I need to remove the first 2 bars of my project.  I can't seem to delete them all at once.  I could do each one at a time, but this must have a shortcut. My feeble attempts are getting me nowhere.

I would press Ctrl-A, select (highlight in the timeline) the section I want to remove, then press Delete. If this doesn't work, there might be stuff that's covered up (take lanes or something?) that is not deleted. Have you tried it this way?
PS: Save your project first.

Ctl-A is giving me something that looks like the volume automation? Anyhow, as soon as I select I get a red line above the track I tried to highlight. Nothing seems to be able to highlight all tracks and make a global selection. 

Ctrl+A is the Windows universal command for "Select All." Not sure what the problem is there, but you can accomplish the same thing by clicking on the track number of all your tracks in the track view, or "Edit|Select All." Then select those first two measures in the timeline and delete.

OK, finally got it to work.....I kept trying to do what you said, and finally got it to delete those 2 bars.... I had it in my head I was supposed to hold down ctl-A while selecting...D'oh! But it still took a few tries before it deleted them all at once........
 
I will never allow a guy to wait 2 bars after a 2 bar count in again. I'll just stop and ask if he needs 2 more bars of click to settle in.....
 
altho once done, it is fairly easy!

Lot of times I start the drums after the count-in, let 'em play two or four bars, then start the song. After I mix it down, I cut off the front in Sound Forge. The stuff at the beginning gets me feeling the groove, sometimes makes me play the first notes better.

I never start anything at measure 1.  Sonar needs a moment to initialize VSTs, whatever it has to do.  Anyway, I just got used to starting on measure 3 or 5 or whatever.  Then after the final export, clip it in a wave editor.  So in short, I don't mind if there's space at the beginning of a project.

give this a gander.... Adding/Deleting bars and measures

MondoArt
I never start anything at measure 1.  Sonar needs a moment to initialize VSTs, whatever it has to do.  Anyway, I just got used to starting on measure 3 or 5 or whatever.  Then after the final export, clip it in a wave editor.  So in short, I don't mind if there's space at the beginning of a project.

Agreed.  I'd love to have 'negative' measures available at the head of a project and the ability to add them in a current project without time shifting a project. 
 
-D

MondoArt
I never start anything at measure 1.  Sonar needs a moment to initialize VSTs, whatever it has to do.  Anyway, I just got used to starting on measure 3 or 5 or whatever.  Then after the final export, clip it in a wave editor.  So in short, I don't mind if there's space at the beginning of a project.

Same here.
 
Besides starting at measure 5 or 6 leaves room for an after thought "intro". I almost "never" start at measure 1.