It was midnight on the sea, band playin' "Nearer my God to Thee"

The criminality of the Bush regime is now plain for all to see. The mounting evidence of prisoner abuse in places like Abu Ghraib, Bagram, Camp Bukka, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in various secret places indicate a pattern that can only be directed from the top. Now we are finding that a death chamber is being planned at Guantanamo. The Bush crime family, in its zeal for turning the entire planet into a death chamber, needs a ritual death chamber for internal purposes. It can’t be for any legitimate purpose of law enforcement or war crimes prosecution because the camp itself is illegal, and any prosecution will only have the legitimacy of "victor’s justice."

Today the Guardian reports that Tarik Aziz, deputy prime minister in the Saddam Hussein government, is pleading for international help to gain humane treatment at Camp Cropper, the detention facility in Baghdad that also holds Hussein. Aziz has been held incommunicado in solitary confinement since his surrender on April 24, 2003. This news follows the publication of pictures of Saddam Hussein in his underwear. We also were told that Bush demanded that Osama bin Laden’s head be brought to him. A good refutation of this report can be found at Global Research, but the head seeking is consistent with the practices of the The Skull and Bones Society, Bush’s college "fraternity." They already have Geronimo’s skull.

It’s hard to tell what the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is, but one thing is clear: The United States of America is on a steep slide to barbarism. The Bush crime family had a relatively easy time seizing power, and they also have had a relatively easy time getting the Congress, the military, the corporatocracy, the news media, and a large part of the public to go along with their devilish schemes and atrocities.

A case in point is the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. The thing I found most revealing about the abuse of the prisoners there was how easy it was for the people involved to behave as they did. It wasn’t a few "bad apples," but the "apples" who tortured and humiliated prisoners. Except for Specialist Joseph Darby, the soldier who reported the abuses, there was nothing honorable displayed in this affair. In case after case around the world, American service people, private contractors, and government officials have been ready and willing to sexually humiliate, beat, threaten, rape, kill, and engage in religious desecration. Supposedy this is in response to the terrorist threat imposed by the attacks of September 11, 2001, but that is just an excuse.

The real reason is it was done because this is what Americans do when allowed to. Since the beginning of our history the subjugation, mistreatment, and killing of groups of people seen as "different" has been integral in the character of the American psyche. We know well of the horrors experienced by the First Nations people, also known as Indians, and the African slaves. But various ethnic groups such as the Irish, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, and Puerto Rican immigrants to this country have all experienced the kinds of exclusion, stereotyping, incarceration and other forms of abuse that are familiar to our Native and Black citizens. Today's "untermenschen," or subhumans, are Muslims, especially Arabs, homosexuals, and "liberals." One of the marks of full citizenship is when a group rises in status it joins in the dehumanization of other perceived "inferiors." I know this from personal experience. My ancestry is mostly indigenous Irish, commonly known as "Catholic." Hardly a distinct ethnic group anymore, people of Irish descent are now as bigoted as anyone else.

This character trait is not unique to Americans. We just happen to be "the world’s only superpower." We set the standard for the rest of the planet. We make the rules. It isn’t enough to commit atrocities within our borders. Pre-emptive war will spread our need to as many places as natural limits will permit.

This status has been a long time in coming. That it will be short-lived should be obvious. A nation that so easily falls for the crude propaganda and fear-mongering of the Bush gang is headed for a great fall. The rest of the planet won’t put up with it for long, and internal contradictions will result in the nation turning on itself. It will be a bit like the Titanic, which is now playing on TV. The corporate ship of state is headed for an iceberg, except the iceberg in this case is the Law of Karma. The question we should be asking is what we will do for lifeboats.