Well, I suppose there are many points to address. Perhaps it's all the time I spend sitting in my ivory tower stroking my beard, but my sarcasm seems to have lost some of its bite. So, Adam, let me be clear. I do not think we should remove the Taliban, Saddam Hussein, or any foreign leader from power. I am aware of the Taliban's human rights record (I do read Dear Abby) and obviously I disagree with the way they treat women. As far as the issue of whether or not I'm smarter than everyone else: I am not. There was a whole list of seemingly very intelligent people who signed that letter. Jason Hong, who brought it to our attention, is undoubtedly much brighter than I am. Noam Chomsky's intellect towers over mine. See, there are people all around smarter than I, some even referenced in this group. You just have to look around a little. As far as the hoi polloi go, this morning on my way to work, the djs on a local rock station were discussing Afghanistan, and making fun of the fact that, according to their statistics, there were only 100,000 televisions among the 26 million people in the country. Over the days past, they, and their listeners, have pledged their willingness to go over there and fight, and called for carpet bombings, destroying everything from airports to tents, and yes, even using nuclear weapons. If I'm elitist for thinking these people are idiots, I make no apologies. I'm neither a sociology nor foreign policy expert, but I did watch a lot of sitcoms in the 80's. I seem to remember that, time and time again, when the child would come home from school having encountered a bully, bulking up and fighting back turned out to be the wrong solution. If Webster can learn that brutality isn't the answer, why can't our nation? I doubt anyone out there who is willing to see innocent blood shed will agree with me anytime soon. Nor will I change and agree with you. I don't know where your beliefs came from; I don't really know where my beliefs came from. I guarantee you, though, that the fact you are reading this and hopefully at least gave some thought to what you read in Jason Hong's post puts us all in a better place. I posted here for a reason. I could have called the radio; I could have written to the paper (I did write Senator Zell Miller). Personally, I greatly prefer having a discussion on such an important topic with informed, thoughtful people. On another, hopefully unrelated note, does anyone know anything about the foreign service written exam? I am taking it this weekend, and most of the information available is pretty vague. I know this is a pretty late date, but if anyone has anything to share, please email me at hing_fan_at_... . Kevin Crawford
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