It's about time to check back to the basics about what it means to be a nation. I think the Swiss and the Swedes know, and perhaps the Japanese. A nation is supposed to be a large group of individuals occupying a defined territory that cooperate together for their mutual benefit. Americans, in their race to keep up with and overtake their neighbors, seem to have lost sight of this. Certainly we have let the globalist elite manipulate us through propaganda, such as is found in this article, to accept that globalization is good for us, even in the face of every piece of evidence that it is destroying our manufacturing capabilities and sinking us ever deeper into indebtedness. It's effects on the national psyche is depressing and our children are demotivated, as many see their only alternatives as minimum wage work or the military, an economic draft. Meanwhile, our cherished political independence is compromised by our participation in organizations like the WTO, which have been empowered to override the laws of the United States. If we can wean ourselves from the cheap goods flooding the country and start instituting tariffs, we can begin to build a better future for all Americans.

What else does it mean to be "Commander-in-Chief"? Is President Bush going to delegate all his constitutional responsibilities and then go back to Crawford before January '08?

I admit to being one of the Ron Paul supporters who has searched out online polls to vote for him. His message is so aligned with the principles upon which this nation was founded, individual liberty, fiscal and moral responsibility, and national independence, among others, that it can only be seen as a threat by the authoritarian corporate globalist elite. So his campaign is ignored, marginalized, and berated by the corporate controlled media, which pushes candidates compliant with its agenda forward with free publicity, anointing them as "front runners".

Dr. Paul's ideas on foreign policy are very much like those promoted by Howard Dean, seeking to build genuine friendships with other nations rather than bribing them with "foreign aid" or punishing them with "preemptive attacks". He is honest about the reasons so many around the world have come to see America as a threatening, selfish bully rather than a beacon of freedom.

Without the millions of dollars pouring into his campaign from corporate sources, he relies on the efforts ordinary people who have heard and understood his program. The Big Money party leadership is frightened when regular citizens become so inspired by a candidate so at odds with authoritarian globalization, who gives voice to the American ideals we learned in school. They freak out when thousands of people are willing to take the time to express their disgust with the mire of corruption and waste that the federal government has become.

One need not agree with Ron Paul on every issue to applaud his David-like assault on the Goliath of corporate power, with simple reason as his stones and the Constitution as his sling. Every truth and freedom loving American can rejoice to see the fear and trembling he inspires among those who think their monopoly on political power is absolute and eternal.

John McCain's effort to attain the Presidency began an irretrievable slide when he knuckled under to Bush on the torture issue. Since then, the "maverick" has become the chief apologist for the neocon version of the world, a fantasy-land that becomes more divorced from objective reality with each passing day. That Senator McCain himself increasingly displays irrational behavior is not surprising. The strain of reconciling the world of experience with the make-believe neocon world would drive anyone to madness.

The popular press should, as an act of kindnes, remove McCain's mortally wounded campaign from "front-runner" status and humanely encourage its rapid demise. There is no reason for a man of Senator McCain's long record of service should be subjected to the embarrassment of publicly humiliating himself any longer than necessary.

The regularity that I have observed, with an admittedly small sample size, is that the more lavish the wedding, the shorter the duration of the marriage. I think it may have something to do with the unrealistic expectations of continual bliss on the part of those who celebrate a big, expensive, blowout wedding or perhaps it is due to the financial strain of paying the enormous bills or maybe even caused by frayed nerves and tensions attendent on hosting such an event. The huge wedding certainly takes the focus off the continual happiness of the spouses and puts it on the once-in-a-lifetime(though often not)celebration.

There are already articles of impeachment before the House of Representatives against Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States. These were submitted before the House about three weeks ago by Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and are available to be read on his website. The critique of Vice President Cheney offered in these articles is compelling. This impeachment proceeding deserves to be moved forward by the Congress. Please write to your Congressman and demand that action be taken. Every day that passes under the Bush/Cheney Administration puts the nation further in the hole of debt, corruption, and criminal abuse of power. The constitutional provisions for impeachment need to be activated, but it will take a sustained public outcry before Congress will budge off its collective derriere and act for the common good.

When Cheney is safely out of the way and a moderate Republican is installed in the Vice Presidency, go after Cheney's sock puppet in the White House.