ZTAMich - I'll assume that's just a typo - I couldn't be an AEPi without undergoing some major surgery
Diet Rite has been made with Splenda for about a year; IMO, it tastes much more like regular soda than anything made with aspartame (like Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi).
KSig RC - I agree that the Atkins diet does require you to cut simple sugars out of your diet. Most diets do, for that matter, and that's a good thing. However, I'd like to see these "studies" you refer to, that say that's the main reason you lose weight on Atkins. You have to watch complex carbs too - your body metabolizes these almost as easily as sucrose. You can't eat bread, rice, etc. and say you're following the Atkins diet. If you read his book, you'll see why.
That said, there are plenty of weight-loss plans out there that will allow you to eat complex carbs, and one of them may be better suited than Atkins to a given person. Atkins works for me, but that's not necessarily true for everyone. You just have to find what's right for you.
Oh, and finest_alum - there are a few medical conditions (like kidney trouble) that make the Atkins diet inadvisable - do you have one of those? Aside from that, there are a lot of doctors out there who blindly follow the low-fat diet idea without fully investigating all the scientific evidence at hand. Read Dr. Atkins' book - and then see if you can still call him a "quack". Remember that he's been promoting this diet for longer than most of us have been alive, and IT WORKS.