Must-read Joe Bageant

As usual, Joe Bageant nails things on the head like so few others can, with his 'Pissing in the Liberal Punchbowl':

"The Democratic Party does America not one bit of good by sustaining the hubris that has brought us to the point where our high officials and former officials such as Rumsfeld and Alberto Gonzales (and others yet to be charged, we suspect) cannot travel in countries like Germany because of war crime indictments. Someone has to ask, "How did we come to this?" Ask "How can we not only change our course, but also make amends and prove to the world that we are worthy of trust?" It would be of great help if we were actually worthy of trust.

It ain't gonna happen because, just like George Bush, we as a people never admit our mistakes. Not as long as we are packing more heat than all the rest of the world combined. We are the five percent of the planet consuming a quarter of its resources on the grounds of divine entitlement as Americans. And the heat we pack. Think the Dems are gonna address that? Address that belligerent two-ton rhino in the sandbox called the American Lifestyle? Nobody will, and that refusal will ensure our downfall. Rhinos can be taken down, and you don't have to be Hemingway to do it. Ask any 12-year-old Syrian or Palestinian boy. It's their dream. Any bookie will tell you that odds are good that at least one of those millions of boys will accomplish his dream. Providence is like that."

It's always been a rough sticking point with me as to how Americans don't seem to do introspective navel-gazing very well. Like many of our country's problems, I chalk it up to my 'we're a young country' theory. Like a young child, in most cases we haven't matured to the point where we can look back on our behavior and judge it with some sense of objectivity, especially when it leads us to realize we've been acting like dickheads. We are just always so convinced that we are so right, probably because we've been brought up with this crazy way of thinking disguised as 'national pride' that enables that very 'we're #1' delusion.