I wonder if this self-absorption isn't working in combination with a large portion of self-doubt and insecurity - also things common in adolescents.

America has always reminded me of a 17 or 18 year old boy. All the strength of an adult, but without an adult's confidence, understanding or concept of consequences.

Others have pointed out that both the fire service and policing used to be run by for-profit companies. The military were the same back in that bastion of socialism - Europe.

It is now accepted that these things are the responsibility of a government to carryout on behalf of their citizens. Why should health care be any different?

There are 100's of reasons why cure rates for certain cancers might or might not be better in one country or the next. But as has been pointed out elsewhere infant mortality rates (often used as a proxy for poverty) in the US are higher than in any other Western country.

The US is the only 'civilized' country in which it seems to be perfectly acceptable for a boy to die from a toothache....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/27/AR2007022702116.html

I think I would be hard pushed to find anyone in the 'establishment' (media or political) who would condone child abuse.

So why is it so hard for people in the same sphere to say that torture is wrong too? Or that detention without trial is wrong.

Torture is, like child abuse, using a position of control or power over someone to do bad things to them.

If it is just as wrong for some guy in a trailer park to abuse a kid as it is for a Catholic priest, then is it just as wrong for Obama to condone torture (by not investigating and not releasing 'embarrassing' documents) as it was for Bush43.

And in some ways the abuse by the priest and the obfuscation by Obama are worse - since they are supposed to be better than that. Priests are supposed to be kindly and care for their flock. Obama campaigned on openness, transparency and spoke often against the excesses of Bush43. To not be that way or for you actions not to match your words is a betrayal or the trust your flock or electorate has put in you.

Watching Obama give that speech in Chicago the night of the election I was so hopeful for a better future, for a better place to raise my kids. Now I feel worse about the future of this country than any time in the last 10 years.

At the risk of straying into hyperbole I worry that we are witnessing the beginning of the end of America as a great nation. That the endorsement of 'preventive detention', non-judicial trials, surveillance of the average citizen and the imperial presidency by Obama will fundamentally change America and not for the better. We've traded our privacy, our character, our decency and our morals for what? The illusion of safety. And it is just an illusion.

I'm just waiting for the single eyebrow to be in fashion, then I'll have been ahead of the curve....

And if it becomes stylish to have a few random hairs heading to a different timezone... so much the better. I don't have those yet, but looking at my Dad it's only a matter of time....

The police are a law unto themselves, just like the idiots on Capitol Hill.

I mean when was the last time you heard of a cop getting a speeding ticket...?

Cops profile, assume people are guilty and only follow procedures when it suits them or when they can't get away with not doing so.

Check this out http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/19/AR2009061903175.html

There are longer articles about that incident, but the summary is that the county police assumed the people were in on the drug smuggling when they had evidence to the contrary. They didn't do even basic research on the owner of the house - not even a quick google search - and used the maximum force they could. They didn't check in with the local town cops, which they're suppose to do - the first they heard of it was a 911 call from a neighbor say there was gun fire at the majors house....

I used to give the police the benefit of the doubt. 'It's a tough job', 'They get shot at', 'They're just trying to keep us safe' etc, but no more. Too many of them are just a cabal of preening, self-serving pituitary retards. And in some parts of the country they are all like that. PG County MD is like that - don't go there after dark. The cops shoot first ask questions later especially if you've got a dark skin tone.