Several months ago, I stated in this paper that the leftist Democrats' worst nightmare was for our heroic troops to succeed in Iraq.

Now it's obvious to all that we have done so, and of course the leftists never admit they might be wrong. The party that never has anything good to say about this country has a real problem: Its presidential front-runners, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, have no credible issues. So what do they do? For lack of anything new, they now are selling the same hogwash that all leftists have used since the Russian Revolution:

- "Change." Just elect me. This new government will see to it that your every wish will come true. Free health care, higher wages, no more poverty, more jobs (all high-tech) and all people will be given a free college education (we promise we can get you admittance to Yale or Harvard through affirmative action).

- By raising taxes on the rich and the evil corporations, there is no limit to the new governmental programs for educating the poor children of this country. Look what we did with No Child Left Behind.

- We will cut all military spending. Iran, Russia, China and North Korea are our friends; we are to blame that they hate us. Remember Bill Clinton after 9-11? He implied that Islamic radicals were the result of slavery and the way we treated the American Indians, according to The Washington Times .

- We must eliminate free will. It serves no purpose; the government knows best. We know the needs of the people, and we are smarter than most people. We are Ivy League. Trust us.

And there's supposed to be hope for this country?

Jet Beckum, Aiken, S.C.