[Preechr]

I didn't want my criticism to be insulting, but I suppose it's hard for that not be taken that way.

There's a difference between what America does and what all governments will do given enough power, though the line is fading. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and that's exactly why I'm such a big fan of extremely limited government. All of the world's historical great powers have become abusive. It's just the nature of things, so I'll not try to convince you that being jaded is inappropriate.

The only hope I have for this country is in the theory under which it was founded, which can only be found in books these days. The America of it's founders' imagination no longer exists, but that it once did promises that it might one day be possible to build again. Do I have a lot of faith that this will happen? No. Unfortunately much of our future now lies in the hands of an electorate bred by it's leaders to serve them under the guise of serving themselves.

Even though our original independence from England would have been blocked by a popular vote among the colonists... We were LED into it by those of us who knew better than the rest of us... that was a minority that opposed authoritarian rule. For a modern minority of Americans to lead the majority off the teat of the nanny state would require uninstalling a "Democracy," or at least the appearance of one.

The description of this country's government as a Democracy is why I hate FDR... Well, one of the many reasons... He was the original tyrant posing as a liberal. True liberals champion the minority and would only ever oppose Democracy, which despite all it's modern hype is simply just a fancy word for mob-rule. It's a huge lie that Democracy is the same thing as representative government.

Ben Franklin said as he left the last session of the Constitutional Congress that we had begun "a Republic, if you can keep it." We didn't keep it. It's was eagerly traded off for the politics of oppressive self-interest as soon as the opportunities began to present themselves.

This all likely seems tangential, but this is the mindset behind my original comment. You said you're not a liberal or a progressive, and that I'll agree with and commend you for saying it. You're a cynic with a damn good reason for being so, but being cynical doesn't fix the things that hurt you... In fact, it only opens you up to more damage. Cynicism is just another form of passive acceptance.

That's not a criticism, either. I sway between cynicism and idealism, neither of which is very productive.

The America we're offering to Iraq is about the same thing as the America you'll find in the Phillipines: marginally better than the system it replaced but still a long way from what it's name should imply. We can hardly export something we don't actually have here anymore, now can we?

Ok, now this truly has become a tangent...

Long story short, we should commend and praise the good things when they're accomplished and condemn that which is destructive. Ousting Saddam was undeniably a good thing. The events surrounding that could obviously benefit from some improvement, but those that choose to see it all as painted black aren't helping anyone.