Iím feeling vulnerable

I know I've been ranting about the politicians lately, and haven't been my usual nasty but essentially loving self for a long time. I've been caught up in the move to the right in this country perpetuated by a man who was appointed president without the majority vote. His appointment, handed down by a Supreme Court that placed ideology above logic and the rule of law, set representative government back to an era George III would appreciate. As ardent supporters of state's rights, the majority of the court violated their own positions by intervening with Florida state business when it didn't suit the court's political will.

It made this dog feel very lost and very vulnerable. And I still feel this way as George W, the rich white heterosexual man who said he would represent all the people by being a uniter, not a divider, strips away environmental protections we have taken for granted for the past 30 years, promises to squander billions on unproven defense mechanisms modeled after Star Wars, a movie that was released in the mid-70s, is trying to give money to religious groups who openly discriminate against gays and lesbians as well as anyone else they choose, who wants to make it as difficult as possible for a woman to choose an abortion, who threatens to cut off federal funding for vital medical work such as stem cell research and let the private sector take it over, patent it and sell it to the highest bidder, who can't construct a simple sentence it if involves more than two two-syllable words, and who said he looked into Putin's eyes and could tell he was a good man just weeks before Putin inked a deal with China whose goal is to undermine U.S. global power.

I've been feeling like our American system based on compassion, rule of law, equality and a sense of purpose, is quietly, and no so quietly, being stripped away for many of us while it is being reinforced for the few, and for the first time I see this as a problem larger than my arthritis.

I guess I should thank W for jerking me out of my self-centered life.

I'm thinking about my $300 tax rebate, and I'm wondering if this isn't the 21st Century equivalent of "let them eat cake." What good can I do with my $300 when I realize that the first serious surplus in decades has been decimated. I'm watching everything I purchase go up in price on a regular basis, either through actual price increases, or as with coffee, paying the same for ever smaller cans. (Remember when coffee came in 16-ounce cans? The one I just bought was 11.5 ounces.) When I was a puppy, this was called inflation, but for some reason, the government is telling me there is no inflation. Things just cost more.

It's time to take a closer look at the dogs running this show and decide if we are going to quietly acquiesce, or, like many moderate Republicans, and all but one (sorry Georgia, you've got Zell Miller on their side) Democratic Senators and Representatives, firmly take a stand against this ultra-conservative government.

It's an uncomfortable thought because it means we have to stop worrying about our own problems and start solving the country's. This takes work and some days my joints aren't up to it. On those days I drop out and try not to think about what's happening. It's my canine mental health preservation tactic. But I know that I'm going to have to get involved because when I see that the combined votes for Al Gore and Ralph Nader prove that the United States is not a right-wing, conservative country, and that the W reign is a historic anomaly, not representative government, I realize that I'm going to call my local government and get some assurance that the voting machines work next time around. If I lived in Florida, I'd bite them just to let them know I'm not happy.

By the way, "uniter" is not a word. Unite is an active verb, not a passive noun.