Glad to see that the (Rev.) Fred Phelps is getting his comeuppance as protesters picket his church for a change.

Then there were two letters to the editor of the Chronicle this morning with some commen sense advice. One involves those who ride bicycles. The letter writer said in part: "...I have some advice my mom used to say before I took off in those non-helmet days, "Watch out for pedestrians and cars. They have the right of way". To this day I take that advice and I haven't come close to getting hit.

Then a Vietnam war veteran wants to know why Sen. John McCain is a war hero. McCain was only doing his duty and got caught in the process. He survived and while in prison he was tortured and abused but he acted courageously and selflessly (as did the North Vietnamese during years of bombing) but that neither atones for his wrongdoing nor makes him a war hero.

To me the use of the word "hero" in recent years has been overused ad nauseam and I think this is a good case in point. Also, would he be considered a hero if he were not running for president? Would the other poor blokes who got caught up in Johnson's misadventures in southeast Asia also be called heros?