Republicans: Vote for Us, or Die

That's the message coming from the Republican Fear Machine, explicitly from Dick Cheney today:

"It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States."

How low, how desparate, how despicable can they get? Zell Miller and Dick Cheney would have Americans believe Democrats are lining up with guns to shoot your babies. In reality, Democrats are lining up to feed your babies, as much as protect them. It's more hate, more fear, more divisiveness from the extreme right. The neoconservative Republicans have already devastated America, at home and abroad. Americans are already dying - in Iraq.

More than 1,000 American soldiers have now died in Iraq. Kerry honored them and said it was a "tragic milestone". Bush made no mention of it, but Scott McLellan kept up the smoke and mirrors show:

''We remember and honor and mourn those who made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan. We also remember those who lost their lives on Sept. 11."

Why thanks Scott, for again trying to hide the quagmire in Iraq behind the completely unrelated tragedy of September 11. What next? "We honor the $400 billion US budget deficit and 1.3 million new poor. Oh yeah - We also remember those who lost their lives on Sept. 11."

There's only one direction we can go: Up. I'm not much for catchphrases, but Kerry/Edwards' "Hope is on the Way" is a breath of fresh air in these times of foul-smelling lies.