If you overlook the war and chaos, it's a heck of a vacation spot!

Today's poem:

Quicksand? It's all in you mind!
The yacht's not sinking; we're fine!

So the gator took a foot and hand
Quit whimpering and be a man

To our emperor, show your fealty
Show no doubt; ignore fear and to hell with reality!

Today's thoughts:

Cindy Sheehan is the tip of the ice berg. But if you know that already, you don't need me to tell you. And if you don't know that by now, you won't listen to me. So I'd like to go in a different direction.

Instead of stating that Iraq is a quagmire, I'd like to try to get inside of the psyche of the war's supporters.

But before that, I'm happy to tell you James Arnez is still alive and has a site, www.jamesarnez.com.

Arnez played Matt Dillon on "Gunsmoke," which ran on CBS for twenty years, a record. He got the part because John Wayne turned it down.

We all know who Wayne was and what he played on film. But a few years back, I read a biography of the western lawmen Wyatt Earp. Earp, who saw life in black and white, good and evil, had a diverse career. He ended up in California around 1916, just as the movies were becoming a major business there and a kid named Michael was trying to break into them.

Michael and Earp hung out together and Earp so impressed the kid that when he became a big Western star in Hollywood, he based most of his characters on the old lawman.

Michael, of course, became John Wayne.

Tomorrow, from Earp to Wayne to Bush,, when stoicism turns to stupid stubbornness.

If you have questions, comments or want to know about my upcoming book, email me at dave_rundle@hotmail.com.

Keep hoping.