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Nice points ... too bad Jesus ain't comin' back! He learned the first time, for many of the reasons you point out, that it just ain't gonna be woith it! Especially with the lunatic Cecil B. De Mel Gibson giving everyone an extended training film on what is supposed to happen when Jesus returns, inuring them with images of blood and gore and suffering and the like ... even though they -- the Xtian faithful -- seem to want to decry and empathise with the "Saviour," the ONLY way they can regurgitate their ardour and amour through their belief systems is to have the poor fellow suffering and trudging under the weight of a couple big hunks of wood. This is something that has been ingrained in their minds for millennia, the image of their "Christ" having his hands and feet impaled on the the Cross, just hanging their in eternal suffering and pain. Again, the only way they can be inspired to mercy and love and all of that is by having their subject of devotion in the most distressing of situations.

Let's start with realism, stark and vicious. George Kennan departed this life at the age of 101, amid respectful eulogies in the press. In his advanced years his prime rostrum was the New York Review, where he advocated policies of genteel internationalism and detente markedly different from his ferocious Cold-War postures of earlier years, so crucial in setting the terms of the Cold War in the years following World War II.

As we enter another Easter Season, it's become all too obvious that if Christ returns, those who hate in his name will slime him, then kill him.

Christ was a long-haired peace activist who would have been sickened to his soul by the war in Iraq.  "Blessed are the peacemakers"  Jesus said in his defining Sermon on the Mount.  "Turn the other cheek...Love thy neighbor."

Such hippie-radical ideals are the "Christian" right wing's worst nightmare.  The GOP would never tolerate an upstart like Jesus gathering a following in the face of their corporate-fundamentalist crusade.  These are self-proclaimed Christians who love power but would despise the actual Christ, just as they love a Zionist Israel but believe  actual Jews are doomed to Hell. 

Dear Free Press,

I just got through reading Harvey Wassermans article, "If Jesus returns, Karl Rove will kill Him." It's brilliant!! It's the truth through in and through out. There must be some way to get this out in the mainstream!!! Harvey hit the nail on the head...and hard!

Sincerely,
James Butler
Lebanon, Me.

Dear Sir (s),

I am portuguese and living in Portugal. Few people knows my country. Nevertheless, what is happening in USA concernes me as well as the rest of the world.

The amount of progress or destruction America can produce is considerable. It is a shame that the biggest pollutor is not even interested in that matter.

It is a shame that probably the most powerfull nation has been promoting so many wars instead of promoting peace.

It is a shame that America is living in an autistic bubble, still.  

Excuse for these rude opinions, but this is the general feeling all over Europe, Africa, Asia even in South America. I travel a lot and I am aware of it.

A friend send me the article by Harvey Wasserman  :" Senator Byrd is correct to equate Bush with Hitler".

I really hope you will be able to help making Americans conscious about the horror of this kind of possibility that it seams to be among them already.

I visited a concentration camp, it is not an Hollywood movie I can assure you.

Keep the good work,
Wanda Videira

I’ve only been at Kent for a short time, but I get excited everyday I arrive. I encourage students to learn and work hard academically. Currently, there are over 200 students attending Kent Elementary School. They have a daily routine, which gives them a sense of security and belonging. It’s been a difficult adjustment for them, since the proposed closure of Kent Elementary School to them. Many of them are saddened and angry about the decision to make them leave their school, so other students can attend Kent. They don’t understand why they should be treated unfairly. I don’t have answers that they can understand, because I don’t understand it myself. Don’t get me wrong, I know about the missing 20.8 Million Dollars that no one is being prosecuted for. I know about Governor Taft’s plan to cut education funding and how the Ohio House and Senate Bills affect the funding for local school districts. The parents and students also know that Governor Taft and his wife adopted Kent Elementary. They want to know where are they now? Governor Taft, your adopted school needs your support.

AUSTIN, Texas -- I write about the Terri Schiavo case both as one who has personally confronted the "pull the plug" question on several levels in recent years and as a staggered observer of this festival of political hypocrisy, opportunism and the trashing of constitutional law, common sense and common decency.

Look, the fundamental question in such cases is, "Who decides?" Preferably, the dying themselves, with a living will. In this case, evidence that Terri Schiavo did not want her life continued in its current pitiable state has been offered and accepted in several courts of law. Next, the next-of-kin, though in many cases someone else may be closer to the dying person, such as a longtime lover, and should be legally designated to make the decision through power of attorney.

President Bush just told reporters that he has no intention of setting any timetable for withdrawal. "Our troops will come home when Iraq is capable of defending herself," he said. Powerful pundits keep telling us that a swift pullout of U.S. troops would be irresponsible. And plenty of people have bought into that idea -- including quite a few progressives. Such acceptance is part of what Martin Luther King Jr. called "the madness of militarism."

Sometimes, an unspoken assumption among progressive activists is that the occupation of Iraq must be tolerated for tactical reasons -- while other issues, notably domestic ones, are more winnable on Capitol Hill. But this acceptance means going along with many of the devastating effects of a militarized society: from ravaged budgets for social programs to more authoritarian attitudes and violence in communities across the country.

Last summer marked the 40th anniversary of several extraordi nary events in American history – which the national media and, more curiously, the African-American political establishment have largely ignored. These events fundamentally reshaped America’s political landscape regarding the politics of race.

In the summer of 1964, about 1000, mostly white college students traveled to Mississippi as volunteers, assisting civil rights workers there to register thousands of African Americans to vote. Among their number was Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate in 2000. The effort, termed “Freedom Summer,” captured the imagination of the nation and the world at that time.

Why Mississippi? To understand the symbolic significance of this voting rights campaign, one had to appreciate this southern state’s unique position as the paramount site for white racism in America for more than a century.

The bewitching hour of midnight is historically viewed as a time of bad luck, and that certainly proved true for David Kibble on June 19, 2004. Because of an unfortunate intersection of unrelated events just after midnight that evening, Kibble was shot and seriously wounded by a Columbus police officer and ended up in prison for a crime the physical evidence and witness statements suggest he didn’t commit.