There was a time, not too long ago, when there was a country called the Sweet Land of Liberty. In those days, before September 11, 2001, the name of the United States represented many wonderful things. Things like liberty and justice for all, “do not fire unless fired upon”, separation of powers, good will towards all nations and promoting “the general welfare.”

Since George Bush became President and especially after September 11, all of these things exist only in sentimental memory. In its place is another, dark United States. It is a country where its people live with a constant quiet fearfulness. It is a country where any one of us could be taken away by the police and locked away for years, without charges, without access to a lawyer, without a trial. We will have just disappeared, as people did in Argentina, El Salvador and Guatemala.

It is a country where any speech directly opposing the government’s policies is marked treasonous, and no one who disagrees with the President is allowed to see him in public. It is a country where all of us are under surveillance, and our privacy is almost gone. It is a country which commits acts of agression on its neighbors in the world, and defies any nation or group of nations to stop it.

It is a nation where its press,Chief Executive, Supreme Court and Congress are captive to its most powerful citizens, making all these institutions unresponsive to their own people. It is a nation where the richest citizens take from the poor, and run all government institutions for their own further enrichment.

In short, America is now more akin to one of those Banana Republics with its tinhorn dictator that we traditionally scorn.

Your comments are welcome.

I ran across a very off the wall web site www.bushisantichrist.com.

The author of the site, R. Stephen Hanchett, alleges that George W. Bush is the antichrist. He has also written a book. Needless to say, the author has elicited many comments to his claim. What do you think?

Clear Channel Communications, Inc. (NYSE: CCU), owns more than 1200 radio stations in the USA.  In my city they own 5 stations. At any given hour you will most likely hear constant talk radio formats on these stations. All of their talk radio programming seems to be right wing (Republican) rhetoric. It’s like listening to a Republican party political ad 24 hours a day.

This is an extract of an article in the free press:Â

“Part of what may be fueling speculation about the company’s motives is the close relationship that its executives have with the Republican Party and the Bush administration. In the 2000 and 2002 election cycles, for instance, the company and its officials donated slightly more than $300,000 in unregulated money, almost all of it to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, an organization in Washington that monitors political contributions.

In addition, Tom Hicks, the Texas Rangers’ owner who has longtime ties to President Bush, is a top executive at Clear Channel.” To read the complete article click here.

To me, this seems rather unfair. Americans now rarely have an opportunity to hear both sides of an issue. The fledgling left wing radio network, Air America, has recently filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.

How will Americans now obtain information from both left and right in America? Does it seem fair that Clear Channel can dominate the radio airwaves with unbridled Republican propaganda? Your comments are eagerly awaited.

As the US gives up more of it’s constitutional rights I thought it fitting to remember how the brave students of China fought to achieve freedom.

Caution! This video contains graphic scenes.  Click here to view the video

The guns you will hear are from the Chinese army shooting at and killing their own people who were demonstrating for freedom.  The students were all unarmed.  Your comments are welcome.

Bush’s stand against Stem Cell research is sad indeed. He says every life, even a unused embryo is precious. Was he thinking about this when our attack on Iraq killed 600,000 Iraqis and to-date, 2,735 U.S. Soldiers? I think Bush is using his stand on Stem Cell research to gain votes. What do you think?

Ok, now the young gents are saying that the Foley IM’s were a prank. It makes no difference. The fact remains that others in the House of Representatives knew about Foley’s actions for over three years and they did nothing. The Speker of The House was told abut Foley’s actions long before now. I think that the Speaker of The House needs to resign immediately. Your comments are welcome.