At any cost? I don’t honestly believe you mean that. Murder hundreds of thousands of people to save a few thousand people? That kind of any cost? You are not thinking, you are feeling. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but you have to understand that emotional thinking like that is what causes incredible evil. Bin Laden probably thinks that way. Save his view of Islam at any cost. I am sorry that members of your family were killed by the Japanese. It was a terrible, terrible war, with few good answers. It is estimated that 72 million people were killed during World War II, a number I find difficult to fathom. I am afraid we are not going to agree on the concept of whether it was a good idea to invade Iraq and kill hundreds of thousands of civilians in order to remove a murderous dictator who we previously supported. So I wish you well and hope we can agree to disagree.

“There’s smoke somewhere with John Edwards, or this “story” would never have been printed ” This reminded of when I was in High School. Some girl, who was jealous of, or mad at me, because I was dating a guy she wanted to be dating, spread this ridiculous rumor about me. We only ran into each other at CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) events on the weekends. I went to a a Catholic Girl’s School in another city and she went to public school. So we ran in different circles, even at CYO. The ridiculous rumor, which no one who knew me, thought for a moment was true, flew through her friends and soon to their parents and in no time at all, to mine. My mother called me down to the Living Room and sat me on the couch. She perched across from me, on an silken ivory upholstered chair, her hands folded demurely in her lap. A small frown, ever so slightly creased her forehead. We sat and stared at one another until my father joined us. Then she recited the rumor to me. “This is very distressing and quite embarrassing to me. Explain yourself.” “Nothing to explain. I didn’t do it and she’s crazy.” A long suffering sigh escaped my mother. “you don’t expect me to believe that?” she said. “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, young lady!” I stared back at her, mouth open. “What! Where’s there’s smoke there’s fire! What does that mean? The rumor is a lie. A complete, total, utter and might I add, ridiculous lie. You think it is more likely that I did this, than that some silly girl started a stupid rumor. Where there’s smoke there’s fire? What does that mean!?. ” “That’s good enough for me” my father said and left the room. My mother and I remained, silently sitting and staring, both of us aghast and completely disappointed in the other. And I never have understood, how “where there’s smoke there’s fire” constitutes some sort of explanation or indication of the veracity of a thing. And Ted did not set the tone for bad behavior. That tone existed many many many many years before him. You could look it up.