Michael Jackson TalkRadio Content

e says all options are on the table, but the president has already made up his mind." Those are the words of Scott Ritter, the always outspoken, usually accurate, former chief weapons inspector for the United Nations. He is convinced that the United States is going to war with Iran. According to Ritter, the man who was in charge of searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, before the war, believes the only way to truly stop a war with Iran would be to stop the funding before it begins. This is the man who carried out more than 40 inspections in Iraq, and determined that the country did not possess weapons of mass destruction. It is his conviction that "we're doing it all over again. The policy in regard to Iran is regime change;a nuclear weapons program is simply an excuse to rally support around the confrontation of Iran." What do you think? Is he correct; are we headed for another war? Would Mr. Bush have the necessary support from the public and Congress? I would really enjoy reading your thoughts. E-mail me at ( ). Thomas Friedman who writes for the New York Times had some thoughts to express regarding what appears to be nothing less than squalid living conditions and red tape that have been inflicted on many of the recovering war veterans at the Walter Reed hospital and elsewhere. He said "I haven't kept count, but it seems to me that the times I've seen President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney give speeches about the Iraq war, they use smiling soldiers as their backdrop. He added "You'd think that an administration that has been so quick to exploit soldiers as props would have been equally quick to spare no expense in caring for those injured in the fight. Friedman found an extract from a Jim Lehrer interview with the President in mid-January that is, sadly, typical of the caliber of leader and leadership one has grown to expect from President George Bush. Jim Lehrer ask Mr. Bush why, if the war on terrorism was so overwhelmingly important, he had never asked more Americans to sacrifice something. He got the most unbelievable answer: "Well, you know, I think a lot of people are in this fight. I mean, they sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on TV every night". What in hell was he thinking? How many is too many? How many will stay the course for more than a few months on the campaign trail? I hope I'm not missing any of them, but here, as best I can tell, thus far, is a list of the real and potential Republican candidates.: Officially announced:
Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York.
Former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts
Sen.Sam Brownback of Kansas.
Rep.Duncan Hunter of California.
Rep.Ron Paul of Texas.

Then there is the category of "Announced" but not "officially declared":
Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas.
Former Gov.Jim Gilmore of Virginia.
Former Gov.Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin.
Rep.Tom Tancredo of Colorado.

That's not the end of the list, because we then have the "potential" candidates including:
Former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee.
Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska
and former Rep. Newt Gingrich.
If I was a conservative Republican, I wouldn't have the foggiest idea for whom I should vote. I'm not. More later,