"It's not the immorality of what they're doing that will destroy them, if they continue with this, but the stupidity of it, which is unsustainable."

I am sure that they don't recognize that their policies are unsustainable. Nor that they they are stupid. They most likely think, that in some warped way of thinking, that they are doing what they are doing is for the good of the country. Sort of the way Cheney thinks torture and invading Iraq was for the good of the country. The complete acceptance of the neocon policies. History will say they were the "crazies," but they certainly don't think so.

In my mind what makes something unsustainable is when other people intrude on your domain because they are getting screwed. But reality has been developing for thousands of years, with the educated and wealthy dominating the world by setting up their own rules for their benefit. They won't let go without a massive fight.

And the system is set up to protect them.

"The Last King of Scotland" was a stunning display of how cruel and inhuman people can be especially Idi Amin. When he was in exile I used to shop in the same supermarket. Old Idi would just stroll down the aisle, selecting his produce and wares. If a person wasn't aware of the crimes he committed he would have seemed normal.

Presumptuous Insect - I didn't know that Jonah Goldberg equated neocons with Jews. I just googled it. Jonah is not one of my favorite people.

He isn't Cheney or Nixon, but it's certainly crossed my mind that Judas might have a fair to middlin' shot.

I would go much further. "Judas" is entirely apropos.

"The things that have consistently worked against Bill O'Reilly are cunning, agility, and an aggressive instinct for weakness. Those who have really been able to outmaneuver him in front of his own audience have been the ones who hit him hard and then dance away, letting his bullying bluster create another opening which they then hit hard in turn, and so on."

I also feel that Joan shouldn't give up but should develop a strategy for the future with no time line. These conflicts are not going to resolve themselves. Colbert, Olberman and Stewart constantly win against O'Reilly. It takes making an effort and planning. Winning in "front of his own audience" is much more problematical, maybe even impossible, but take one step at a time.

I am not sure that such an effort would be "unproductive," because in my mind any lessening of O'Reilly's influence is good. I enjoyed reading your post.

I enjoyed your post. Very well done!

"Isn't that a great example of people power? Isn't it much nicer and shinier than the horrible populist turmoil that Glenn Greenwald is trying to unleash, and to which now even Bob Herbert has fallen prey?"

You're right! It is so self-fulfilling to regard myself and all Americans as nice, shiny, and innately good. God is truly on the side of the USA.

In addition to Greenwald and Herbert I am now going to avoid watching Stewart and reading Krugman. They also add to my keen awareness that this country is totally "screwed-up." How intollerable!

I just read the NPR Ombudsman's response and it is now clear to me as to why she won't meet with you.

She has nothing to say! Her strongest position is that W. and Cheny don't believe that EITs are torture and we have to respect their opinion.

I registered with NPR only so that I could leave a comment telling her how repulsive I found her response.

I respect what you write and enjoy reading your thoughtful evaluations, some perhaps penned with tongue-in-cheek. Maybe this evening I am missing the sarcasm or irony.

My experience however doesn't jibe wih your writing. I lived for quite a while internationally mostly in the Middle East. In fact I even worked in Tehran in the late 1970's. I think the CIA's involvement in setting up the puppet government there was the watershed moment in the world's view of America.

The term "Ugly American," didn't occur through happenstance.

Korea and Vietnam didn't add to the allure of this country.

Your post sounded a little like something David Brooks would write. I know that I am unaware of the "endless good deeds." Iraq didn't appear to me to have any "semblance of restraint." I believe the State Department's human rights report is a "laughingstock." Possibly the last thing I would call the USA is a "bemused, uninvolved forgetful giant." Just the opposite as the CIA has imposed itself upon other countries throughout the world. And they didn't even know that Iraq didn't have any WMD because they didn't have anyone who could speak Arab.

The friends from foreign countries I've made over the years never shared with me an admiration of the USA but rather looked upon America as self-serving and Americans as egotistical, wealthy, loud, drunk and not very intelligent.

Again, the CIA has committed well-documented subterfuge in screwing up countries all over the world. People in those countries don't generally react well to such actions. I was always awed by Cheney's claim that the USA would be met as liberators in Iraq as our troops were greeted in Paris after World War II.

The last eight years, IMHO, has played havoc upon a sorely blemished international reputation. Most of that time i spent in Latin America and traveled to locations where the CIA did their work. It's not pretty! I recall a small village on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala where government troops under the control of the CIA slaughtered uneducated peasant indians in an attempt to get information on a non-existent enemy.