I think Americans feel protective towards, or take a certain kind of pride in the idea of civil war. After all, the American Civil War was so glamorous, there was a “just cause�, there were battlefields and heroes and gangrene, and now 150 years of reflection. Americans don’t want civil war to be low, to be common and filthy and abhorrent. But what else can you call it? There are the politically enfranchised, Allawi and that bunch, who maintain their power with the support of the American coalition, and there are those who seek a political rule that is not supported by the coalition, and they use violence to express their struggle. And for a long time now, the insurgents have been fighting against their fellow Iraqi citizens, by attacking the coalition trained police forces. Civil war.

Okay, that’s it, end of rant. I watched Fahrenheit 9/11 the other night, and contrary to all the blather I’ve heard, it isn’t just a diatribe against Bush. There is a nice argument in there about the relationship between the poor and poorly educated and the military’s insatiable need for new recruits. Even National Public Radio and the Democrats buy into this scheme, just the other day I heard Gen. Wesley Clark encouraging young people to serve their country by enlisting. The powerful thing about what Michael Moore has to say is that there must be ethical considerations in how we command those who serve. Greater good and all that.

Did you know that part of No Child Left Behind Act requires schools to provide the addresses of students to military recruiters?

Today's mystery question: A man was killed by a gunshot wound. He was found in a car with the windows rolled up and the doors locked, but there was no gun inside the car. How was he killed?