1.) JULY 2007. Steve Lopez: Don't become a pawn, I told my nephew, for a president who misled us from the beginning and who will keep sacrificing lives in a vain and futile attempt to save face. The war in Iraq had been a reckless idea, I argued, and that was becoming clear even to many who once supported it... "What I want for my life is to stand above the majority," he wrote. "I believe in honor, discipline and courage…. I wish to be bigger than myself, to be a part of something more — something important and significant…. I hope that you will understand my reasons for this decision and will continue to support me." My sister came to support her son's courage and patriotism despite her fears. But as his departure approached, both she and my mother sank into states of serious depression that required treatment...

...And as for soldiers as young as my nephew, I don't see enlistment as a well-informed choice but as a product of manipulation. I'm thinking about the seductive recruiting posters I saw in the office at Hemet High School when I visited for a column about three grads who'd been killed in the war. It's not something the president has to worry about. I don't know what his daughters are up to, but neither has signed up for the sacrifice he has asked so many others to make. To date, only one congressman has lost a child to the war, and only about 10 have a relative in combat.

The libs will never understand what needs to be done to ensure freedom. They will focus on the defeats and never the victories in our battle against evil.

2.) The more I hear about Texas the more I want to move out there where people don’t secretly want something from you; they’ll strike up a conversation just because they’re friendly, here in l.a. nobody talks to one another. Neighbors don’t want to have nothing to do with one another. And nobody goes to church. God that f#cking plane overhead is one noisy ccksucker.