B.T.W.

B.T.W. stands for "By the Way," of course, and also a phrase I coined today to describe the two orbits of "Good Americans": Barely Tangential Worlds, meaning, two worlds which hardly touch. There are two orbits of what are called "conservatives" in the United States. One group, those outside of power, see the Shining City on the Hill, consider their nation the best ever, aspire to tradition, look toward the John Wayne ideal of mopping up bad guys on the beach. Enemies are to be fought, and conquered; righteousness is on their side. Liberals are considered traitors; patriotism and owning guns are very important. This worldview isn't all that horrific; it's suspicious, traditional, and to be expected from many people who value "going along to get along." The heartland conservatives aren't dangerous (yet), but the people they cheer for are--and they inhabit a different world. In the other world, the goal is not Mom, Apple Pie, Individual Rights, and preaching the Gospel. The goal is more, more--More money, more power, more control over everyone and everything. The tragedy is that the Limbaugh-lovin' crowd doesn't realize that they are irrelevant; the neocon aim is now to rule Planet Earth in the name of profits and control of resources. God doesn't enter the picture; the NRA has no point here; John Wayne is a faded memory ; being for or against the President's policies are equally of no importance to the planners and "thinkers" in their think tanks. People like Bill O'Reilly (who probably knows that his statements on the tube in no way help the "little guy" that he supposedly represents) can rail about culture wars and Michael Moore all they want; it doesn't make a damn bit of difference. The Money and War Machine now have a life of their own. A group that wants to be imperialist in space as well as on Earth doesn't pay any attention to the likes of us mere mortals.

Indeed.

"For a second time in a generation, we are at war, and a political leadership has practiced deception to trick the country a war in Iraq, which we should not have fought and will not ultimately win. The campaign in Afghanistan might have been successful at some minimal level had it not been horribly mismanaged; at the moment, we are distinctly not winning the Afghan conflict and may actually be in danger of losing. The current administration is flirting with a war against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and has contemplated sending troops to Pakistan whilst fighting a proxy war in Somalia. When it comes to military leadership, the current government of the United States is feckless, indifferent to the welfare of our service personnel, and incompetent, relentlessly convinced that there are military solutions to problems that can either only be solved politically, or cannot be solved at all. "
Richard O. Collin, February 1st, 2008