What a difference one year makes.
I am so mentally drained by the conflict in Iraq, and the evidence that says the current administration lied, cheated, bullied, distorted, stole, embezzled, and defrauded their way to war that I'm seriously debating just stopping all civilized discussion about it.
Because I've found that the people who might actually want to hear about corrupt governments and despotic regimes stare right past the All Hat and No Cows president and find themselves rooting blindly for the president.
And there's simply one brand of patriotism I cannot stand - bandwagon patriotism. The kind where you rush to wave a flag and "support the troops" when you've screamed for lower taxes and lower government spending. When you won't support higher education, even on the GI bill. When you ignore the fact that it's costing one BILLION REAL DOLLARS to fight in Iraq.
I'm more patriotic than Bush is. I haven't sold my country out for oil. I haven't sold out the retired to Enron. I haven't sold out the young to business interests. I haven't sold the Constitution down the river. I haven't caused an insurgency in a foreign country. I haven't single-handedly created 25 million anti-American demonstrators. I haven't asked, "Why do they hate us?" in a dewy-eyed fashion to my Secret Service.
I actually pay attention to the real world, and I'm not on mental leave of absence. I didn't take 220 days of vacation my first year on the job. I didn't botch Medicare. I didn't hose down the middle class to enrich Kenneth Lay.
And I didn't send 698 American soldiers to die for a personal vendetta.
I'm a patriot. I love my country. I hate the people that abuse it.
Your time is up, George. Off the bandwagon, and back to Texas. Go. Go NOW.
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