I'm always discouraged to see friends suckered into things because of their good intentions so when one of them forwarded me the latest email "virus" going around, I was both annoyed and disappointed. The email in question is from Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc. in the form of their latest plea for money: "To keep the Democratic Party's essential October activities on track, we have to raise $2 million in less than 36 hours."

Post-9/11, most non-profits saw their donations drop dramatically as people redirected their philanthropy towards the Red Cross and other relief organizations. That was understandable.

Today, the same thing is happening as many well-intentioned people - people who would normally donate $10, $20, $50 to their favorite charities and non-profit organizations - are instead redirecting that money to Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc.'s ill-conceived campaign for President or, slightly less offensively, to related organizations like MoveOn.

The Kerry camp has gotten as good as the Repug's at using scare tactics and false bravado to convince people that "help is on the way." Maybe, maybe not - but I'm not arguing the merits of two cookie-cutter Skull-and-Bonesers today. All I'm saying is think twice about where you send your money.

Remember, as evidenced by his turning around and jumping on the bandwagon, Howard Dean's campaign showed that "the people" can only make a difference as far as the establishment will let them. If you're anti-Bush and want to give money towards real, fundamental change, as opposed to cosmetic, give it to the Progressive Democrats of America instead.