What has become of the nation that was America, the last great hope of mankind? How have we become that which we despise? Action follows leadership, so let's start at the top. Hmmm. . . let's see, tax cuts for the wealthy, oh gee, there are budget shortfalls so we must cut services. Don't want to offend our constituents, so let's cut services for those that can least afford it - the poor. You know, we may need to cut some support for education, take the caps off what colleges can charge for education (in Texas anyway. Texas, 50th in education, 1st in capital punishment!) which ultimately will form a permanent underclass in our society. But in accord with the Republican mantra - if it isn't me or my wealthy constituents, why should I care?

Let's look at the leadership:

George Bush - son of privilege, daddy's friends got him into the "playboy brigade" of the National Guard. Later, daddy's friends bailed him out when his business went bad. Gee, too bad we can't all have dads or friends like that! Wants Congress to NOT outlaw torture. Also, the great supporter of the "Patriot Act", also known as the right to spy on and detain citizens. It's Orwellian, use war and fear to manipulate the people, convince them they might need to give away some freedoms for their own "protection."

Carl Rove - the power behind the throne, actually bugged his own office so he could accuse the opposition of dirty tricks! Since he has no ethics or morals, it is hard for him to tell when he does things unethical or immoral. Associates say he is "subtle". Anyway, what he does is for the greater good, so the means justify the ends.

Vice President Cheney - ex CEO of Halliburton. Gee, I wonder how they got all those no-bid contracts? Also the biggest proponent in the United States of allowing the CIA, the Dept. of Defense, and basically anybody who needs to, the ability to use torture and other methods of interrogation that are ILLEGAL throughout the world - except of course for the U.S, China, and Russia. (Oh, and of course in those secret prisons the U.S. gulag - in Eastern Europe. Bummer about those outsourced jobs, maybe we could use some of those gulag prisons in the rust belt?)

Senator Frist - Under scrutiny from the SEC for selling a stock right before it tanks. Sold out of a "blind trust." Now, how can it be a blind trust if you know what is in it? The whole purpose of a blind trust is to separate the investments from the knowledge of the investor - essentially to hand over responsibility to "trusted advisors." So basically ANY action on the investor's part with respect to the investments is by definition, inappropriate.

Ex Speaker DeLay - Under indictment for laundering funds.

The Department of Defense under Secretary Rumsfeld - Used White Phosphorous in Falluga against all comers - insurgents and, oh gee, civilians, women and children. BUT IT WAS LEGAL (who gives a damn about moral or ethical, or is outlawed by the Geneva convention). The friggin' chemical essentially melts all the skin off down to the bone!

The White House Legal Counsel - duh, we're the group that forced a camel through the eye of a needle to justify torture - against others, but if others use it against our guys, well then they are criminals!

Now, the indictment against the rest of us - how can we in good conscience, allow our leadership to lead our nation down such a dreadful, painful, wrongheaded path? Are we shameless? Are we so self-absorbed that we simply do not care? Listen, I am no genius, but I can tell you, when you treat other people in such terrible, horrible ways - well, that is NOT the way to win friends and influence people!

And finally, the Mother of all hypocrisy - we attack Iraq with sexed up intelligence - or even if we didn't, we attack a sovereign nation without TRUE provocation under the presumption they have weapons of mass destruction. Simultaneously, North Korea - a known outlaw state - announces to the world they now have nuclear devices (gee, I thought THOSE were weapons of mass destruction) and we ignore them. Huh, do you think it might really be about the oil?

And people wonder why those overseas might harbor ill will towards us.