Indulge me for a moment while I go off on a rant of Chicken Littlesque proportions. Our democracy is failing. Back in the day, when the threat of communism was being exposed as not much of a threat at all, when communist regimes were falling by the handful due to that form of government's seeming inherent inability to sustain itself, conventional wisdom told us that communist, socialist governments were a silly idea that could obviously never work. Today the same is being proved of capitalist democracies. Our country is tearing itself apart, day after day the rhetoric becomes uglier and more offensive, and nobody I know seems the least bit concerned.

Over on the far left The Michael Moore’s, Cindy Sheehan’s, and John Kerry’s of the world are all screaming at the top of their lungs about how horribly the current administration is handling everything from the war in Iraq, to the nomination of judges and supreme court justices; from tax cuts, to the weather. The folks on the right aren’t much better or brighter, promising a smaller, more efficient government and military, while real world events necessitate spending billions of unbudgeted dollars.

Meanwhile everyone keeps attacking everyone else, using ridiculously flawed arguments to try to win public approval in the media. When Cindy Sheehan disgraces the memory of her heroic fallen son, the lefties cry “She has the right! Freedom of speech is guaranteed!” When John Kerry calls an ongoing military operation “the wrong war at the wrong time,” demoralizing troops by calling into question the legality and morality of their actions, the message repeats, “He has the right! Freedom of speech is guaranteed!”

Well I say take your freedom of speech and shove it up your ass. I don’t care what Cindy Sheehan or John Kerry think. I don’t really care much anymore what the Bill-o-Reilly’s of the world think either. Freedom of speech is a good idea in concept, but to use it as an excuse to sling hatred and animosity around, well, I just think that maybe some of those free speakers should shut the f*** up.

Look, as far as I can tell, we’re all in this together. Everyone would be much better served by the politicians and the folks in the media trying to figure out some way we can all get along and play nice together. Unfortunately, playing nice doesn’t generate high ratings for the nightly news, or eye-catching headlines in tomorrow’s paper. Could you imagine? “Bush, Kerry Agree To Share Toys.” Details at 11.

I hate to take the side of the president, since everyone knows what a horrible God-fearing person he is, but is there even a remote possibility that Bush did not dream up Hurricane Katrina as a way to kill black people? Is it possible that the war in Iraq was meant to stop the atrocities of a crazed dictator who was killing off his own people by the tens of thousands? Is it also possible that tax cuts across every economic spectrum were meant to spur a lagging economy and make this country a better place for lower, middle and upper income folks alike? Maybe?

It’s a wonder that no president has ever gotten up in front of his presidential pulpit and said “Screw you guys; I’m going home.” Everyone these days seems to want to hate on the president and his cabinet of merry pranksters. But truth be told, it looks to me like the guy is trying his best amidst a time of terrible events. Why can’t we all just take a step back and say, “Hey, just because you prioritize differently than I do, maybe that doesn’t make you a bad person. Do you want to play with my Legos®?

And that’s my political rant for this year. I promise for the rest of the year to focus on more pressing issues like oatmeal, and National Talk Like A Pirate Day. Actually, I’m almost finished with my National Talk Like A Pirate Day entry. So you have that to look forward to… which is nice.