Back in the day, members of Congress nominated a single candidate from their party to put before the Electoral College. The process evolved in the mid-19th century as political party machinery matured and nominations were decided at national conventions.

It was not until reformers in the early 20th century, during the “Progressive Era,” pushed through a mechanism to measure the popular opinions of candidates that we saw the first presidential primary.

The 21st century has brought us the era of primaries on steroids. The Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary once owned the early-decision retail space. But now, not so much. Look for more than 30 states to try to fill that space and jam their presidential primaries into January or February in 2008.

Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia, says, “This early primary process is just courting disaster by creating oversized, sped-up contests,” and the candidates act as though this were 2008 instead of 2007. Sabato notes, “We are so early right now that only an idiot or a fool could predict who will come out on top.”

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For the Republican contenders, this race is any man’s game. Right now you have former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani running out front. Sen. John McCain is not far behind. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich follows. Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, brings up the rear.

Those who distribute conventional wisdom for a living argue that as soon as the social conservatives “find out” about Giuliani’s social positions, they will run for the hills. Yet, for now, that wisdom hasn’t put a dent in the Rudy Express. Like Bill Clinton, Giuliani sucks up the oxygen when he walks into a room. And while he may disagree with people on issues, he does not stick his finger in their eyes when they disagree.

McCain has growing pains: He is suffering the effects of moving from rebel to Establishment candidate. Being “Straight-talk McCain” was much easier for his personality and style; now he must deal with the infrastructure of his party and other political organizations, elected officials (current and past) and all of their loyalties and fundraisers.

It was much easier for McCain in 2000 when he could just climb on his bus and say, “Whoever is with me is fine and whoever isn’t, that is fine too — I am going to go to the voters.”

Why Gingrich? Well, he is the smartest kid in the classroom. His intellect and understanding of issues and how to deal with them are what drive his support at this point. That’s particularly among conservative voters who aren’t happy with McCain, have trouble with Giuliani or distrust Romney. Plus, Americans have always been fascinated by a reluctant candidate, which is why Gingrich and Gore stay high in the public opinion polls.

Traction for Romney has been slow, but that may change. An open election without the incumbency factor has forced all of the candidates to begin organizing their campaigns and raising money much earlier. Romney was early to do that; his immediate challenge is not raising cash but defining himself.

“For Republicans, this early politicking and a front-loaded primary process could be their worst enemy. Party leaders like situations they can control; highly contested, high-profile primaries always run the risk of divisions.

And thanks to this early-out intensity, getting them all lined up behind a nominee by Election Day could be like herding cats,” and so said Ms. Zito.

This my friends will prove to be quite interesting. Let the cats roll in…………

Salena Zito is a Trib editorial page columnist. Ms. Zito has graciously granted me copyright permission to reprint her work here on The HILL Chronicles.

Traditionally The Big Story hosted by John Gibson has always included in its forte’ a hefty dose of politics, judicial rulings, and news surrounding the war on terror.

In an effort to please the public and “appease” the ultimate compromise of “ratings” - instead we are being graced with a hefty dose of Britney Spears and the deceased Anna Nicole Smith. The latter has occupied the news since the moment of her demise.

Do not misunderstand me; Smith’s demise is no less than tragic. However, by now it is getting as old as the coroner said of Smith’s body when he called into the courtroom today asking the judge to expedite the proceedings because Smith’s body was decomposing quicker than anticipated.

Now to Spears - she shaved her head, “skin heads” do it all the time-”Chenade O’Connor” still has her hair shaved off-so. And to top that off she went back into rehab. Okay - hopefully she will get some help for her own sake and that of her children; otherwise she is another Smith waiting to happen.

To be honest I suspect this was all a publicity ruse by Spears because she just could not stand the fact that Smith was receiving more attention than she was. The typically pathetic Hollywood ploy “cry wolf” and everyone will come running. And they do.

Since the death of Smith and the news of Spears shaving her head, not to mention that Spears has checked herself into rehab twice within two weeks - this is dominating the news from Fox to CNN. It is pathetically disgusting because-who cares!

And now the scoop is that Spears shaved her head because her hair would retain any drugs she may have done in the past-and she is in a custody battle for her children, but then again I say, not my business - who cares!

Since 9/11 Americans have been on alert to the real risks terrorist pose. The attack on 9/11 profoundly changed my life as I am sure it did yours. After 9/11 one could not look upon society and culture the same. America and its citizenry lost the innocence of just being carefree, just being able to come and go at ones whim - to be free now we had to really care and take note of how despicable and vile the 9/11 attacks were. To this day I still cry for the thousands lost and the families and friends left behind. Lives taken carelessly, recklessly, with no thought other than to kill.

