My wife used to be married to a man she says was a lot like our Prez. She said he suffered from "little man syndrome." When things didn't go his way or he didn't get what he wanted he'd roar around half the night stomping his feet, threatening, warning, arguing, everything he could to try and get her to give in through fear and intimidation. Eventually, she divorced him. And she heard later he was still doing the same thing (surprise) to his new romantic interest. Listening to excerpts of W today made me think again about "little man syndrome." He has no real power. He takes no accountability. He points. He blames. He roars. He stomps. And he begins to look more pathetic by the day. Sad, sad little man. David James Duncan talks about what a travesty it is to use the term "christian" to lump together such a broad spectrum of people as Julian of Norwich, St. Francis of Assisi, Mother Teresa, Simone Weil, Joan of Arc, Meister Eckhart, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, George Bush, Pat Roberston, James Dobson, and Jerry Falwell. It makes "christian" about as meaningful as "carbon based life form". Being an ex-christian I suppose I have no call to point this out. But if W, Robertson & their ilk are right, my friends in Hell will be the likes of Albert Einstein, Albert Scwietzer (sp), Jefferson, Galileo, Lincoln, Gandhi, Siddhartha, Laotsu, the Dali Lama, Charles Darwin, Marie Curie and Heaven will be overflowing with the Falwells, Haggards, Dobsons, LaHayes, and Tami Fayes of the world. Little man syndrome en masse...FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR. No more FEAR. Sorry. I'm moving on to something new. Compassion. Awe. Reverence. Wonder. Empathy. Courage. Truth. Reality. Accountability...my loins will soon look like Guy Pierce's body in Memento. Your list is a nice start Barbara. Maybe we have a chance if we stop fighting for belief and start creating a new vision. Imagine...maybe John Lennon was right? Artists are some freakin weird people...