It's finally happened after 16 months of listening...

there is something that I disagree with Bill O'Reilly about:

Doonesbury.

Specifically, the current story arc about B.D. losing his leg while fighting in Iraq. O'Reilly says that we the people don't need to be reminded that troops in Iraq are getting hurt, killed or maimed; that Garry Trudeau is trying to undermine the war by posting this story arc in the so-called "elite media".

Here's why I respectfully disagree with Mr. O'Reilly: sometimes, we just need to be reminded in a (not so) gentle way what the cost of war, any war, is about. Yes, maybe Trudeau didn't have to be so graphic about it (he could have told the story perhaps by playing it from the homefront, where his wife, Boopsie, is informed that B.D. was injured, and her reactions to same), however, on the other hand, unless one has been in that situation (and thankfully, I have not), we sit here stateside blissfully unaware of what the real toll is unless we've been there or know someone who has. In this way, we can see what B.D. is going through. After all, he's a fictional character, but the scenario is real, and hundreds of families here in the USA are going through this every day.

Do I care whether Bill O'Reilly reads Doonesbury? Not really. Reading, or not reading it is entirely his choice. He's entitled to think they way he does, and I'm entitled not to agree with him at times. I've never been the kind of person who follows someone on TV or the radio blindly, that disagreements are bound to happen. I've read all of O'Reilly's books, so I know where he stands on certain issues. And, I know what I believe in, and where I stand on certain issues. Granted, the issue I posted recently about the possible reactivation of the Draft is an emotional one for me because I have sons who are of Draft age, and I have very strong feelings about it.

Obviously, I don't agree with everything any one person says. As you may have noticed on the sidebar, I'm supporting John Kerry in the upcoming Presidential election, and sometimes I don't agree with everything he (Senator Kerry) says or does either. That is my right. And, it is my right to not like anything the current President does either. Know why? Because I use the brain God gave me to think for myself, to make my own decisions, to decide what is best for me and mine.

So, what does that make me? A conservative? A liberal? Am I on the far left or right? I don't know, and I don't care what my beliefs make me. I shun political labels just as I shun the ones on clothing. I just know that I have to live with my choices, whether it's for the leader of the free world, or whether I have a taco or a cheeseburger for lunch today.

I still love O'Reilly's show, save for this one issue. Sometimes, disagreement and debate is a good thing. It makes one think.

As always, I welcome comments, for good or ill. Let's make it a spirited debate, shall we?

(And if Mr. O'Reilly should read this -like that's about to happen- you can take me to task for any inaccuacies or misinterpretations. I'll still love ya!)

MorelaterZ--