I was at a political function on Saturday, and a woman who obviously thought I was much more important than I am because I had a pass hanging around my neck, grabbed my hand and said, please tell the President that I lit a candle for him. He is a good man.

Well, that got me to thinking. How easy would that be to call 555-HEAVEN and throw it into the hands of a deity. In this particular case, I already know what the outcome would be. But we can't do that.

Freedom of Choice. That which we have been imbued with. No interference from the omniscient. And while I profusely thanked the woman for her support, and her candle, that isn't what is going to do it in this election (oh but that it was!).

Besides, I doubt that the "big man" is in direct contact with the candle brigade. I was tempted to light one of my own and say, Hey, could you put my mother on? She was an avid supporter of W in the governor's mansion, and would have been an avid supporter of him as President.

But that isn't the way it works. As Eric has already pointed out so beautifully in his piece on the election and voting, it is up to us.

We have to take our most base instincts, lose the rhetoric, silence the media in our minds, and vote our consciences.

I have always been struck by the concept of a proportional response. It is the joint chiefs favorite thing. And it is probably the most responsible alternative in many cases. The tit for tat, bad act for bad act without abusing our power. But this one is harder! There is no proportional response for the current world sitution.

We have children orphaned or dead or their family is, in Iraq, Afghanistan, the United States, the UK, Australia, Israel, and Palestine, and virtually every country on earth. The conflicts which currently rage are completely and 100 percent the result of terrorism, or the attempt to stop it.