The Toll Continues to Rise

Four more US soldiers died in Iraq. That brings the total for November to 45. We're halfway through the month and if this pace continues, sadly approximately 90 soldiers and marines will lose their lives.

Yesterday, Gen. John Abizaid said essentially we should stay the course, give the Iraqis about 6 more months to have their troops stand up and we can stand down. In the meantime, the Defense Intelligence Agency tells us that Iraq probably has about 6 months until all hell breaks loose.

At 90 servicemen (and women) a month, that means about another 540 will be coming home in body bags.

I don't know about you, but that is simply unacceptable. Perhaps Gen. Abizaid should have to place the calls to each of those families personally. Maybe then he'd get it.

The Washington Post has more on this story.

Fire Abizaid: It's Time For Him to Go

After watching Army General John Abizaid testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee, I think it's time for him to step down as the head of CentCom, the US Central Command. General Abizaid seems to prefer the status quo, and that, for the US and for Iraqi civilians, is unacceptable.

Abizaid was reluctant to consider any other options to help the military get a handle on the situation there. And that is disappointing. Abizaid said more troops wouldn't help speed a proposed redeployment plan, was reluctant to consider timelines with enforceable benchmarks as an option. Abizaid even insisted that the situation in Iraq was much better than it was in August.

To suggest that commander on the ground be removed is a harsh step. Our strategy for Iraq must change, and we need a new guy to make it happen. Until we bring on someone who is willing to consider every possible option, we are just wasting lives and time.

Read more about it at The Washington Post.

You Can't Cure Homosexuality

I am one who believes Ted Haggard, the minister caught in a gay-sex scandal, got what was coming to him. Haggard ministered to his fellow evangelicals by decrying gays and the gay lifestyle, abortion, and all of the other negative politics of the "moral" majority. And all the while, he was living a lie. By his own admission, Haggard spent his adulthood fighting the demons of his dark side that led him to unspecified sexual immorality -- but based on the statements of a former gay prostitute included gay sex. When you read Haggard's confession to his congregation, it is very clear that what he alludes to is a lifetime trying to deny that he is gay.

Now comes news that his fellow pastors are going to "restore" him through some kind of ritual healing -- let's call it an exorcism, for lack of a better term -- back to the "straight" and narrow. What a disservice to, and what a mistreatment of an already broken man.

Mr. Haggard is gay. I'll say it again, he is gay. And no amount of preach therapy is going to change that. He can't be scared back into the closet, nor prayed back in, or healed back in. Haggard's troubles all stem from the fact that he has spent his lifetime avoiding acknowledging his baseline sexuality. He married and had children, but as he says, fought with his dark side. You can watch him rant against gays, but in light of these revelations, you're watching him rant against himself. It is sad.

Someone near and dear to Mr. Haggard should help him find the right kind of therapy to ease his pain. And that is not one that will shame him back into the closet, but rather help him come to grips with his authentic self and his authentic sexuality. For his sake, his wife's and his children's. Because none of them will be at peace until he embraces what is his personal truth.

I don't like his politics, but I do wish him godspeed and good luck. He will need it.

Ed Bradley, CBS News

Ed Bradley passed away today. We will miss him.

If you need to ask, "Ed Who?" you must be either very, very young or have never owned a television or radio. Ed Bradley was (and will remain) a pillar of American journalism -- or for that matter of journalists everywhere.

If you watched 60 Minutes, you were rewarded everytime Ed Bradley reported. No matter who he interviewed, no matter what the topic, no matter where the story took him, Ed Bradley delivered quality reporting. Despite his nickname of "Easy Ed," he could be tough, and didn't cotton to being pushed around. Those of us who remember him on the floor of the Chicago Democratic Convention in 1972, remember him bellowing for cops and security guards to "get your @#$%@#$@#$@ hands off of me," as Mayor Richard Daley's (father, not the son) stormtroopers tried to manhandle Bradley out of the building (score: Bradley 1, cops 0). All caught on live TV.

We also remember Ed reporting from Vietnam, in particular a shot of him hunkered down in the jungle as a helicopter was lifting off behind him. And we remember him bringing us intriguing profiles of musicians and actors and sports legends; not the typical celebrity fluff of say, a Barbara Walters, but personal, intimate visits that didn't need to resort to gimmicky questions ("If you could be a tree..."), but painted beautiful portraits and left us feeling that we knew both Ed and his subject better.

And for those of us with brown faces and kinky hair, Ed was a symbol of what we could achieve. He was a hero. He was on CBS, man. CBS network! And if Ed could do it, so could we. We trusted Walter Cronkite, but Ed was one of us. He wore a 'fro when it was in, sported an earring, and facial hair. He could be street-wise and hip, or genteel and elegant. And it never looked contrived or phony. It was just Ed. I know I wanted Ed Bradley to get the anchor chair when Walter Cronkite retired, because he certainly proved he was more than capable. And I never missed an Ed Bradley segment on 60 Minutes. They were -- he was -- the best.

Ed Bradley was a consummate journalist. There will be other good journalists. But there will never be another Ed Bradley.