First!

And take all the time you need to do it right Bill.

I agree with boxstockracer. Take your time and don't post it until it is ready.

We'll wait. You're worth it.

Ditto. ;)

Take your time. I'll just be re-reading Silent America in the mean time.

Guilt is good enough, don't do humble.

Forget sleep Bill, and finish this puppy!!!

heh.

Honestly I can't wait. It's like waiting for opening day at fenway park.

This is why man invented Red Bull.

The word is given - and the word is Bawlz!

It works for those of us tracking the terrorist funds, and it can work for you!

Seriously though, we've made it this far - a little more will be fine.

OK, the only breaks are to watch:
"Sanctuary" (1967) [TV-Series] UK
After viewing this for a while you might “want” to get the job finished!

Lazy bastard! ::shakes fist::

I am confident Sanctuary will be worth the wait. In the meantime, I've been re-reading some of your essays and they move me now as they did the first go around. I shall remain patient.

Please don't feel guilty or bad about not having Sanctuary already finished. You have already given us so much of yourself. I can't read any of your essays without crying and getting chills. They are all so remarkable. We will wait for the next one, and I for one am honored to do so.

Thank you for all you've given and for making a difference in my world. You're the best!

There... is... no... sanctuary!

What?! WAIT? I WANT MY FREE ICE CREAM AND I WANT IT NOW! ***AND*** in the flavor I want!!

Get with it! You OWE us!! ;-) :-P

Orion

The old saying is "good, fast, cheap - pick any two". Since you're not charging for the web site, my vote is for good.

-lr

Even Bill Whittle needs a Fortress of Solitude.

Go North, Bill. Do what you have to do. Take all the time you need. We'll be glad see you when you get back.

Blah blah blah. Yada yada yada. Another helping of excuses from Whittle. Yawn.

To: Recovering Liberal

What would you prefer? Total electronic silence?

Would you rather leave us all wondering if:
-- Bill has been in an auto wreck.
-- Bill has been in a plane wreck.
-- Bill had a heart attack.
-- Bill has been stuck re-editing 26 more episodes of a TV show.
-- Bill has been kidnapped by Dana at gunpoint. She is keeping him in her isolated mountain hideaway and won't allow him any writing materials, or clothes.

My own preference? I like to see an occasional "I'm working on it" and not just a blank screen at the website.

Hang in there, Bill. We'll enjoy it when it's done.

Agreed Prof. A little MORE occasional would be nice.

Wait!

Maybe we're being duped!

Maybe it's someone other than Bill writing excuses, and Prof. Willard's LAST scenario is actually correct!

If that is, in fact, the case - I have no choice but to selflessly offer myself as an exchange hostage!
Horrible, perhaps - but the world must not be deprived of SANCTUARY!

Now quick! Who has the map to that cabin!

I'LL SAVE YOU, BIILLLL!!

Relax, Professor.

Bill and the regulars know that my comment was tongue-in-cheek. Heck, the man credited me with getting the darn book published (c:

Hmmmm...

kidnapped by Dana ...

...without any clothes ...

The heck with Sanctuary!

I've just been re-reading some of your essays.

You ask 'what is courage?'

Stirling Moss answered that question with:

"Courage is the ability to overcome your fear of what you think might happen."

He went on to say something to the effect that, if drivers actually let themselves think about the injuries that a crash would cause, they would not get into the car.

G.

I'm sure that it will be everything, and more. Good luck and finish when ready.

Enh. Like another commenter said -- "Good. Fast. Cheap. Pick two." Take your time -- we'll survive until then. Besides, if you rush an idea as big as what you're suggestion, you're likely to just break our heads.

Sanctuary (1&2) were well worth the wait.

Once again, you have left me speechless. Some of your points I have long agreed with, others you have opened my eyes to for the first time.

Thank you, Bill.

You sir. are hardly humble, or devalued, you have proven a worthy opponent. Robert Lee believed in this union, and accorded respect to all involved, a lesson well learned, but he hated his ...wait, I should not speak for him, he has his own legacy. I consider you, sir, as Benjamin Franklin, the only man that signed all three documents that made this union a nation. High respect, but at what price? Freedom hath no price, only policy. I know not what course others may dismay, but I shall follow a course that makes sense. I suffer the ingratitudes of all objects that are born to take my life, while loving and cherishing each and every one, for without them, I would have no reason to exist. Without reason, even heaven becomes dubious, and I clearly do not like dubious interpretations.

