Senator Chafee, you really do understand President Bush. It is obvious that, one, he has no interest in Israel living in peace with its neighbors, and two, he has even less interest in speaking the truth about any subject.

There are very good reasons for the US Constitution requiring a separation between church and state, and Presidents like this one demonstrate that those reasons are valid. No one incapable of rational thought should be allowed to be president, and that applies whether the irrationality is religion based or just a mental impairment.

Once it became apparent that our president was irrational, impeachment should have been not just on the table, but foremost in the thoughts of Congress. Add the rampant law violations by this president and impeachment was no longer an option, but a necessity. Perhaps you can explain why this Congress has been so remiss in that duty.

I think it was in the 1999-2000 debates when Bush was asked the question reagarding what he would say to Isreal if he was given the chance, and he said something along the lines of, "I'm going to tell them that they are going to hell."

One of the problems is that very few Senators and/or House Members have the courage you have. I always found in that you'd say the same things in private and in public.
Many (if not most) of your colleagues had the same take as you in private but in public mouthed the lobby's talking points.
One gets used to it.
All the same the absence of Lincoln Chafee from the halls of Congress is a great loss.
Luckily, you are still young. Plenty of time to run for office again as a Democrat. We'll keep the lights on for you.

Does the President's God Want Peace?

If his is the God of the Old Testament, the answer, sadly, might well be 'No' ...

But, attempting to divine the intentions of an OT God is no business for Christians, of all people, to be bothering with.

"Do not return evil for evil. Avenge not yourselves, but rather give way to wrath; for it is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink: for in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:17-21

Matthew 5:9 calls on all Christians to strive to be peacemakers.

Whenever we see a betrayal of Christian principles by church leadership, or by self-proclaimed 'Christian' political leaders, we should ask them how they square the old-time NT gospel of peace that Jesus preached with the newfangled gospel of war that they're preaching.

Our Christian concern is not to discern whether or not God wants peace, but rather, to follow His NT command to make it.

Lincoln Chaffee says:

"Faced with that glaring difference between what the administration says and what it does,...."

Not long after Bush took office in 2001, he and Laura made a visit to the Boys and Girls Club of Wilmington, Del. It made for great TV as Bush told the audience how valuable they were in forming our young people to be law abiding, patriotic, hard working Americans....something to be proud of.

Not long after this photo op, I read that Bush cut federal funding to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America by 50%. This was the first time I saw that what he says and what he does are often two different things. How many times have I seen him do this in the ensuing years? Let me count the ways....

I believe that President Bush operates under the same belief. It's the only answer that explains his administration's record on the peace process.

You may be right Senator, but I don't think you can discount Bush's profound ignorance and incompetence. This President seems incapable of engaging himself deeply enough in any complex problem to understand its subtleties or to effect any kind of solution. Bush appears (from this distance at least) to be an extraordinarily superficial person who embraces cliches and platitudes because he's either too stupid or too lazy to think through issues himself. And like a spoiled and petulant child he believes things should happen just because he says they should happen. He doesn't understand work. Relying instead on his name, his wealth, his inflated ego, and his dismissiveness and temper, he's never had to do any real work. And so everything he touches is ineffectual and mediocre. While Bush may be remembered most for his abject failure in Iraq, Katrina is the defining event of his Presidency--it laid the emperor bare for all to see. As New Orleans sunk, America realized what it had for a leader. Or what it didn't have.
Heck of a job, Brownie.

PURPLE STATE POST: "Bush appears (from this distance at least) to be an extraordinarily superficial person who embraces cliches and platitudes because he's either too stupid or too lazy to think through issues himself."

RECENTLY IN THE NEWS: Army Radio had quoted a top official in Jerusalem claiming that a senior member in the entourage of President Bush, who visited Israel last week, had said in a closed meeting here that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were of the opinion that military action against Iran was called for......Bush, the official reportedly said, considered Hizbullah's show of strength evidence of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's growing influence. In Bush's view, the official said, "the disease must be treated - not its symptoms."

it's reasonable to conclude that President Bush has no intention of helping the Palestinians obtain a homeland, and never did.

Very reasonable.

But the evidence is even better for concluding that Palestinians and other Arabs have no intention of allowing Jews to keep their homeland, and never did.

If you accept that then Israeli settlements and poor treatment of Palestinians are eminently reasonable, as is Republican support. No need to resort to God.

Of course, "progressives" can never accept that conclusion no matter how good the evidence. Because if it's true their entire world view is not.