One bomb away! Glee at the prospect of expanded executive powers. Surely Good will then prevail in the war against Evil!

There has always been an authoritarian strain in American politics, centered in the former slave owning states of the south. The only way to maintain psychological integrity in the face of the blatant disregard of the ideals upon which the Republic was founded was to engage in compartmentalization and cognitive dissonance. Freedom was what powerful white people said it was, and that did not include rights for uppity black folk or poor whites.

Over the years this cognitive dissonance became well entrenched in all of American society. It did not end with slavery or the civil war. It moved more and more into the mainstream. It views the liberal constitutional ideals upon which the Republic was founded, and the rule of law, as inconvenient obstacles to the way America really works - the untrammeled rule of the rich and powerful doing whatever they please.

What is the program proposed by this faction? Hatred of the federal government and its institutions, especially the activist judiciary. A desire to free corporations from the burden of federal regulation. A desire for greater states rights, so that people can be more easily manipulated into a downward and fearful competitive spiral against fellow citizens in other parts of the country. Faith based social initiatives to lessen the ability of secular government to meet the legitimate needs of the citizenry in a timely and effective manner. And spin, always spin, at an ever increasing tempo to conceal what is truly going on.

And there is one more tendency - trust in a leader and party who are GOOD to pursue policies in support of the good and against the EVIL, enemies, both foreign and domestic.

The people in this faction rush to embrace the error of Richard Rich in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS. They would knock down all the laws to get at some real or perceived evil. And ,as Thomas More said in that play, only afterwards, when it is too late, will they realize their own vulnerability and the loss of their own freedom.

The United States today is teetering on the edge of the creation of a presidential dictatorhip. The next few years will determine whether the country survives as a free nation or not.

Hi Glenn:

When you have your new book ready for distribution, perhaps you could go on tour with a theme song - MACHO MAN by the village people.

Any Republican scouts monitoring your appearances promoting the book could be told to stay at the YMCA if in need of overnight accomodation.

Sorry, I just could not resist!

Regards,

Tom

Hi Glenn:

When you have your new book ready for distribution, perhaps you could go on tour with a theme song - MACHO MAN by the village people.

Any Republican scouts monitoring your appearances promoting the book could be told to stay at the YMCA if in need of overnight accomodation.

Sorry, I just could not resist!

Regards,

Tom

I find the inability of Democratic Senators and Congressmen to confront the nonsense of the Republicans on Iraq inexplicable and inexcusable. They remind me of General Weygand in the Battle of France in 1940. When Churchill asked where his reserves were as the Germans broke through the Allied lines, he replied "Aucun", - There are none!

Weygand represented the complete failure of will, planning and competence among the governing elites of Third Republic France, the rot that caused its complete collapse before the Nazi onslaught.

Comical Ali, the Saddam Hussein press secretary in Baghdad, assuring the world of heroic Iraqi efforts in the mother of all battles against the Americans during the 2003 invasion, was another example of this incompetence and disconnect from reality.

So, too, is the dog and pony show unfolding in Congress with General Petraeus.

The Republicans are past all hope. They require a substantial period of exile from power to regroup, reevaluate, and rejuvenate the GOP.What is worse is that the Democrats appear incapable at this point of providing competent government based on reality and the long term best interests of the Republic.

In the midst of a dog and pony show like this it would be nice to have some half time entertainment between interviews. Perhaps we could see a rock star singing one of his signature songs accompanied with a sound and light show. And we might enjoy seeing a beautiful woman in hope of witnessing a titillating wardrobe malfunction.

Of course the family values types would vociferously complain to the FCC about the wardrobe malfunction, while never even noticing the larger issues in play you write about...No doubt some of them would be monitoring T.V. programming. Surely only a small minority would be toe tapping morse code messages in the public restrooms of the nation.

Jesus used to call this sort of thinking straining at gnats while swallowing camels!