pogo was right

As the events of September 11, 2001, age in the history books, it will become further defined as a historical turning point for the United States. Indeed, that day will be viewed as David delivering a crucial blow to an aging and vulnerable Goliath. During the past ten years, US leadership has, more than ever before, embraced NOT the founding principles of the United States, but the powerfully profitable principles of the military-industrial complex. It’s this nation’s mother’s milk. Indeed, we’ve forfeited the ability to provide meaningful health care for our citizens; a federal mandate will soon require health insurance coverage for all US citizens, which will only fatten the pot for the nation’s health insurers. We’ve let the decaying infrastructure crumble before our eyes, and instead of picking up the rubble and build anew, we’ve swept the dust under the artillery cabinet. We’ve been stripped of some of our most fundamental rights, all in the name of security, and packaged it with stars and stripes – we call it the Patriot Act. And why create jobs when we can convince our middle and lower class young people that the real opportunity exists in joining the armed forces? After all, old blood won’t win the three wars we’re engaged in – gotta get some new blood in there. And, as an added bonus, they'll give you 100% tuition reimbursement. But never mind the prospective needs of the new recruit, the stars and stripes and the glorious freedoms of America must be protected from the barabaric, brown-skinned religious zeolots of Mumhammed -- we can't let the "terrorists" win, right?

The political discourse in this country has become something off late night TV and all that’s missing is the laugh track; the series features the “Kelly Bundy” of the Right, Sarah Palin, and the Left is bolstered by the likable yet inept “Michael Scott,” portrayed by Barack Obama. But once the lights fade and the studio empties, the antagonism is dropped and a good time is had by all the cast members. And under all the laughter and scripted lines, fear crawls in the shadows – you don’t always see it, but it’s always there, waiting to pounce and seize the populous by the tail. Bin Laden might be dead, but the threat of “terrorism” is still there. And it will always be there. We can't let the terrorists win, right?

So who’s winning? The good guys? The bad guys? Who’s who, anyway?

When bin Laden was killed, he was killed behind the 17-foot-tall walls of his home. He, apparently, had been living there for the past six years and was so afraid of being seen, he rarely, if ever, ventured outside -- he was a prisoner in his own home. He hoped and believed that by spending millions of dollars on weapons and security he’d be safe. But in the end, all the money in the world couldn’t protect him from his own irresponsible and deadly actions.

We have met the enemy and he is us.

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