I don't know if you've

caught that heart-pounding thriller of a TV show called "24".

Had to swear it off myself,

because certain scenes seemed to make my heart race, which can't

be good for the ol' ticker. The plot is simple: government counter-terrorism

officials have 24 hours to stop a particular threat that endangers thousands

of American citizens, and each show equals one hour in "real life."

There's plenty of violence

and other terror to get the blood pumping. But the scariest part to me

is how the show demonstrates the powers of the U.S. President and how

those powers can be abused with the bat of an eyelash.

Recent events have jogged my

memory of how "24" showcased the difficulties of being president.

Fast-forward to real life.

Our military forces are in

Iraq fighting terrorism. College-age kids and career military folks are

dying just about every day in our pursuit of freedom for that country

and protection from terrorism.

Then we find out this week

that it's unlikely any evidence of weapons of mass destruction will

turn up in Iraq. This on top of a former Bush cabinet member saying the

President is out-of-touch with national policy issues and not able to

keep up intellectually at policy meetings.

That's one reason I couldn't

be commander-in-chief. I'm just not smart enough to wrap my brain

around all the injustices in the world the U.S. might or might not decide

to become involved in.

Certainly, Bush has been dealt

a bum hand. The "intelligence community," the CIA and others,

ultimately failed us. They were the ones who said Saddam has WMD and he

must be stopped now.

Is Hussein evil? You bet. Did

I rejoice when he was caught? Sure 'nuff.

Has the military done a good

job of rooting out the terrorist targets in Iraq? Yes again.

But who's benefitting

from millions of dollars in government contracts to provide services in

Iraq? Halliburton, the company with direct ties to Vice President Dick

Cheney.

Don't ask me what Halliburton

does. I don't care. Just the hint of impropriety is enough to convince

me there's trouble afoot.

The president has banned all

news coverage of the return of servicemen and servicewomen killed during

the war. You won't be seeing any photos of flag-draped caskets which

tell just a tiny but important part of the Iraq war story.

"You were a good soldier,

Rick, but we can't acknowledge your death in a poignant way, because

that would require people to think about what's really going on in

Iraq."

That's the impression

such policies leave on me.

Ultimately, you and I are paying

for the war in Iraq. Billions of dollars. And at least hundreds if not

thousands of lives.

Judging by the recent bombings

there, we're nowhere near out of the woods. This is going to be a

long haul campaign, and there's no end in sight to the death toll.

Support our military forces,

but let's do a little rational thinking about the war, too. How did

we get to this point?

Are we ashamed to acknowledge

the ultimate price of war being paid by America's sons and daughters?

It's sad, it's gripping

and its tremendously more scary than any plot on "24."

Maybe I just need to swear

off the TV news and stick to my son's cartoons.