Bush may be in the UAE today trying to stir up the neighborhood to act on the real and present dangers of the rogue regime with WMD intentions in Iraq—I mean—Iran (and likely finding that his credibility froze over years ago, even in the desert, right about the time he was unfurling his “Mission Accomplished” banner ), but I’m on a Southwest 737 having my first experience with levity and laughter onboard a plane since that defining day in September six plus years ago when all smiles seemed to leave the skies for good.

As I was reminiscing about an appropriate message for my friends at the beginning of the New Year 2008, the news reached me about the assassination of opposition leader and former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

The tragic news shocked and saddened me immediately for several reasons.