As we head toward the end of 2009, perhaps things are going ok for you.  (I really have little cause to complain.)

Or maybe you are out of a job.  Or lost your house.  Or are being deployed to war-ravaged regions.  Or are mind-bogglingly delayed at the airport, the delay justified by claiming it will prevent the sort of attack (a shoe bomb) that has never been successfully carried out.  Perhaps you're frustrated that a presidential campaign which promised hope and change, has instead provided a lot of the same, and little actual progress (despite having a supportive majority in the legislature).

And you might think, "how did I get here?"  "This is not my beautiful country!"

There's where I find the simple, articulate, clear words of Mark Morford (circa 2006) to be helpful.

America, Narcoleptic Pit Bull

And., to be honest, it's time for the citizens of this country, as a whole, to take some personal responsibility.  We all let the madmen run the country for 8 years, with nary an impeachment for high treason.  The vast majority of us spent more than we had, encouraged by artificially appreciating asset values.  We need to take responsibility for what we did wrong.  And we need to hold our leaders (and ourselves) to higher standards.  I still hope we'll pull out of this one.  But, to be honest, I'm not sure.  The amount of damage done to the economy, to our reputation, to our freedoms, and to our own attitudes of morality...may be more than we can recover from...And President Obama hasn't done much  to make me believe he'll help in that regard.

George W. Bush was permitted to continue dismantling the country's foundation, because nobody pushed hard enough, when ample evidence existed that he should have been removed from office:

• The Case for Impeachment
• Articles of Impeachment, drawn up by Dennis Kucinich
• Garrison Keillor's argument for Impeachment
• The Nation covers the possibility of impeachment
• John Conyers wanted to create a committee to invistigate the Preident's activities for identification of criminal activity
• It's clear AG Gonzalez knew he'd advocated criminal activity, which is why he was so skittish about admitting anything, and why he lied under oath
• The Wikipedia summary of the movement to impeach Bush

So, why wasn't he removed from office, or why weren't there at least impeachment proceedings?

What's especially shocking is how many people who claim to be "conservative" supported this President, who presided in a very un-conservative way.