Now, Mary and I are aren't typical in this respect, averaging only about 4500 miles per year in a compact sedan. But in order to make that happen, we live in the middle of downtown Charlotte, and we pay a premium for doing so. That's our choice, and it's worth it to us — almost everything we need is within walking distance, usually just a couple of blocks. But I figure as long as presidential candidates like Clinton and McCain are willing to pander on this issue, why not pander to us, too? Where's our free money?

I mean, if you make it a centerpiece of your energy policy to reward many people whose chosen lifestyle tends to make them large consumers of gas, the least you can do to balance that out is to give a few bucks to people who are taking a hit to live greener to begin with. In fact — and here's a completely unnovel idea — why not skip the gas tax holiday altogether and subsidize green alternatives like public transport, the purchase fuel-efficient vehicles, working remotely, etc. It might not be popular with some parts of the SUV crowd, but at least it has the virtue of providing the right incentives.

And yes, there are many people who are legitimately hurting because of higher energy prices. But instead of subsidizing behavior — more driving — that will just make the long-term problem worse, why not try to come up some targeted assistance that actually rewards good behavior to an extent.

Not that this price increase is a deal-breaker, but really, it's almost like the powers that be want to keep us Americans locked up inside our own borders. Maybe it's because Bush knows how hated we are abroad, but I really wish that he could find a way to be hated without increasing the price of my pasta (and hotel and airfare and everything else) by 20%.

The state party's longstanding pattern of excluding Charlotte is getting more than a little annoying. I'm enough of a yellow dog that it won't affect my vote, but I can't say this won't effect my donations. I'll give money, but I would be more likely to be more generous if I got more out of it than a thank-you page on a website.

Making a 5 hour round trip to Raleigh doesn't make for a fun day, and springing for an overnight hotel stay is just money that the party is missing out on. But these would be things I would consider more seriously if I didn't have the distinct impression that the state party isn't willing to hit the road and visit the largest, richest city in the state from time to time. There are supporters with money here — don't ignore that.

The one thing we do know, however, is that people are suffering now, and that this administration hasn't really done much to alleviate that suffering. Part of it has to do, I think, with an unwillingness to admit publicly that anything has really gone so terribly wrong. There's a reason why the US don't officially track civilian deaths — so we can argue that any large number reported by anyone else isn't plausible. Another factor is the unreasonable optimism displayed by war supporters that a stable, peaceful, pro-Western Iraq is just around the corner. ("Success is within reach", says John McCain.) Since we're apparently about to turn the corner and transform Iraq into the kind of place where such bad things don't happen, we can ignore the current crises as transient events that will soon be forgiven and forgotten in the new Bablyon.

Do we have a humanitarian duty to reduce the suffering of Iraqis? Of course. But it would be easier to believe that war supporters took this duty seriously if they weren't so good at turning a blind eye to the current crises. For the cost of a month of war, we could make life much easier for refugees abroad. And for a follow-up, we might decide to make it a priority to admit more refugees than a small town in Sweden. As long as Bush or McCain is in the White House, however, talk about making the lives of Iraqis better will just be empty rhetoric deployed for domestic political gain.

We need to stay because of these various problems … and what we're doing is working, and yet somehow there's no path from Point A to Point B — no way to connect the dots between what's happening now, and a situation where the problems have actually been solved.

More than that, even — Petraeus seems to say that we can't know where "Point B" might actually be. If we can't know what conditions are required for us to leave, we can't make any plans for that contingency, or even know what to do in the meantime to hasten our way to that magic end-point. In all practical respects, then, it's a recipe for staying forever. Which is what Bush has wanted all along. Big surprise, eh?

I managed to walk the full 5 mile route, which was a bit of a triumph for me. Given my foot problems of the last few years, being able to go that far without pain was a huge personal victory, and evidence that the root cause of the problem has finally been identified and is being brought under control.

But more importantly, this event is a victory for everyone who has MS or knows someone with MS. In a more perfect world. research for a cure for diseases like MS would be part of the normal public health budget, but it's not. The research has to be paid for, which is why charity events like the MS Walk take place. So again, if you can, please consider making a donation.

It's actually quite comfortable.

Maybe this is why, after all this time, the Administration continues to push for the ability to torture prisoners. After all, sometimes the lies can be so much more politically useful to your agenda than the truth.