John seems to define the word “incoherent” in a way that doesn’t comport with what we would find in the King’s English. While I concede that Sen. Gordon’s analysis is admittedly a trifle sparse, psychiatrists like Dr. Justin Frank and Dr. Carol Wolman have put Bush on the couch (in much the way we psychoanalyze other world leaders), and found him fruity as a nutcake. The death of his little sister from leukemia (and the family’s handling of it) has probably scarred him for life. He has no empathy for anyone.

As for Sen. Gordon’s “rant,” it would not be that unreasonable to conclude that the Iraqi militants see themselves as freedom fighters, doing whatever is necessary to escape the yoke of an imperialist foreign power. If we weren’t building over a dozen bases in their country which are about the size of small cities, you might be able to credibly make the argument that we really were there to help. And frankly, if we were in the Iraqis’ place, we’d probably be making bombs, too.

I agree with Sen. Gordon’s ultimate analysis: our leaders are pathologically incapable of admitting that they made a mistake. When William F. Buckley and George Will can admit that we made a mistake, it seems to me that Republicans should entertain the possibility that we probably made a mistake. And if we had the good sense to admit that we made a colossal mistake, it might be a lot easier for us to heal the region without sacrificing tens of thousands more American lives and limbs.

I agree with Sen. Gordon wholeheartedly: I do not consent to this illegal imperialist invasion of a sovereign country. We don’t need the oil that bad — or wouldn’t, if our leaders had enough sense to institute a sane energy policy. We’re six years closer to the ecological point of no return, and I don’t know of any sane Republican who can envision a longer-term profit in that.

People like myself owe a debt of gratitude to men like John Kerry, who spoke out against an immoral war so that we would not end up as cannon fodder. We — and I do mean Republicans! — should follow that sterling lead. Ken Gordon is an activist and hopefully, an idealist — the kind of people of character we need leading our Party. Tragically, we were stuck with a corrupt good old boy named Beauprez, who didn’t see anything morally wrong with fellow good old boy Tom DeLay taking a bribe from Jack Abramoff (probably, because he took one from a Russian mobster).

Our Party needs character, instead of characters.