It's a bloody numbers game.

...

Earlier Sunday, Israel called off airstrikes on the homes of two militants after hundreds of Palestinians crowded around the buildings forming human shields, a new tactic that forced the Israelis to re-evaluate their aerial campaign in the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinians began to gather around the homes shortly after the Israeli army ordered occupants out of them. Israel routinely issues such warnings before attacking buildings that it says are used to store weapons, saying it wants to avoid casualties.

Instead of leaving the buildings, the homeowners remained inside and were quickly joined by crowds of supporters who gathered on balconies, rooftops and in the streets outside.

"Death to Israel. Death to America," the crowds chanted. Local mosques and Palestinian TV and radio stations also mobilized supporters. It was the first time Palestinians have formed human shields to prevent an airstrike.

Eyman interviews Gore Vidal:

Q. Do you feel any sense of grim satisfaction at the "perpetual war for perpetual peace" that we seem to be locked into in the Mideast, a situation you've been foretelling for decades?

A. I told them so. They wouldn't listen. And now we're trapped. Our present party system is of no importance. It pays for the parties and pays for candidates. It will take two generations to restore the damage that the Bush people have done to the republic and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It is serious damage. I think everybody's alarmed, but I have to be optimistic.

The other day, I was fascinated by (CNN commentator) Lou Dobbs — a voice of reason. He showed a printing machine turning out thousand-dollar bills, and brought up statistics on how much money has been lost by the defense department — billions of dollars! Gone. They can't account for it, just as they can't account for what they've done to the Bill of Rights.

We get less and less back from the federal government than any other first-world government. Citizens of other countries get health care and they get saved from the worst of terrorists. We get hit, and our money goes to make corporations happy. And this is something entirely new for us.

Q. To take a valedictory tack, what are you proudest of in your literary career?

A. I am without pride. I am not an exhibitionist. I don't do things to be noticed. If there's a hole in the road, I simply draw people's attention to it. In the old days, people would say, "There's a hole," but not anymore.