Years ago I had a disagreement with a friend and co-worker and when I tried to talk through our differences and reach some sort of accord, he turned on me with a fury that took my breath away. It took me years to understand that that kind of angry, irrational and outsized reaction to a seemingly minor issue often indicates that the other person is wrong-knows he's wrong but can't admit it. Instead of admitting their error they try to turn the tables and put you on the defensive. The scenario plays out the same way between adulterous spouses and their suspicious partners.

You can tell the tide is turning by the shrillness of the ruling party these days. Their old tactics of sound bites and political division aren't working like they once did and with no back up strategy they seem confused and angry. If you saw Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman's pathatic performance on Meet the Press on Sunday, you have some inkling of what's happening. Mehlman manically repeated the same catch phrases to nearly every question. The new talking point in reference to the Iraq war seems to be 'Win by adapting.' The GOP has obviously bravely changed their strategy in this endless and futile war from 'Stay the course' to 'adapt and win.' Comedy Central's Daily Show host Jon Stewart did a brilliant send up of Mehlman's idiotic and desperate performance last week saying, "See that's the beauty of propaganda-it has no internal logic or integrity to violate. So in one moment, basically everything you've heard about the United States' and the administrations strategy in Iraq for the last two years is wrong." How insulting is it to Americans that the GOP thinks they can win back approval for this war by switching their catch phrases? If this administration would put more time into military strategy and less time in political maneuvering and pandering we would all see our lives change for the better.

There are other signs that the GOP's free ride is coming to an end. My brave friends in Greenville's anti-war movement have noticed more vitriol and hatred directed their way during their weekly protest outside Greenville's Federal building. For a while drivers and passengers were flashing the peace sign or the thumbs up sign but in the last few weeks there have been more middle fingers and profanity flung their way. The party faithful know or have begun to realize despite the mainstream media's cooperative effort to keep up the façade that this is a winnable war that our soldiers continue to die and civilian casualties in Iraq have escalated by the month. Not the civilian casualties really have an impact on the die-hard warmongers. They seem perfectly willing to accept collateral damage brushing off the deaths of 100 or more Iraqi civilians per day as the price of fighting the war on terrorism.

These are very difficult times for those of us who were anti-war before being anti-war was a majority opinion. I have found some comfort in a song entitled "I Hope" which is included in the Dixie Chicks latest CD, Taking the Long Way. The lyrics deliver a prayer for better days ahead. "Sunday morning. I heard the preacher say Thou shalt not kill. I don't wanna hear nothing else about killin and that it's God's will. Cause our children are watching us, they put their trust in us, they're gonna be like us. So let's learn from our history and do it differently. (I hope) for more love, more joy and laughter. (I hope) We'll have more than you'll ever need. (I hope) We'll have more happy ever afters. (I hope) And we can all live more fearlessly. And we can lose the pain and misery. (I hope) I hope there must be a way to change what's going on. No I don't have all the answers but I hope. (I hope)