It is amazing, ad least to me how many people tried to justify the 9/11 attack by implying we did something wrong- or that we somehow deserved it. No one deserves to be terrorized and killed. No one deserves the evil that al-Qaeda spreads in the name of their god. What kind of God tells you to kill your neighbor? Certainly not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Unfortunately, Christianity has in part fed into the anti-Semitism surrounding Israel and the Jews. In fact, Christianity has been de-Judeaized - yet it is Christianity that is an extension of Judaism, not visa versa.

The idiosyncrasies in Islam are monumental in comparison to other religions. First of all, Mohammed was epileptic; he was a pedophile - with a wife as young as six–consummating the marriage when she was nine. He would have been jailed by today’s’ standards - and even then, this behavior was looked upon with abhorrently.

Islam is also known for what their Koran says, “Kill the people of Saturday and Sunday” - in other words kill the Jews and Christians. There is no tolerance-just oppression and fear. In Islam one either chooses to live by the sword or to die by the sword, but either way one must know that in Islam the sword is ever present.

When I lived in the Middle East what struck me most about the culture and Islam was that they were synonymous. Unlike here in the U.S. where we pride ourselves on the perceived separation of church and state there is not such thing in the Middle East. Islam, culture, society, it goes hand in hand. Even Christians living in Egypt must succumb and abide by the Islamic dictatorship. There is no getting around it, behind it; this is ever present amongst the citizenry in the Middle East. Abide by the Islamic law or die. Speak against the “religion of peace” - be imprisoned and die. Everything Islam teaches - what it breathes and exudes is death.

Ironically, Muslims accuse Christianity and Judaism of being “bloody” religions. But when one studies the course Islam has heralded this is the most bloody religion to date having killed tens of thousands in the name of Islam-in the name of Jihad.

Something is terribly wrong within our society when people start looking for reasons that 9/11 happened, citing that it is our own fault–wrong, wrong, and could not be more wrong. No one deserved to be terrorized. Period. The mothers in the so-called Palestinian state are upholding their sons and daughters for dying for a worthy cause-Jihad in the name of Islam. What kind of mother rejoices in the death of their child for a cause that has no purpose other than to kill and destroy? What depravity lies in the hearts of these men and women?

The continued fear Islam perpetuates has caused people to appease and capitulate with terrorists. Sadly for us the terrorists have been successful in waging the inner war on Americans-causing Americans to be fearful many times in the wake of 9/11. This blind sided view has created a complacency that is only equaled to a pre-9/11 state - a false sense of well being.

The culture war of Islam on society is a battle that must be fought on the ground level. Basics must be learned when dealing with Islam. If you are the mindset like out forever capitulating President, George Bush, “that Islam is a religion of peace” - you are definitely wrong. There is nothing peaceful about Islam. The mentality that lies beneath Islam is do or die, kill and be prepared to be killed.

Of course Islam say that “God is a merciful God” - yes God is a merciful God, unless of course you are Muslim, then God is a dictator that demands tierney and death to all that are not of the Islamic religion. Those people, us, the people of Saturday and Sunday.

Salena Zito has a really interesting article published this week over at the Trib-Review, Jockeying around the war. According to Ms. Zito Howard Dean is “positioning around the war so he can become the Democrats’ presidential nominee.”

Dean staked out that role four years ago. And while the bulk of the electorate was not ready for his anti-war message then, it was even less ready for the way he delivered it.

Who could have predicted then that Dean was at the forefront of a movement that would become the litmus test for those who would seek to be the Democrats’ nominee four years later?

Ms. Zito says that “Barack Obama has been against the war from the very beginning, so he has nothing from which to back-pedal. He was an Illinois state senator at the time of the U.S. Senate authorization vote. “I am not opposed to all wars,” he said in an October 2002 speech. “I’m opposed to dumb wars.”"

John Edwards is another one of the illustrious Democratic hopefuls, or maybe not:

Edwards also is suffering from a lack of traction and dubious judgment: He positioned himself as the anti-poverty candidate, then built a mansion. He spent time as a cheerleader for the anti-Wal-Mart crowd, yet owned Wal-Mart stock while serving in the U.S. Senate. He was for his potty-mouthed bloggers before he was against them. The only thing he has not flubbed yet is his latest stance on the war.

Hillary Clinton as we all know is a completely different story all together:

While the left is chipping away at her for not getting down on bended knee and begging its forgiveness for her vote for the war, she continues to play coy.

Taking an apologetic position on the war now to appease the left in exchange for its primary vote would be detrimental to projecting an image of strength in a general election. Hillary is trying to walk away from her vote for the war without really repudiating it, apologizing for it or calling it a mistake. She’s using every little linguistic trick imaginable to get there without saying it — triangulating her way to some yet-to-be-determined position.

And back to Dean:

Four years ago, Howard Dean created the anti-war space everyone is now trying to occupy. Had he gone back to Vermont after the 2004 presidential election and done a few serious policy speeches, he would have re-emerged as the guy who was against the war at the beginning.

