I protest.

Protestations of fatigue.

Can I be done, now? The story about the so-called "weapons of mass destruction" is gaining steam in the media, particularly in the U.K. The situation in Iraq is spiralling down into chaos and violence, becoming the morass that those of us against the war warned against last March. Despite a few twitches, the economy remains moribund. And Bush condemns himself from his own mouth, without realizing it. "Revisionist historians," indeed.

Okay, I guess that the so-called "USA PATRIOT" Act is still in force, and despite the assertions of so many on the right, it does indeed infringe upon our essential liberties in ways that did not exist or were much less pernicious before its passage. I must only look at Ashcroft and his statements that while the first Act was "useful," more is needed. This alone tells me that those infringements came with the first Act. Not only that but despite those infringements, Ashcroft, good fascist that he is, is doing his best to frighten Congress into granting him even more sweeping powers. All in the name of keeping us "safe."

Then there is Michael Powell, who wants to aid his fascist buddies by turning over the media to a handful of huge corporations. He's doing this probably all unwittingly, believing instead that he's helping out his corporate buddies, but it amounts to the same in the end. If we're all very fortunate, tomorrow the Senate Commerce Committee will vote to send legislation to the floor that will roll back Powell's little gift. I've done what I can, but I'm still afraid that even some Democrats will go along with their rich benefactors and vote against the legislation. I expect this from the typical Republican but I tend to expect at least a little better from the Democrats.

As if those weren't enough issues with which to contend, we still have the scumbag Pryor in confirmation hearings, and no, CNN still hasn't run a story on him. Not to mention the two other ultraconservative idiots up for confirmation. And then there's the "RAVEIllicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act," which as Ampersand tells us in "The RAVE Act - yes, I'm sure it's worse than nothing," is now being used to suppress the speech of those who oppose anti-drug laws. Plus the continuing antics of that vile member of the leech family, Tom DeLay, who is doing his best to make his assertion that he is the federal goverment become literally true. Here's a man who is out to grab all the power he can and who is interested in nothing else, at all.

And on, and on.

So, no, I can't be done quite yet. Despite the fact that I'm becoming damned tired of this mess, it won't go away by itself. I started this weblog to express my anger and dismay at the current state of things, in particular the invasion of Iraq, and since then things haven't gotten better in any measurable way. They may even have gotten worse.

The thing that really gets me, though, is the fact that those on the right do their damnedest to justify all of these things. As if anything Bush or his administration does is the "right" thing, by definition. I guess it's the same kind of thinking that made anything Clinton or his administration did the "wrong" thing. Well, I believed that Clinton was a reasonably good President who did some stupid things, then compounded that stupidity by lying about it. He couldn't keep his dick in his pants, but that alone didn't make him any worse than any other President, Democrat, Republican or otherwise. He didn't lie about anything that related to his Presidency and so should not have been impeached. I'm convinced as well that history will prove me right about this.

Now, today, I believe that George W. Bush is a hideously bad President who not only does stupid things but is too dim to understand that they are stupid. So far, the only thing he has done that I respect in the least is to reprimand Israel for attacking Hamas recently. That's one thing in more than two years. That's not enough. Meanwhile, too many Americans seem to think that he's a saint and vilify anyone who has the temerity to criticize him, calling them "traitors," or at least "unpatriotic." To the contrary, I would be "unpatriotic" and a "traitor" to remain silent when I believe that Bush is leading us down a path to potential ruin.

Dissent is the essence of liberty. If you can't handle it, move to Iran.