What song best sums up the previous year?

Thanks for the clarification, Tom.

Tomryan,

No question, Clinton had little more regard for the Constitution than Bush. Although I too may be jaded, I am not quite prepared to sacrifice the Fourth Amendment based on your anecdote, or Bush's judgment of who should be detained, who should be spied on. There are legal means to spy, if that is needed. As for the Master Plan to set countries in the Middle East on the right path, please explain to me exactly how that would work, how it conforms to conservative values, how it is not imperialist? We may not see eye to eye, but I respect your point of view.

Robm321,

"Cry Me a River"? Nah, it seems that under the circumstances, the Police song "Every Breath You Take" ("I'll be watching you") is more appropriate. But your suggestion is very, very clever, make no mistake about it.

"What a Wonderful World"-- at least most of the time.

"It's the best of all worlds!" - Liebnitz

Dreadhead,
Contextual thinking is not your forte, eh? We were the solution to Nazism, Japanese Imperialism, and Communisim (90 million dead! Get on board!!). Germmany and Japan were both victims of American "imperialism" and thank God, at least from their own points of view. This was Franklin Roosevelt's philosophy - change the damn regimes once and for all.

It's not working real well in Iraq for two reasons:
1) They've never had anything like a constitutionally limited Republic based on Jeffersonian principles and cannot yet comprehend the logic and benefits.
2) We did not inflict enough military punishment to convince the enemy of the futility of resistance. Remember that the Nazis mounted an insurgance after their formal surrender. We smashed it with such certitude that they gave up.

How long are we going to have a military presence in Iraq? Just remember that we've had troops on the ground in Germany and Japan for more than 60 years. By the way, things are going pretty well in both those countries, thanks to our imperialism. Even though our government and Germany's have many differences, there is absolutely no consideration of war or any military action considered btw the two. Germans are not coming to the USA to mass murder our citizens and no Americans are doing that to them. Why?

Imagine Iraq, Afganistan, and finally Iran becoming like Germany and Japan. "What a wonderful world" indeed!

Walter,
I also respect your point of view. By the way, I'm not a conservative. I believe people have the right to live for their own sakes and should not be coerced into servitude. However, this applies only to citizens of the USA because of the natural structure of reality. We simply cannot apply the same principles to others in the world, and this is why we have police work against our own citizens and war against other countries.

"It's All Over Now Baby Blue" Bob Dylan.
"the vagabond who's rapping at your door
is standing in the clothes that you once wore."