More and more people these days are all asking the same question;'How did we screw this up so bad?' That's a complex querie,seeing as how there were 70,000 years of human caretaking on this side of the world before Columbus,and in the 513 years hence we've turned half this land into a garbage dump. That historical fact should be the beginnings of an eye-opening.We got here full of contempt for the ruling systems we left,when we started anew we fell back on the 'old forms'.The beginning of the end! Conquest for the for the sake of depriving one of their possessions has become "The American Way',with regards to forign policy.Confiscation has become the way when dealing within our own borders.We not only set up the means to rise to the top,but,have a back-up plan to bring you down when you talk too loud about real issues or stand up for something other than rampant greed. Deciet,bribery,double-speak and force of arms has been the working practice of every President this country has ever had.The truth is Mt. Rushmore is an icon to genocide,racisim.and wontan greed.'Aquire at all costs our Manifest Destiny'should be the catch pharase at the Mount.Why? Because the faces on that rock are... Criminals!!! They all slaughtered helpless women and childern and elders,just like their contemporaries.which includes both Bush incarnations. Do I have some current facts to prove how deep these creatons will go to get their way? Sure,my own experience with 'The Beast'. Ran for Governor in my home State,a strong environmentalist and human rights activist, I was warned 'You keep your eyes open because you don't know how wierd they are going to get.'I found out in a hurry. When I said I'd finance my own campaign,( I was really being a smart ass,I'm more broke than the Ten Commandments)the system cut my V.A. pension in half.When the campaign joined up with Ojibwa 'Protect the Earth Journey'we endured police hassles and bullshit for 250 miles.At one point a Thompson (yea THAT Thompson)supporter rear-ended our car and drove off,hit and run on the Freeway.Our reply to that was an illegal march on the State Capital with a few thousand environmentalists. The treatment we got from the people on the path of the Walk was quite diffrent.They welcomed us.Gave us a place to set up camp.Fed us.Shared the stories of how their water and lands had been and continue to be poisoned by under controlled indurtrial involvment in the modern 'Manifest Dingifacation'.It is these people whom 'buy' the right to poison us all for money that are the real terrorists. There is no Freedom in a choking gas cloud. This myth of Freedom has been fed to us in layers of smoke and mirrors.We're taught that the Freedom was won,that there's a cost for Freedom,and that Freedom isn't Free.What Bullshit! We are born Free,without constraints of any kind excepting only those of simple human respect for eachother as beings of a great Creation.Freedom is what those who think they are the 'social betters 'seek to control.Freedom gives us the power to stop these zealots through the action of unity.Freedom says 'You can't poison us for your bank account balance.'Freedom says 'We decide for ourselves whom or what the real enemy of the people is.Freedom is the choice of how to deal with this enemy.Freedom is not the right to wage war at the whim of corrupt idiots who use force of arms to hide thier own dirty dealings. If we are to be truly Free,we need all voices heard in desicission making,youngest to oldest.We need true'Popular Vote' for all offices from dogcatcher to President.The press has to cast off thier kiss-ass editors in favor of those who will expose what's wrong so real problem solving could be manifested.Inteligence gathering for the sake of 'Enemy Building' must stop for it's become the weaver of lies.Killing for the sake of getting your point across has to be seen as the crutch of the weak.These so-called 'Terrorist Acts' are the response of poeple whom are greatly oppressed,by political as well as militaristic and econimic means.They represent the proverbial 'cornered' animal.We all know how that scene worksout.But that is what our leaders have done. They've put out Liberty's Torch and replaced it with a cruise missle. The Bill of Rights has been rendered 'Quaint' in the face of Homeland Security.My screen is monitered even while I write this.For the last 20 years public phones have been bugged.Twice a month every phone line in the country gets a 'listen in' and if too many 'hot phrases' get said you get put on a higher level monitor.If you and three of your friends like the same music and have similar dress...you're a gang.You can hang out with your friends and play drums in the park,but if you move into someplace hard to see into....you're a conspiritor.If you speak out for others and stand against warfare...you're un-american.When did we become such butchers? 1492,1776,1890,1969,1993 or 2003? Maybe it happened when we started to value money more than people,or was it when we left the sesspool of old Europe and found a garden here and raised contempt for the ones who took better care of thier lands than our euro ancestors. If we are ever to get out of this mess we have to do some serious 'get-it-togethering'.Change the way we look at eachother.Be honest about people whom use lies and mis-speak as an M.O. and deny them political office.Let no entity be allowed to poison the air,water and ground.Stop calling the removal of poor people from their housing to make way for a 'Valet Parking' shopping mall..urban redevelopment.We have to start living in a way that says 'We won't kill because of a disagreement but keep working for a solution,no matter how long it takes.'.There must be real effort on all our parts to recognize that we are ALL part of a great Creation.We may not understand all the how's or why's but we are still part of it,and as such, all living things are worthy of Respect,Life and Freedom with the Peace to be whatever their lifepath leads them to For it is the right of all to stand in the face of Tyrants any count. Yes, this Country and indeed all our people can be the Hearld of Freedom but we first must rest the handle from 'The Plumbers'.