Presidential politics has long been about symbols, sound bites and today's talking points. It is now as it ever was, only more so, I guess.

And, as always, the world and our future remain just over that next election, come what may in our internal political arenas. Yet we remain one of the enfranchised nations. It's worth remembering.

There is a world beyond American politics. That world increasingly includes stateless factions, disenfranchised, that see violence as a viable political tool. Maybe they see it as the only tool at hand, I don't know.

This I do know, though, to disregard their role in the world and our future is shortsighted to a fault.

The Bush Administration has failed miserably to address organized stateless violence. They have ignored the assets of established - and legal - systems to ferret out mobile networks. They have cast, and recast, their 'war on terror' in outdated global frameworks, complete with a front line and a victory.

This is not our conflict with fascism, as in Hitler's nationalistic, geographic state bound agenda. This isn't the Cold War with some of the same overtones. This isn't VietNam, with it's clear, local geographical agenda for political control of an area.

Invading Iraq was part and parcel of that old mindset. Their 'war on terror' *can't* be won in Iraq. Nor can it be won. The premise is wrong.

Terrorism as a political tool has an agenda. Someone in our government ought to start looking at it in that context, in my humble opinion. And it has an appropriate response.

It's not going to go away on a slogan or a sound bite. I truly hope our candidates remember that as we prepare to take back the White House.