George Bush is pursuing a “limbo” strategy for Iraq: grant so-called “sovereignty” to Iraq while leaving US troops there indefinitely. John Kerry advocates virtually the same strategy, except that he would have our troops serving under the UN flag. Either way, US soldiers remain in Iraq indefinitely, feeding the “anti-Muslim” image of the US, and making it easier for Al-Qaida to recruit more terrorists.

There is a way to bring our troops home much sooner, without plunging Iraq into chaos. We can look at what is happening in the Shia province of Dhi Qar, just a few miles southeast of Baghdad. 16 of the largest 20 cities and many smaller towns will have elected councils by June. These were the first free elections in Dhi Qar's history and in almost every case, secular independents and representatives of nonreligious parties did better than the Islamists.

That policy of ad hoc, incremental, rolling devolution needs to be accelerated. Towns and provinces should be given as much sovereignty as possible, as rapidly as possible, on the obvious principle that the constituent parts of ramshackle federations rarely progress at the same pace.

Let’s turn Iraq over to the Iraqi people, town-by-town, province-by-province, and let them decide how to govern themselves. Then we can bring our troops home instead of leaving them trapped in the limbo of indefinite occupation.

I was on the campaign trail in Illinois two weeks ago when I got a call from my sister back in Cleveland. Aunt Helen had passed away.

I left the campaign trail for a few days so I could return to Cleveland, line up pallbearers for the funeral, and pay my final respects to a wonderful woman who had a profound impact on my life.

Aunt Helen was like a second mother to her 20 nieces and nephews and 22 grandnieces and grandnephews. That was especially true for my sister and me, since our mother died when I was just 28.

She was a first generation American, who spoke English without the hint of an accent while also speaking the native language of her parents. Amazing what people were able to accomplish before “bilingual education” became the norm in government schools.

Although Aunt Helen never went into business for herself, she helped two of her sisters (including my mom) with their taverns and a third sister in her vending machine business. Back then, all you needed to earn a living was the willingness to work. Today, the government buries entrepreneurs in licenses, regulations, red tape, and taxes. No wonder people are having trouble finding jobs, and why so many jobs are being outsourced overseas.

In addition to helping her sisters in their businesses, she helped care for her father, my mother, and her sister Vicki during extended illnesses. No one in my family thought to palm this responsibility off to government – caring for loved ones was a family responsibility.

I credit Aunt Helen, along with my parents, for my deeply-held belief that individuals can accomplish almost anything, provided that they’re willing to work hard, and if government will simply stay out of their way. That’s why I’m running for President – to do my part to restore liberty, opportunity, and that sense of community to America.

The chill of creeping censorship is descending on America.

The FCC under the President Bush has levied massive fines against Clear Channel Communications for three “indecent” incidents on a single episode of the Howard Stern Show, based on ONE listener complain. In a first for the FCC, EACH “indecent” utterance was treated as a separate incident and Clear Channel was fined for EVERY station that aired the show, not just the one that generated the ONE complaint.

Six stations – 3 incidents per station – the maximum $27,500 fine for each violation -- $495,000 in all.

Clear Channel, which had “suspended” Stern right before its executives were scheduled to testify before a Congressional subcommittee holding another indecency witchhunt, has now permanently removed the Stern show from its lineup. Not surprising, given that pending legislation would raise the maximum fine from $27,500 to $500,000 per station per incident – and authorizing fines against on-air talent like Stern in addition to fines against stations. If enacted, this ONE incident could have resulted in a fine of $9 MILLION against the Clear Channel, with similar fines levied against Stern. No wonder they caved to the pressure and stopped carrying his show.

The fallout is spreading. The lastest show to fall victim to the FCC’s creeping censorship is the annual Victoria’s Secret show on ABC. The company isn’t willing to risk airing a show that might draw the ire of the FCC censors.

Stern thinks the FCC has set their sights on him because of his criticism of President Bush. He may well be right. That’s what’s so dangerous about allowing the government any power to censor what people say. If we allow government the power to censor “indecency”, even indirectly through intimidation and fines, it won’t be long before “indecent” political views get censored as well. Our founding fathers knew what they were doing when they added the First Amendment to the Constitution. Now it’s up to us to defend our right to speak freely.

The Bush administration seems to be succeeding in its drive to get the Iraqi people to stop fighting each other and unite into a single nation. Unfortunately, they’re uniting against us. One of the many unintended consequences of this unnecessary war.

I’m sure members of the administration are surprised by the current level of armed resistance, although those of us who opposed this war certainly aren’t. They seem to be perpetually surprised that the Iraqi people, glad as they are to be rid of Saddam, don’t want to be ruled by us, even if only for a little while and for their own good.

The people of Iraq are like people everywhere – they want to control their own destiny. It’s time we let them do so.

We need to return sovereignty to the people of Iraq by June 30 as promised and not allow ourselves to be drug into a protracted guerilla war. And we need to look to Iraqis to take the lead in restoring order, even if the resulting government in some areas is anti-American. We cannot impose order and stability at the point of a gun – the people of Iraq have to achieve order and stability themselves.