At least some of the representatives we've elected to Congress over a year ago have finally been fertilized enough to grow some backbone. They stood up to the White House, please mark this date on your calendars. Too bad the Senate hasn't had their fill of manure.

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Americans are worried and even angry about many things. Whether Osama bin Laden is throwing a party because AT&T and Verizon might have to defend themselves in court isn't one of them. Outside of National Review, K Street, and the fear-paralyzed imagination of our shrinking faux-warrior class, there is no constituency in America demanding warrantless eavesdropping or amnesty for lawbreaking telecoms.

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I wonder if it's black tie? Could it be that upholding the rule of law in the United States would make al-Qaeda happy? I'll take that chance to know Americans' civil rights are protected.

Our new acquaintances over at Gorilla's Guides inform us that we're bringing peace and democracy to Iraq in a big way. Lights, running water, sewage removal? Puh! We got purple fingers:

Power failures and maintenance have disrupted running water supplies to almost half of the capital, Baghdad, home to nearly 6 million people.

A Baghdad Municipality source said the project supplying drinking water to Rasafa, the eastern half of Baghdad, was temporarily idle.

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My CO when I was with SOCOM told me once that you can't give people democracy, especially out of the business end of a rifle, it has to come from within.

Nobody learns from history, though everybody claims to study it. I guess nobody learned about Russian winters (worse yet, Russian spring), and nobody learned that keeping an occupation force and battling an insurgency extort more costs than the imperialists are ultimately willing to bear. Unfortunately, nobody asked the Iraqis what costs they were willing to bear. One day (hopefully within my lifetime), I hope they will be able to say we've finally repaid the debt we owe them for a million dead and twice that displaced, for their looted and destroyed national treasures, and for the thuggery of attempting to steal their oil.

And let me just end on a personal observation. I've lived on four continents over the past 45 years. I've visited almost every other part of the world. I've known, and developed good friendships with, more than a few people indigenous to those places. After breaking down all the cultural and language differences, I am left with a truism that describes all of us.

We are all, regardless of place of birth or culture, more alike than different. The average guy on the street wants the same thing in China that he does here. He wants safety and security, a job where he can earn enough to pay the bills, and for his kids to have better than he did. He makes do with what he has, whether under a democratic system or not, to make a decent life for his family. It's all about respect and dignity.

Please feel free to comment on whatever you'd like, whether it be on the subject of the post or not - F.