shut the fuck up, Don!

The current administration continues its ongoing policy to make me ashamed to be an American.

I am so sick of all the lies, deflections, and double standards, but mostly I am sick of the perversion of all that is decent and good by those who run this country and I am sick of being surrounded by the idiots who are helped by Bush policies the least yet still manage to be his most rapidly loyal supporters.

If you support the current administration you are an idiot.

These are the people that would have you believe that being a patriot is falling into line, turning a blind eye, and keeping your mouth shut. In what world is that a patriot?

And if you can really look around at what is going on in our country today and not be wretchedly ill, then you are a really big fucking idiot.

In the news today comes the latest in a series of denials of the Amnesty International report regarding human rights violations at Guantanamo Bay. This time from Donald Rumsfeld.

"To compare the United States and Guantanamo Bay to such atrocities cannot be excused," he said. "Free societies depend on oversight, and they welcome informed criticism, particularly on human rights issues. But those who make such outlandish charges lose any claim to objectivity or seriousness."

Excuse me, Mr. Rumsfeld, but if you actually believe those words then I wonder what exactly you are saying in regards to our society. Especially when you are part of an administration that tolerates no oversight or criticism in any form, or from any source.

While acknowledging some instances of detainee abuse, Rumsfeld criticized media efforts for failing to place the issue in a "proper context."

Context? There is no proper context, Mr. Rumsfeld. Either we are the champions of freedom that you see this country as or we are part of the problem. You can't have it both ways. And there is no excuse for any abuse. The fact that no one in the administration has to take any responsibility for anything, makes it far to easy for you to essentially condone such misdeeds... as long as you can put them into "context."

"Precious little has been written by [newspaper] editorial boards about the beheading of innocent civilians by terrorists, the thousands of bodies found in mass graves in Iraq, the allegations of rape of women and girls by U.N. workers in the Congo," he said.

This comment speaks volumes. Let me break it down for you.

"Precious little has been written by [newspaper] editorial boards about..." This is because if you read the news, precious little has been reported about anything at all. The press are a bunch of pussies. I would love for any press in this country to write about whats really going on about anything.

"...about the beheading of innocent civilians by terrorists..." funny you should bring that one up. Actually there is nothing funny about civilians being beheaded. But you forget that this is going on in a climate that you created with your "Operation Iraqi Freedom." Just one item in what has become a litany of things you will never take responsibility for. Are you actually chopping those heads off yourself? No, but you made your big violent, bloody, bed... you'd better have the balls to fucking sleep in it, sir. Your actions have exacerbated the situation in regards to terror and the cost of civilian lives. But the nice thing about being a part of this administration is that you aren't even remotely responsible for anything. That’s policy.

As a side note, I appreciate that he said "beheading of innocent civilians by terrorists," and not some blanket statement denouncing beheading in general since we wouldn’t want to offend our Saudi brothers.

"...the thousands of bodies found in mass graves in Iraq..." Speaking of policy, this is the classic stand-by. Always blame Saddam. All I want to know is how many Iraqi's have perished in the course of "Operation Iraqi Freedom?" I doubt he even knows. The fact that it is difficult to even obtain a credible number disturbs me. Some sources estimate more than 20,000, and that number grows each day. Give me the number, Mr. Rumsfeld, get off your case on this one. How many of those were civilians? Are you even capable of demonstrating even a speck of humanity? Do 20,000 (as high as 24,000 according to some sources) count for anything? can they be considered thousands dead? In any case I hope that none of them are buried in mass graves, because that is what keep their deaths from being inexcusable. Isn't that right, Don?

I wish I could Lexus Nexus the phrase "thousands of bodies found in mass graves in Iraq" I Googled it and only found 614,000 related articles. Of course some of those will only be about mass, or graves, or Iraq, AND Google omitted some entries automatically to provide "the most relevant results," but that still gives me a choice of 740 articles. 740 = precious little. But that’s just the internet which may or may not mean anything.

"...the allegations of rape of women and girls by U.N. workers in the Congo..." That’s great that you can talk about this out loud, Mr. Rumsfeld. What are you doing about it though? What have you done about it? Oh wait--we don't even like the UN. They wouldn't even back our silly little teeny tiny operation to oust Saddam and set Iraq to rights. Let’s remind people that we are above the UN because we never do anything like that. There are all sorts of things going on in the world, uncountable atrocities that this administration can conveniently conjure anytime a finger is being pointed at them.

These guys are like petulant children who rat out their siblings when confronted by a parent for wrong doing.

No more lies. No more deflections. No more passing the buck. If the people in charge could do these things I might feel better about my country.

I realize that this is way too much to ask.