KNEEJERK RESPONSE AFTER READING A VERY LONG ARTICLE: Wesley Clark for President. (I mean, let's face it: Do you really think W. is capable of contrasting post-Ottoman state socialism with the emergence of Balkan democracies? I wasn't a big Gore fan, but I justified my Gore vote last time around by saying I couldn't vote for a dummy for president. But then came that whole election debacle, and by the time W. was shoehorned into office I was pretty much politic-ed out. Fine, W., you be president. Go ahead, I thought. Who cares? But then the terrorists reminded me that, when bad guys say they're going to kill you, you owe it to yourself to care...and to kick them in the jimmy preemptively. And all of a sudden W. emerged as a first-rate preemptive jimmy-kicker. All of which has had me tilting into W.'s arms for the past coupla years. But then I read Clark's seemingly cogent, insightful analysis, bookened by all manner of war atrocities and bike wrecks, and I'm reminded that a U.S. President oughta have some sense of history to go along with his intuitive understanding of human nature and ultra-low heartbeat. Oh, and he should be smart, too. Right?)