The Rev. Jerry Falwell is dead. Amen, say many. Some of my liberal friends are saying the world will be better off. One of my Republican friends is lamenting his passing. My take is he was the closest thing to PT Barnum the Evangelical world ever saw. He was a master at knowing his audience's prejudices, preferences, and audience likes and dislikes, and he played to them as a master showman. Saying it would be better to vote for the Devil than Hillary, he knew how to turn his following's passions on.

And for those who needed his ministering, he was a good and great man. He gave them voice in a land that had largely left their values and beliefs rusting, with the passing of the industrial age. He brought their values and beliefs back into the mainstream of politics raising them up as high and venerated as the U.S. Constitution itself.

For those who saw the tearing down of the 'wall' between church and state as pulling cornerstones out from underneath our Constitution, his passing marks the end, hopefully, of that movement. For those who never wanted to see religion be a litmus test for public office, his passing marks the end of cloudy skies and the sun shining through again.

But, neither camp's passions about the man accurately reflects the importance of the man in America's evolution. Dr. Jerry Falwell, regardless of one's passions for or against him, was a man of his time with his message on the pulse of issues America must wrestle through before she can find solidarity and unity, if indeed, she ever can again. America made Jerry Falwell just as certainly as Jerry Falwell made the Fundamentalist Right Evangelical Christians a front and center constituency to be dealt with.

May he rest in peace.

Iraq will not see peace for decades. That seems to be the consensus of the Iraqi government, the U.S. government, and most leaders of other nations. Polls are beginning to show America is very divided and factional about varying courses of action. There is no majority for a complete pullout in light of the prospect of al-Queda spreading its roots there. There is no majority for the U.S. to continue as occupier and policeman over the Iraqi sectarian

warfare.

This lack of consensus plagues the U.S. Senate as well, as the linked article above demonstrates. In the absence of a clear course of action backed by consensus, it is most probable we will stay the course. We will adjust our troop levels and logistics, and we may even redefine America's mission in Iraq after September when Gen. Petraeus is due to report on the effectiveness of the surge policy and likely, the progress of the Iraqi government to stand on its own two feet and manage its internal affairs and problems. But, it appears clear that America will be in Iraq as our 2008 elections unfold.

For all the word war over Rep. John Murtha's plan to redeploy our troops out of the sectarian war, but, remain involved in stabilizing Iraq's borders, training Iraqi forces, and attacking al-Queda strongholds in conjunction with Iraqi forces, it appears Rep. John Murtha had the only plan that will prevail with, or without, public consensus.

The Buzz in D.C. is that Congressional Republicans are giving Pres. Bush an ultimatum to clearly change course in Iraq come September or, they will have to compromise with the Democrats in the latter half of this year to change the course themselves by overriding the President's vetoes. One political reality appears to be motivating this unprecedented split between the President and Congressional Republicans, the potential slaughter of Republicans at the polls in 2008 if there is no change in the status of the Iraq situation.

If only Rev. Falwell would have a sit down with his new neighbor, the Lord, and explain why the Lord needs to smite Iraq off the face of the earth, so Republicans can return to power and save all the American unborn babies, our Iraqi situation could be solved. I personally think the Lord will turn a deaf ear, politics is not really his province. And trading Iraqi unborn babies for American unborn babies may not be the Lord's idea of a moral bargain.

And that means we Americans are going to have to find our own solution to the Iraq situation. In the end, I believe Rep. John Murtha will own the authorship of the Iraq solution. And that means America will be divided over the Iraq question for many years to come, as a limited presence of American soldiers in Iraq endures for the foreseeable future.