One way to understand the Bush regime is to imagine yourself on the inside. If you were Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Gonzales, Rice, and others, what would you do?

This regime was founded in criminality, foisting a completely unqualified oaf on the nation as its president, through deception, vote fraud, and a compliant Supreme Court. Then it engaged in the most incompetent and criminal administration of the Federal government in its entire history.

The negligence and active interference in investigating "Al Qaida" in advance of the September 11, 2001 attacks should be enough to put them all in jail. Instead, they played reverse psychology, admitting no wrongdoing, and manipulated the outrage in the country to gain approval for invading "Iraq."

Guantanamo and the torture regime were further instances of reverse psychology, used to "prove" that the Bush regime would do anything to "protect America," when to this day they have done absolutely nothing. The invasions and occupations of "Iraq" and "Afghanistan" had other motives, and as these efforts fail, the Bush gang has no choice but to loudly claim these essentially criminal occupations have honorable intent.

The most significant aspect of this eight year tragedy is how easily the people of this country are duped. If you have ever watched "Jaywalking" on the Tonight Show, you have a sense of how dumb most people in this country are. The second most significant aspect is how the corporate news media are fully ready to spin any of this regime's criminality into honorable statesmanship. Bush, a criminal sociopath, is still treated deferentially, when he deserves to be breaking rocks in the hot sun for the rest of his life.

Then there is the Congress, more than willing to sell our Constitution down the river, so to speak, for a few pieces of silver. The best reason I have heard of why "Democrats" voted for the FISA bill is because they got a lot of money from the telecom lobbyists. Jack Abramoff lives! The torch has been passed.

The silliest thing about the phenomenon of Tom Friedman is that anyone at all cares about what he says or writes. He is a perfect example of a self-reinforcing, mutually validating literate class - one that marches in virtual lockstep with the most heinous criminal administration in "U.S" history.

Other examples abound. David Broder, William Kristol, David Brooks, George Will, anyone on Fox, etc., etc. It's like science fiction, except stranger.

This is the end stage of corporate capitalism. It has devolved into a corrupt psychosis. The "Iraq" "war" is the perfect hologram for this endgame. When dominant societies become effectively corrupt, their time is on the wane.

An enterprising social scientist might want to track the signposts of the decline of "U.S." culture. I think cultural phenomena are the best indicators. The roots of the decline of "American" preeminence can be traced to the hype over Frank Sinatra and the "bobby-soxers" in the 1940s. This was followed by the advent of rock 'n roll in the 50s, then the Beatles and the folk-rock era of the mid sixties to the mid seventies.

Now we have empty content imitation country and rock. Coincidentally, we have empty content journalism and politics. Before long we will have an empty content economy. It will be interesting to see, should I survive this era, what is next.

This is another step in the full downfall of the Bush criminal regime. It's only an intuition, but I have a feeling that something will happen between now and the election that will be the final crack in the foundation, and the gang will come tumbling down.

The crack is likely to be the abrupt decline in the health of one Dick Cheney, the Joker in the Bush deck of criminals. Either failure or the impending departure from power (or both) are likely to be too much for Cheney. Without its keystone, its linchpin, its leader, the Bush gang will crumble.

The one thing that is of primary importance is that Bush is impeached before he leaves office. If he is removed from office, he loses his Secret Service protection, and will have to fend for himself. He can have all the security he wants - he will just have to pay for it himself. He won't be able to leave the country for fear of arrest, and will be fair game for any and all forms of prosecution domestically. Lawsuits aplenty too.

If "America" is to stand for anything it has to stand for the rule of law, and the rule of law demands that this gang be held responsible to the full extent of the law for the past eight years of serial crime.

I even have an idea for a money-making proposition for the Federal prison system: sledge hammers, scythes, axes, hoes, shovels, and picks used by members of the Bush criminal regime in their new prison homes for sale as souvenirs and memorabilia. A sledge hammer used by George W. Bush to break rocks in the hot sun could go for about $300. Should Cheney live, the best tool for him would be the hoe. A light tool for sure, but an appropriate one. The low status of the work would be the perfect cure for Cheney's arrogance. You may think he is incorrigible, but I say it's worth a try! No man is beyond redemption. In twenty years or so of hard labor, Dick Cheney could emerge as a new man, humble and ready for citizenship.