Buh-bye 2004

This was not the best of years.

It was not a particularly good year for Democrats, members of our armed forces, or poor people everywhere.

It was an especially bad year for people living along the coastal regions of the Eastern Indian Ocean.

Members of the Republican party did rather well for themselves, and the wealthiest 10% of the world's people generally became richer, even as the rest of us became poorer. If you were fortunate enough to be a Republican AND rich, you probably think 2004 was a pretty good year - assuming you managed to avoid buying that waterfront timeshare in Sumatra.

I like to think that 2005 will be better. It probably won't - in fact it could well be worse. Global Warming is going to be demonstrating itself to us in new and interesting ways, I'm sure. But more immediate is the problem that most of the people on Earth think that we, in the United States of America, are EVIL!

I want to assure you all that we are not EVIL. At least not all of us. Okay, some of us are greedy, selfish bastards who drive SUVs, drink lattes and send our kids to private schools while we cheat on our taxes and oppress minorities with undisguised glee. But not all of us are like that.

At least I'm not. So, don't blow me up.

Please.

Thanks...