All true. All true. The situation is not hopeless, though. In a materialist culture like ours, it was inevitable that the rawest expression of material gain would rise to prominence. It is also inevitable that the culture of cynical materialism will reach a crescendo, and then will decline.

The Achilles heel of the Washington cesspool is that they have no answers. They have no solutions to any problem. We get attacked by some fanatics. Our response: invade two countries, plan to invade another. Torture people. Violate the Constitution. We get warned about a hurricane threat. Our response: do nothing. The country is being inundated by forest fires, floods, tornadoes and blizzards. Our response: nothing. The planet is heating up, worsened by our profligate use of fossil fuels. Our response: nothing. Our health care system is, as befits a materialist society, in service to the profit-making zeal of corporate "owners." Our response: nothing. Our employment system is being "outsourced," sold to the lowest bidders worldwide. Our response: nothing. Our religious infrastructure has transformed itself into a money and power confidence game. Our government's response: exploit the situation; make it worse. Our "president" lies us into war. Our information industry's response: cheer him on. A top secret intelligence agent is named in a major newspaper. Our government and media elite's response: lie about it. Pretend the traitors are "victims."

Because of the synergy of all these forces, the crescendo is likely very near. In the Buddhist sense of impermanence, the movement to total corruption had a beginning, a time of ascendance, and now a time of dominance. It will decline, and eventually fizzle out, much like the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz.

One thing I can suggest is that we start asking the various practitioners and enablers of the Bush criminal organization this simple series of questions: What have you got? What are your answers, your solutions to problems? What kind of world would you like to see, and what does it take to get there?

For instance, do we need the rule of law? Bush, posing as a tough on crime governor, unquestioningly approved the executions of 52 people in Texas. But 30 months in prison was "excessive" for Irv Libby.

Do we need a justice system at all, or are we better of with a jobs program for the politically connected?

Do we need a health care system, or do we need a money siphon for political cronies?

Do we need a system to plan for natural disasters, or do we need a sink for patronage?

Do we need a journalism industry, or do we need bread and circus inundation?

Do we need a paranoid, authoritarian, money and power concentration form of spirituality, or one focused on human growth and enlightenment?

For now, it would appear that our society prefers all these false responses to the human condition. It will not last. As the false power and wealth concentration reaches its crescendo, human misery is also reaching a crescendo. When the crescendo is finally reached, truth will prevail. Our task, should we choose to accept it, is to bear witness, and to prepare for the crescendo. We need to develop real answers. If we don't, then we perpetuate the system of raw evil.

I think Glenn Greenwald is onto something, but he self-limits. You don't have to be a cynic to mistrust Bush's supposed religious beliefs. All you need to do is look at him from a holistic perspective.

George W. Bush tortured animals in his youth. He became a drug and alcohol addict in his early adult years. He deserted the easiest military service of the Vietnam era - the National Guard. He was given corporate positions by his father's supporters, and engaged in insider trading. He unquestioningly approved the highest number of executions of any governor in American history, 152 (http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17670). He stole two elections. His active negligence allowed the worst attacks on "American" soil in its history. His lying riled the country up for his invasion of "Iraq." His active negligence before and after Hurricane Katrina enabled the level of suffering and destruction that the whole world witnessed. He presided over the public revelation of an intelligence agent, an act of treason. He presided over the firings of U.S. Attorneys for criminal purposes. He has authorized kidnapping and torture worldwide. He continues to spy on American citizens without regard for law or decency.

In this overall context, the supposed "religious beliefs" of George W. Bush pale to insignificance. He is a sociopath. That is a psychological term for someone who exhibits a syndrome of behaviors. One of the sites where you can read about it is here: http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/334.htm .

Further evidence of religious flim-flammery among "conservative" politicians and preachers is being revealed on a near-daily basis. In other words, it's all B.S. What is really interesting in all this is how taken-in so much of the journalistic profession is about Bush's supposed religious fervor. Any human being above a vegetative state has a complex personality. Bush, a criminal sociopath who professes psychotic, delusional religious fantasies, is complex to the degree that someone of his limited intelligence can be. It is silly to give his "beliefs" any credence. They don't matter. What matters is that he has been President of the United States since 2001, and, given the opportunity, will wreak as much havoc on this planet as he possibly can. Our task, should we choose to accept it, is to prevent him from continuing his criminal activities.