Watch for Weird Words: Election's Coming Up!

Given Vice President Cheney's statements in 2001 and 2004 that he would never run for president, this will probably be the first presidential election since 1928 without an incumbent running in the primaries for president, and the first since 1952 without an incumbent in the general election.

That may explain why so many ambitious politicos in both major parties are swarming around their party's nomination so early, and so excitedly.

I try to keep this blog as non-political as possible, but until the election is over, I'm likely to bring up issues that I believe are both important, and touch on the war on terror.

With so many passionately-held beliefs in play, odd things are likely to be said, and believed.

It's already happened. America was "going it alone" and being "unilateral" for quite a while, until someone bothered to see how many nations were involved in the coalition involved in Iraq as of August, 2006:

• Albania
• Armenia
• Australia
• Azerbaijan
• Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Bulgaria
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• El Salvador
• Estonia
• Fiji (though UNAMI)
• Georgia
• Hungary (through NATO or UNAMI, and may never have sent troops before 'withdrawing' them in 2004)
• Iceland (through NATO, a training mission)
• Japan
• Kazakhstan
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Macedonia
• Moldova
• Mongolia
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Singapore
• Slovenia (through NATO, a training mission)
• South Korea
• Turkey (through NATO, a training mission)
• the Ukraine
• the United Kingdom

As more Americans became aware of how many nations were involved in America's "unilateral" action, the 'u-word' faded from use.

"Quagmire" was very, very popular a few years ago, and still is in occasional use

• U.S. Sinking in Iraq Quagmire (2003)
• QUAGMIRE in IRAQ (cartoons, mostly 2003)
• Descending into the Quagmire / The Occupation of Iraq (2003)
• Iraq Quagmire Continues (2005)
• The Iraq Quagmire (2005)
• TURKEY: Into the Iraq Quagmire? (2007)
• QUAGMIRE! QUAGMIRE! (2007)
• and many more

I was waiting for some politico or pundit to cry out against so many draftees dying in the rice paddies of Iraq. I've used that crack before. Twice before, in fact. Better give it a rest.

I hope that people with think with their brain instead of their endocrine system, and will make decisions based on fact, not on catchwords.