My immediate reaction when I read about Bhutto's assasination was exactly that. While "we" have been busy making money off of lucrative government let contracts in Iraq and drafting almost retired guardsmen and women to do the dirty work, the war against terror has been marching on under our radar. During that time, we lost a good part of New Orleans to the sea and our government was woefully absent.. from the Corp and their levees to FEMA and their half assed recovery efforts. California damn near burned off the US map.

It has always been thus and so in that region. Sunni vs Shiite. Israeli vs Palestenian. It is NOT our business until they show up on our doorstep with weapons of mass destruction. So what if some country lobs a big fat nukler bomb at us? In my opinion, we've spread our resources way too thin by chasing the elusive mystery terrorist since the catastrophe at the WTC. The number of Americans who have lost their lives in Iraq has now passed the number who perished on 9/11. Can't we just call it even and take care of business at home?

The business at hand might include opportunities for the working middle class who support both the upper and lower brackets with their tax dollars. Working our lives away for some unappreciative corporation, we often miss the best parts of life like school plays and picnics with the kids and grandchildren. Tax breaks go to the wealthy and entitlements to a few who need it and a whole bunch who abuse the system.

The teevee folks say that shopping whorefest 2007 was "less than retailers expected." There's a glimmer of hope in that statement somewhere. Perhaps the worker bees have finally realized that it's stupid as hell to go neck deep into debt just to trade gift cards because it's Merry HannuKwaanza time.

Maybe, just maybe we have seen the enemy.

^j^