the voters a chance to decide the fate of the state's new abortion law. Simply stated the current state law makes it a crime to abort a pregnancy in any circumstances. What a pity.

Very recently, for the umpteenth time, President Bush said three times in one news conference that if the U.S. fails to defeat the terrorists "over there" in Iraq, we will have to fight them here in the United States. I'd like to ask him so many questions but first I'd like to know just how fighting them "over there" makes us safer "over here." One day the U.S. military will leave Iraq. Leaving does not have to equate with humiliation or defeat. What we need is a thoughtful bipartisan debate to discover a path to accomplish that. But in the meanwhile this constant droning on about the "cut and run" Democrats and a growing number of Republicans, is trivializing the enormity of the problem and blatantly campaigning with the election so close at hand.
It is disturbing and sad that the Bush family lawyer, James A. Baker has stated that he will not make public the recommendations of his Iraq Study Group until after the November elections.

Another enlightening comment from Jay Leno..."As we head to war with Iraq, President Bush wants to make one thing clear: This war is not about oil, it's about gasoline."