Why We Need To Replace Much of Congress Dept: Rep. Joe Pitts, a Pennsylvania Republican who has served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote a constituent a letter suggesting that peace in the Middle East depends on restarting negotiations between Yasir Arafat (who died in 2004) and Ariel Sharon (who has been in a coma since 2006) - or, as one observer noted, "between a vegetable and a dead man." A spokesman explained responding to so many letters a year is "a complicated process."

"With the global war against terrorism, it is now incumbent on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Chairman Yasir Arafat to clamp down on Palestinian extremists (and) to restart a peace process that has collapsed."

So up comes the case of Paige Sultzbach, 15, who plays second base for Mesa Prep and is a female person among male teammates. They "won" a state baseball tournament after the conservative Our Lady of Sorrows forfeited the championship game rather than face a girl in the name of respecting "proper boundaries." A blast at the "theological dust" thrown up by those who would use "faith as an excuse (to) treat other members of the human race as inferior." And a bit of advice: "Find another excuse. The Gospels are not your alibi."