Rik

Sanctuary is the first of your essays that I have read, and the only expression I can think of to describe it is "Breathtaking".
I have despised terrorists ever since I first heard of the concept, even before I joined the Army. They are ones who have given up their humanity for a cause, and are now nohting more than a pestilence fit only for extermination.
You have eloquently given examples of the reasons that I feel this way, some of which I knew and others that I had only felt, but never had the words to describe.
Keep writing, however often you have the time and something you feel is worth saying. I, and as many others as I can convince, will keep reading.

From Sanctuary to enlargement, from thoughts of hope to dispair, from ellegant nuance to ...who knows, I no longer care. Wait, depress the will, and you win the war? You forget whom I am, for you know not why I exist. You learn many lessons in war, you learn mostly to care for those that matter to you. It is a pity we forget the reason for matter to exist, a common sense lost. I listened to a really stupid ad today; how to find YOUR partner? When did you lose it?

Rik

"It is a pity we forget the reason for matter to exist, a common sense lost."-Rik

The Spirit manifests itself, (or with help), to feel the touch of another?
To pro-create and care for the Babes? to feel love given and returned?

I cursed God because of Beslan.

TWO THINGS....

1. From the Left: If we subscribe to the possibility that our government is careless and naive, then we believe that 15 Saudis and 3 Egyptians, and one ? attacked the Trade Centers on 911. If that is true (and it never should have been published) then Iraq is a side track. Iraq was a secular, anti-Saudi regime with at least 2/3 to 3/4 of its land area (No. no fly, So. no fly) controlled by the UN and the Unitied States. It arguably has oil reserves that rival or exceed that of Saudi Arabia.

It is entirely unlikely that the Baath Party of Iraq hatched the 911 plot. We are in Iraq to topple Saddam, prevent proliferation of WMD and to insure our oil imports. All are true. We made a major mistake when we gave him too much warning so he could get rid of his WMD. Also, Saudi Arabia, just prior to 911, switched their medium of exchange for oil from the American dollar to the Euro, insuring an increase in revenue from their greatest customer, and an added incentive for the US to go elsewhere for the black gold. Finally, the Royal family has asked us not to "make waves" by attacking their country (officially) because that could cause chaos and revolution. Pakistan (home of the Madrassas) has the same problem. So where could we go besides Afghanistan? After the halfway good start, how do we hold ground?

2. But there is good news! We may have tapped into the Al Quaeda's Akilles Heel. That is, no matter where and when the "Great Satan" of America attacks Islam, the soldiers of Allah will migrate there to fight. That is there mistake. Consequently we found ourselves intentionally or otherwise sucking in and trapping crusaders for Al Quaeda, and we did so without having to go to their country of origin. Also, we are right next door to all the usual suspects; Iran, Syria, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. Jihaddis are now coming across Iraq's borders, where they dubiously try to liberate their secular brothers. Not only have we got them there in our sights but we can easily and quickly hit their home bases too (with air power). Therefore, IT IS POSSIBIBLE that we are indeed fighting the same terrorists who would have flown more airplanes, brought more dirty bombs and vials of germs through our borders, and destroyed our banking systems.

As an idealist who grew up in the John Wayne (Marion Morrison) generation, I hope that we are fighting the right war. America is the most forgiving nation on Earth. With Democracy finally comforting the volitile civilizations of the Middle East, We may someday be able to say, we did the right thing. As it stands, Afghanistan was a great idea. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are only recently receiving proper attention. And Iraq was a fat ass selfish mistake, unless we can say that we have trapped our enemy in the way I have just described.

Where do I sign up? Here's the Reader's Digest version-- many of us Boomers are ignorant, selfish, clueless, spoiled pussies. Of course, you're much more eloquent than that. But your central theme is right-on. I'm amazed that 9/11 wasn't a sufficient wake-up call. But not really... it's easy to hide in a warm cocoon.

Did I forget to mention gutless and feckless? Yeah, guess I did.

Thank you, Bill.

That is all.