At the risk of sounding extremely stupid, which has never been a real problem for me, let me pose my favorite rhetorical question: What the HELL is going on here? ... with Iraq, the U.N., France, Tony, Dubya, Troops, Regime Changes, Coups, Inspectors, Ad Nauseum? Just what the hell gives? Is this a bad poker game, or what?

Every Friday, Jim Lehrer of The NewsHour presents somewhat opposing viewpoints from The Weekly Standard's David Brooks and syndicated columnist Mark Shields. Friday, both were asked their comments on the President's news conference the night before, and the possibilities of war with Iraq. BROOKS: "He (The President) has made up his mind that Saddam is a threat to peace; he's moved on to the question of how we're going to achieve the goal." SHIELDS: "There's no question -- I don't think anybody who watched the president last night had any doubts that his mind was made up that he was ready to go to war and would go to war."

Well, if all that is true, and if it IS a 'done deal', then would it be totally inappropriate to ask, WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? Agree or disagree, and if one believes the public opinion surveys, then most disagree on going to war without a U.N. Resolution ... but agree or disagree, what ever happened to the old expression .....

I'll join. Gimme' my old uniform back. I'll go. As Mills Lane says, "Get It On!" Because the sooner we do, maybe ... just maybe ... we can focus some attention on a ton of issues which need tackling INSIDE OUR OWN BORDERS that are just getting lost in the smoky haze of this really bad poker game.