The Bush administration is finally unravelling at the seams. It’s a shame people wake up so late. Over 100,000 Iraqi lives lost, over 2000 US military lives lost, tens of thousands of American soldiers physicall maimed, mentally damaged, the reputation of the United States severely damaged throughout the world, thousands dead in New Orleans (and hundreds of thousands displaced).

All of this can be traced back to the need for Bush to help make the rich in this country even richer. I think we can all agree that this country is in a lot of debt right now, and that there is not nearly enough money for things that need to be paid for — such as levees in New Orleans. The lack of progress down there was a hot topic of discussion last week on “Meet The Press.” Apparently, the city that needs to be rebuilt has fallen completely off the radar, but that’s not surprising, is it. But I digress. It would appear there have not been enough tax cuts for this criminal regime of so-called Republicans. Earlier this month, they passed even more tax cuts to the tune of almost a HUNDRED BILLION dollars that will be taken away from the treasury over the next few years. According to one Republican, Rep Deborah Pryce of Ohio, “Our economic policies have done the trick. We are in the middle of one of the strongest economies this country has ever seen.” Done the trick?? They’ve done the trick all right. They’ve plunged this country into the worst deficit it’s ever seen. If this country’s economy is doing so well, why are so many people still hurting, still struggling to pay their bills? Why is crime up? Why are we still cutting programs for the poor? And of the nearly $100 billion in tax cuts passed, why is a measly $153 million going to military families who will be able to use their combat pay to claim the earned income tax credit? Seems to me that those who are sacrificing the most should benefit more than that, doesn’t it? I mean, Exxon is not sacrificing a whole lot, and they’re getting billions in tax cuts. Doesn’t seem fair to me.

And then we have good ol’ Robert Novak, who Bush himself has to know who leaked Valerie Plame’s name to the press. Novak claims, “I’m confident the president knows who the source is… I’d be amazed if he doesn’t… So I say, don’t bug me. Don’t bug (Washington Post reporter) Bob Woodward. Bug the president as to whether he should reveal who the source is.” Yipes! Incidentally, NBC is reporting that Novak is leaving CNN for FOX News. Turns out he was tired of at least trying to appear like he wasn’t a right-wing hack. Now he just be himself, right out in the open.

And then a couple days ago NBC News found out that the government has been secretly spying on its own citizens and today there are reports that Bush OK’d it. I thought we had done away with this sort of thing decades ago? It’s not surprising, considering that Bush isn’t a student of history, that he’d not only get us involved in another war with shades of Vietnam, but that he’d also condone illegal activities of the type that occurred in what most Americans now consider some of the darkest days in American history. Republicans and Democrats alike are now demanding an investigation into the matter, with Florida Senator Bill Nelson commenting, “When the Pentagon starts going into a Quaker meeting house in Florida, then it’s a question of invasion of privacy.”

The backlash has been quick, perhaps even leading to today’s overwhelming rejection of reauthorization of several key elements of the Patriot Act. I can’t wait to see what happens next. Spying on your own citizens? Doesn’t the Pentagon have better things to do than conduct investigations into peaceful protests and anti-war organizations?