I think part of the confusion around America's position is a real dichotomy in perception between America-as-country and America-as-government. I think the former held (and might still hold) considerable allure for the majority of the world, our much-touted "Way of Life(tm)" people valued. Freedom and prosperity at home, widely shared, at our peak. Nobody too rich, nobody too poor -- that's certainly gone out the window over the years.

America-as-country remains a great place, but America-as-government has always been another thing, the dirty business of power that most Americans don't pay attention to, and the mainstream media are all too happy to ignore.

What the Bush League has done, in their totalitarian way, is try to weld Country and Government together (and I'd say they'd throw their Party into the mix, too -- Party = Government = Country, which tries to say that what's good for the GOP is good for America, which does the GOP all kinds of good, and brings real harm to America).

It is an effort to graft legitimacy on government policies by banking on the good credit of the country's standing -- unfortunately, the country as a whole has taken a beating because of that cynical synergy.

America is more than its government; I hope people can still see that. Governments can change, policies can change -- what makes us American actually transcends our government, and certainly transcends any political party -- although Government and Party both want people to think otherwise, like an attack on George Bush is an attack on the Country.

It isn't "We the Party" and it isn't "We the Government" -- but it's "We the People" -- we're the country, and yes, some of the people are in those parties and in the government, but just some, not all. We're more than that, no matter how much the Bushies would like it otherwise.

America-the-country will survive the tough times ahead of it, but it might require serious changes in government and certainly in party to get it done. We shouldn't let demagogues and opportunists try to hijack the spirit of the country for political ends; it diminishes the glory of our country.

Hope you packed your toga, Mr. Grieve. Beware the Beltway in these imperial times!

So, they're stonewalling about the firings that they already asserted weren't carried out for political reasons. Mmm hmm. I think the smoke from the smoking gun is visible, now, as the investigation draws ever nearer to the source.

I've always thought of the ISG report as a fig leaf meant to shore up American power in the region, sort of a strategic regrouping versus any real wholesale change in policy -- a way of keeping things going through other means, versus any radical change.

Baker and company offered Dick and George that as a way out of the mess that is Iraq, and they refused to take it, figuring they'd just be able to keep hitting the region harder, with more troops, and win the day.

The ISG report only looks good because the Bush League is so bad; I think the Democrats need to offer something more far-reaching and ambitious than the ISG if they're even looking to lead.

I think now that the Bushies should just run to the bitter end, which'd cost the GOP a lot more politically than if they found some kind of way out of the mess they created for themselves.

If her attorney is advising her to testify, it'll probably be more of the "Oh, I can't remember...I really don't recall" kind of bogus testimony these Bush Leaguers excel at. With a reward for her later for her loyalty; odds are the Bushies figure a bogus appearance beats holding a hard line across the board.

They probably figured they'd hold that line from the White House, and then greenlight Taylor to come forward to create the impression that she's somehow not fully in step with the machine.

You can stop reading about presidential candidates; you've seen your last election.

I've wondered that, myself. I keep waiting for the "national emergency" to rear its head right near election time, forcing a regrettably indefinite suspension of elections. The Bush League has done everything else, why not a timely national emergency, in the spirit of the color-coded Tom Ridge-warnings that would invariably pop up during holidays? It's really just an extension of that idea. What would people do? Ickily enough, probably 20% of the country would support it. It's about the last untried trick of this rogue administration, and the only one that would guarantee a continuation of their policies, at least in the short term -- the Unitary Executive Theory, dictatorship by another name.

EMS wrote...

Yet when it comes to funding the kind of programs that would actually start to make America the country we love pretending it is, we get nickel and dime bullshit.

You got it! Austerity at home, indulgence abroad -- that's the imperial magic formula. Empires invariably bankrupt the homeland while pouring money into foreign adventures. It's always been that way, and we're no exception to it. It's also why empires always eventually fall.

And does the $500 billion spent on the wars not count the actual Pentagon working budget? If not, then we're likely spending over a trillion dollars on warmaking altogether, maybe well over that if you factor in wounded veterans and their health care (although the skinflintery of the warmongers seems to be giving short-shrift to the vets, as ever).

When you see the good results we're getting (*koff*) you have to wonder when priorities will change. The problem is that all the wrong people are making lots of money, so it'll keep going until people get angry enough to change it.