Well put, waitt. I've been saying for 3 years that the war and the entire neocon movement is a thinly disguised self-esteem cult for those with no education, no prospects, and/or no ability to connect with the reality of our changing, challenging world culture.

In the neocon world, doing what makes us FEEL like we're doing the right thing is more important than doing what gets results. So we wage war and cloak it in Christian terms so we can feel macho and American and like we're soldiers for God. It doesn't matter to many Americans whether or not the barbaric tactics work; they FEEL safer and they FEEL better about themselves by association with Bush and the military. Never mind that the policy is unmitigated disaster on so many fronts it's hard to count them all.

Therein lies the difference between the black-and-white approach of the simple minded conservatives and the "nuanced" approach of liberals who catch so much hell for wanting to "give therapy" to al Qaeda. In reality, we should do whatever works regarding any problem in this country--terrorism, illegal immigration, teen pregnancy, whatever.

If that means putting the military at the beck and call of international law enforcement and using relentless policing techniques and sound intelligence to catch bin Laden while engaging the Muslim world in serious dialogue to bridge the Islam/West abyss, I'm all for that if that's what WORKS. But no, we'd rather bomb the living shit out of Iraqi children, torture insane people and tar every Muslim as a fascist because it makes us FEEL macho and badass and tough. Oh yeah, and build a wall along the Mexican border and promote abstinence, a discredited approach to sex ed, because they make some of us feel holy or pure or manly or some such idiocy.

Until clear-eyed results are more important to Americans than "we're still the toughest, baddest, greatest nation on earth" ideology, we will tolerate brutal, infantile, incompetent policies that only make our problems worse.

Oh yeah, this is a compromise. We're compromising our Constitution, our democracy, our values, our freedoms and our moral and ethhical right to claim any high ground in this world.

The key question is, can we fight this? Can we march, call, rally, something? Or do most Americans just not give a shit? This, truly, is our country swirling down the drain.

The truly scary thing about all this is not the Democrats' abdication of their duty, but the apparent blind stupidity of millions of Americans. Are so many of us really so apathetic, frightened, ideologically brainwashed and/or simple-minded that we can be swayed to vote GOP after five-plus years of staggering ineptitude and mendacity?

The GOP has proven itself to be completely without morals or respect for this nation; their ONLY interest is perpetual power. That should be blindingly obvious to any intelligent individual. All that should be necessary for the Democrats to do to retake Congress is to produce well-dressed candidates who can fog a mirror. That it will apparently take more than that is chilling.

Perhaps the only good thing that could come out of the Dems' spinelessness and the GOP holding onto control of the government is that finally, enough Anericans might get behind a third party to give it some critical mass.

...should be grounds for impeachment. And as much as I despise the power-crazed Republicans who dreamed it up and are now trying to ram it down our throats, if the Democrats do not have the balls to stand up--FINALLY--after 5 years of cowering and say, "Enough!" then I will never vote Democrat again. Ever.

Clue in, people. This country is DYING, literally, for leaders of principle and intelligence and honor, all qualities that Bush cannot even spell, much less possess. For God's sake and the sake of this nation, do your damned duty!

Time to replace the Donkey with...

Ta da!

The Chicken!

Fuck this "lesser of two evils" crap. I've had enough. I'm voting Green Party in every race this year.

The Democrats have become the wife with the black eye, missing teeth and cast on her arm who explains why she stays with her abuser hubby by saying, "He only does this when I make him angry."

I just read on the AP wire that the Dems are working on "tweaking the fine print" on the torture bill.

TWEAKING THE FINE PRINT? Jesus, Mary and Josef Stalin, what are these people on? Guys, tweak your testicles to make sure they're still there...ladies, too.

Pathetic.

If the Dems pull off a miracle and manage to win back one house of Congress in spite of being truly spineless, it will be the task of the progressive community to remake the Democratic Party with people of conscience, courage and conviction.

The Republican Party has officially gone on record as being in favor of torture and indefinite incarceration of individuals without due process of law. Thank you, GOP, for telling us exactly what values you stand for.

America, is this the party we want representing us?????