This just proves how the Democrats do not have a plan, not only when it comes to Iraq, other than to cut and run. It also shows that the Democrats are lousy political strategists. But we already knew that!

Salena Zito is a Trib editorial page columnist. Ms. Zito has graciously granted me copyright permission to reprint her work here on The HILL Chronicles.

When I was younger I was a rather immature and unfocused person.  I had a low self-esteem and was needy.  Though I had a good upbringing, two loving parents and an extended family that was supportive, I, unlike my sisters just did not have the self-confidence they exhibited.  This lead me down a road I sometimes would like to just forget.  But like all things in life your past is always present no matter how far removed you are from it.

I was 23 years old at the time I met and married my then husband - an Egyptian Muslim.  Of course from the onset of that relationship I was continually encouraged to become a Muslim.  During that time in my life I was disgruntled with Catholics, having been raised one.  I felt there was too much hypocrisy in the church.  That lead me on a search of different Christian religions and even Judaism.  But I did not commit to any. 

By the time I married my ex-husband I agreed to become a Muslim.  I went through the motions, but I could never believe that Jesus was "just a prophet".  To me Jesus was and always will be the Son of God, the Messiah. 

While in Egypt, then later in Saudi Arabia I witnessed how women were treated as second class citizens.  The stigmatization of women who were either never married and or divorced.  The "rules" about a woman coming and going too much — you know like wanting to visit a neighbor twice a week for coffee and chats–more than twice a month in Egypt a woman is suspected of not taking care of her home or being loose.  The litany goes on with all the little idiosyncrasies ascribed to women in the Middle East in so much as what they can and cannot do-or I should say are allowed or not allowed to do.

I could not visit Israel with my Aunt when she visited her best friend who worked for the American Consulate in Cairo, because if I did I would be denied entry into Saudi Arabia where my then husband was working.  I was told I would be denied entry if my passport was stamped with the Israeli insignia.  Sadly, I could not go and I was so, so close.  For that I am forever disappointed and saddened.

I was left to live in Egypt with my then in-laws in Port Said, Egypt while my ex-husband worked in Saudi Arabia and applied for my visa to live there with him.  I was continually told by my then in-laws how I was not a "good Muslim" and worse.   I was told this because I refused to wear a scarf on my head and I did not pray five times a day. 

My then sister-in-law actually asked me if her brother found me in the street or the garbage because they know "all" American women are not virgins and whores.  Fortunately or unfortunately for me, depending on how you look at this, I learned to speak Arabic so I knew exactly what was being said to me and about me.

While in Egypt I became severely depressed.  In a matter of three months I went from 120 pounds down to 95 pounds.  I could barely eat, not by choice, but I had no appetite for food.  I drank a lot of tea and smoked like a fiend.  I became so out of touch with reality that I did not even realize I was three months pregnant with my second child until I passed out one day.

When my visa to travel to Saudi Arabia was authorized I then went to live there.  That was another story all together.  I lived not far from the American compound of Aramco between Al-Khobar, where I lived at the time, and Dammam.  I had to wear the nijab (A nijab is when your body and face are completely covered. Some variations are slits for the eyes so the woman can see, but in Saudi Arabia this was not allowed so you had to wear a black chiffon scarf over the face so the eyes could not be seen through the slits– I likened it to seeing through very dark sun glasses.  As a sidebar, I also had to wear gloves, not required by Islam, but because if I did not the men would see my white hands and right away want to talk to me and ask me questions.  So I wore gloves to avoid any contact with males while outside my home when shopping, even when my then husband was with me.) - because I had heard that American women who did not wear the nijab were beaten by police on their legs.  I also heard many stories of American women disappearing and being taken into "harems" by "friends of the Royal Family" or "members of the Royal Family" and being continually raped, then killed once "used up."  I became fearful for my life while I lived in Saudi Arabia.

I myself at one point was "almost raped" when I was seven months pregnant with my second child.  We were visiting my ex-husbands boss at his chalet.  I asked to use the bathroom and he said he would show me where it was.  My ex-husband obviously trusted him as he allowed him to direct me to where the bathroom was.  When I opened the door of the bathroom my ex-husbands boss was blocking the door and then tried to accost me sexually.  I ran away and went outside where my ex-husband was sitting and said nothing to him.  I could not say anything at the time because if I did I could have been jailed.  That is how it is in Saudi Arabia.

When we arrived home later that evening I told my ex-husband what happened.  Fortunately that was one of the few, and I mean few times he stood up for me.  He left his position at the company to work for another company and that was the end of that.  Nothing was ever reported to the police.  It was not talked about.  But I did almost have a miscarriage due to the shock and trauma it caused me.  I was in such bad shape the doctors actually had to order special medicine for me from Bahrain that I had to take for the remainder of my pregnancy so I would not miscarry. 

