I've come to a conclusion...

...and here it is:

We must immediately begin work on a giant, impregnable wall that will, when complete, enclose Washington D.C. completely. Within the wall go all 535 Congress members, the president, all their advisers, pals and others sucking from the political trough. In addition, talk show hosts, commentators and "pundits" advocating the views of both parties will be sealed in.

Oh, we'll be nice to them. We'll set up microphones and TV cameras -- none actually connected to anything -- so they can orate to their hearts' content. We'll print up phony newspapers indicating that they still have an influence in the world. We'll give them endless papers showing they have plenty of nonexistent money to lavish on worthless programs and projects. And we'll toss enough food over the wall -- and, for Ted Kennedy, enough booze -- to keep them happy.

It is clear to me that George Bush hasn't got a rational thought in his head. He is so stoked on his ill-conceived notions that he is unable to see reality when it is laid down on the table in front of him. He is in some twisted dream-state in which he believes that he can make things work because he wants them to.

His opponents are equally stupid, and equally dangerous. If Bush had said tonight that he was adopting the Democrats' "turn tail and bail" strategy, they'd accuse him of cowardice. Even if he did the right thing, Pelosi, Reid, Kerry and the rest of that crew would attack him.

None of these fools understand that the world operates under a different set of rules than they do. While they play their games, people are dying, and our treasury is being drained.

And for what? Somehow, Iraq and Mexico seem more important to Bush than his own citizens. Likewise, the Democrats seem convinced that handing our sovereignty to the U.N. will somehow bring peace. They'll tell us what to do, and all we have to do is give everyone our money.

None of them will realize that the mad-dog enemy we face understands nothing but force. Brutal, unremitting force that goes on and on until they are unable to fight back. This is as true of the radical hate-filled monsters in the Arab world was it was of the Japanese in World War II, as true as it was in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. We should have learned that when we ultimately achieved nothing in the latter two conflicts.

Bush thinks he is "taking the war to the enemy." What nonsense! His political opponents think we should talk to the enemy, maybe join hands and sing "Kumbaya" with them, trust whatever promises they make -- if they don't realize from the start that they don't have to promise anything if they sound sincere -- and ship them lots of money.

You may think, depending on your political views, that I'm being simplistic. If you are one of the few who still believes Bush has a clue, why is it taking longer to subdue the Iraqi and Afghan terrorists than it took to push Japan back across half an ocean, island by island? Why can we not honestly say we've achieved anything permanent with the blood of over 3000 Americans and billions of wasted dollars?

And why, in more than five years, have the Democrats not been able to come up with a single real alternative solution except to run?

Bush is right in one respect: we have enemies. But if that is so, we must crush them, and make it impossible for those nations that side with them (including some of our great "friends") to give them support. Get it over with, and not waste time fighting in Iraq after achieving our supposed goal (a laudable goal) of toppling the ruler who tried to off Bush's daddy.

His opponents refuse to believe that any kind of military action is needed. Foreign aid, "conferences" and "treaties" will bring them into line. We'll chastise them severely every time they attack us; they will blush and promise not to do it again.

Certain cultures in the world respect nothing but overwhelming force. As long as they don't see it turned on them, they know they can prevail. A few troops, hamstrung by stupid rules of engagement, don't bother them at all.

I don't give a happy damn if Iraq becomes a democracy, complete with an SUV in every garage and a satellite dish for every house. Why this is so important to Bush is beyond me.

In the meantime, the real threat -- from Iran, North Korea and China -- builds with each passing hour. They understand us; we do not, at the highest levels of government and "diplomacy," understand them.

The best defense for our nation would be to neutralize our current "servants" in Washington and replace them with people whose primary goal is to ensure that Americans are safe, secure from from attacks and erosion of the quality of their lives caused by low-wage labor and "offshored" jobs. The secondary goal should be to share our bounty, but in a self-serving way: help our friends and cut off our enemies from U.S. corporate or governmental support.

And if, as human nature seems to suggest is inevitable, the mad dogs choose to attack us or those nations that cannot protect themselves, we should move swiftly, surely and with maximum force to destroy the threat at minimum human or financial cost to ourselves.

Sometimes, simple solutions are best. I believe this is one of those times.

What we need is a reincarnated Theodore Roosevelt, to undo the damage that began during the reign of his cousin Franklin, and has led this nation to the brink of moral, financial and physical destruction today.