Did you guys watch 60 minutes last night?

[Jim]

Originally Posted by Simon

In the future this country will have to be able to deal with--and that includes talking with--more and more foreign leaders who are able to hold up their end of the dialogue very well. I look forward to that, and to the people of this country one day realizing that how we see things from inside is very different than the views available from a distance.

I think Ahmadinejad knows that if he wants attention and media coverage, then comments like those about Israel and the 55,000 are what it takes to get it. How serious is he, and how correct is he about his numbers, those are questions I'm nowhere near sure enough about.

I agree about the number 55,000. It is a big stick to have in your back pocket even if it is just a threat and the number is fictitious.

Remember back just before the first war in Iraq when Saddam Hussein said it would be the mother of all wars. I can remember everyone laughing at that statement back then. I remember the drawing of the camel with a rocket in his mouth and balls on a stump. The stump had a guy behind it with a sledge hammer waiting to hit the camel's balls. I wonder why we don't see cartoons like that anymore.

No matter what they say, I think the US Government has to learn to take everything any government leader says seriously. And when a leader of any country writes to Bush, he should respond.