These are just some of the things I experienced while living in the Middle East.  If I wanted to I could really write a book.  Perhaps I will one day, but not today.  I still have a hard time dealing with the many things I experienced while in the Middle East at the hands of some very evil people who thought they were doing "good in the name of Islam." 

It would be unfair of me not to tell you that I did not meet many wonderful men and women who were good, kind, and generous.  Ironically, these people did treat me so much better than my then husband and his family.

By the time I came back to the United States I literally kissed the ground at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.  I was so thrilled, happy, grateful, and appreciative to be home.  After some more years of a tumultuous and violent relationship with my ex-husband I finally could not allow myself to pretend to be a Muslim out of fear of reprisal.  I spoke up and told him that I was a Christian and that I believed Jesus was not only the Son of God, but my Lord and Savior.  I then divorced him.

Unfortunately the divorce was ugly and my family became divided.  My children from that marriage live with their father because they share his Muslim beliefs.  For me it is bitter sweet.  They are my children whom I love dearly, more than my life, but several of them believe I am a Muslim hater and that I abandoned them, which was never the case.  But like all true Muslims do, they first brainwash you - then pollute you with their hate.

I could not become a Muslim because I believe in Jesus - I could not deny that He is the Son of God - I could not deny that there was no way to the Father except through Jesus.  Like it is said in Proverbs, "Train up a child in the way that  he should go and he will not depart from it." 

Yes, like the prodigal child I wandered, but in the end I did not depart from the core beliefs my parents taught me as a child.   For that I thank God.

————

***A Special Note:  Special thanks to Debbie Hamilton from Right Truth for her prompting me to write this.  Without her encouragement I would not have done so out of fear of criticism.

Crossposted from The HILL Chronicles

Joseph Farah is a conservative Christian Lebanese-American journalist with over 30 years of experience.  He was born and raised in New Jersey and is married to Elizabeth Farah. He is also the founder of WorldNetDaily (WND), for which he writes a daily commentary. 

The Aussie Prime Minister defends the criticism railed at Barack Obama (D-IL) on Monday:

In a nationally televised interview on Sunday, Howard said Obama’s plan meant Al Qaeda leaders in Iraq should "be praying as many times as possible for a victory, not only for Obama but also for the Democrats" in the U.S. presidential election in November 2008.

Rudd said Howard’s comments amounted to calling the Democrats "the terrorists’ party of choice" and could harm Australia’s future with a possible Democratic U.S. administration.

Obviously the world lives in a fish bowl. It is not enough that each country globally has its own internal issues to deal with, but must also deal with international issues as well. Foreign policy is optimally to keep and or broker peace. Or ad least it used to be.

Of late foreign policy literally means getting down in the trenches with another countries politics and or policies. Though I am of the belief to stay out of another countries affairs at the same time there is legitimate reasons to intervene, such as was the case with Iraq. Hussein only ignored and violated over 15 sanction measures over a fifteen year period. Enough was enough.

Then or course our own political spear head aka James Carville interfered in the Israeli elections in 1999 with blessing from then President Clinton. As a result of this Barak took the helm when it had been expected that Binyamin Netanyahu (nicknamed: Bibi) would win the elections by a landslide. Thanks to Carville and his interference in Israel we have a huge mess in the Middle East-ad least worse than it should of been.

There are times when we should intervene and should not. The problem for the United States and other countries around the world - none have learned when to mind your own business, or to keep your mouth shut. The world these days lacks diplomacy, though naively this is exactly what they believe they are doing - being diplomatic.

Everyone is a commenter or a know-it-all and makes sure to say what they think, but not necessarily what they mean. For this reason there are problems around the world - for this reason true peace is unlikely - for this you will see politicians and government spear heads forever in our business and the U.S. forever in theirs. Right or wrong - that is just the way of the world.

I ask the question why come to a western country knowing that ones formal religious dress in not accepted and or tolerated?  I ask why should a country, any country, change the way things are done, what their customs are for another chosing to reside in a country not their own?  Because no Islamic country will give one the voice to speak up and out against what the people want or do not want - complete dictatorship.

About the veil, I could careless about that–there are much more important issues than that veil.  But having said that I will state that some have taken this too far, such as the case in Florida where one Muslim woman recently sued to be able to have her driver’s license photograph taken with her wearing the nijab (the covering of ones complete face-except for the eyes, which are allowed to show through a very narrow slit) on her driver’s license.  That is ridiculous.  How would any police officer be able to identify her or any other woman that decides to wear the nijab for their photo I.D. - or driver’s license.  It makes absolutely no sense.  The purpose of formal identification is not just for the law enforcement but for our own protection - especially in cases such as identity theft or worse, a crime.

So where does that leave this issue?  Open to much debate, much critique, and much criticism if you are not sympathetic to Muslim women wearing the nijab-anywhere, especially on that I.D. or driver’s license.