Where does one go when one doesn't want to be an American anymore?

Yes, yes - check my profile - I am indeed presently living abroad for work but I have always been a flag-waving American.

At the moment some members of this august forum - which I have adored for many years, long before I was "golux" - believe Sarah can beat Hillary... Believe America will come to its senses on homosexual everything... Believe there will be some "push back," believe that for the first time in history (well, sine Appomatox) the Federal government will stop expending exponentially... Believe that Career Congresscritters will once again deign to "represent" their constituents... Believe that our Moslem president and his minions at the Church of Anthropogenic Global Warming can somehow use their out-of-control, unaccountable spy agencies to audit conservatives into regaining, for America, some miniscule thread of respect in this world... Believe that if we try - if we really try - hard enough to teach our kids how to F each other up the A in grade school and on Sesame Street, then Americans might have jobs and hope again.

But I'm just not seeing it. I really do believe that our country is sick. Mortally sick.

Yep, I've read Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. You should too. It'll take you many months, but it's worth doing. The similarities are uncanny. Shockingly so.

I guess I still love America and that for which she "stood." I have sacrificed much for my patriotism as so many of us have - and I have been blessed by our wonderful society. I love America. I LOVE America.

But the Founders' message is real. Ayn Rand's message is real. The LORD and His Commandments are real. I am not a Christian, but if America were a Church (in my case a synagogue,) I'd leave it.

I have a family. I am afraid for my children's brains, their sexuality, their knowledge of good and evil, their morality. I have lived in many places and can assure you ours is no longer the land of the free.

I am tired of arguing with European (Jews, mainly) about how America isn't crime-ridden, filled with bums and fags and pedophiles and drug addicts and perverted teachers and communists and obese, immoral, undereducated welfare zombies.

America is. We are. After 9/11 we elected a freakin' guy named (probably) Barack Hussein Obama, about whom we know less than nothing. We did this. Is Satan in charge of America?

Tonight I told the Aesop fable about the dog and the wolf to my kids. I love to draw these stories out with details, sounds, et cetera.

For the first time I realized I was being a hypocrite comparing Americans to the wild, free wolf rather than the enslaved, fat, stupid dog, and it choked me up.

My hope is dead. Even a revolution seems impossible. We have traded all of our liberties for safety, and delight in the process, sucking on Soma and flocking to Wal Mart for more American flag decals stamped by Chinese preteens.

By all means, give Belize a hard look. If you like it, you like it -- no problem here.

If you want to look at Panama, decide one thing first, to wit, the type of climate you prefer. Might surprise you, but there are at least 3, likely 4, different climes here. Sure, all warmer on average than most of the US, but humidity and wind and avg rainfall come into play very importantly.

Much of Panama is plains, and very warm. There is an area known as arco seco (dry arch) that is, well, very dry and very warm but mostly smack on the Pacific. There is all the "rain forest" (what a bogus term) you like. Ciudad Panama is at sea level, hot and humid (but is very first world regarding habitation temps, lots of fans and very good A/C if that's your desire). Then, there's the MMFJ (miles and miles of f***ing jungle) that constitute Darien province. The jungle is SO THICK there that that province constitutes the ONLY area on the Pan-American highway that COULD NOT be completed, thus the only interruption in that road, which extends from Alaska to the south of Chile (think about that, eh!)

Second thing to think about when coming to Panama is the various amounts and types of social activities you like. Ciudad Panama has ALL OF THE ABOVE (and quite a few the tourist books won't tell you about, too). Festivals of all kinds (and the usually associated holidays) are everywhere in Panama, and very frequent (hell's bells, I can't even figure out which days the schools are in session; THAT'S how frequent they are).

If you prefer a quieter life, which I do, check out a fishing village or two, or check out a small town called Santa Fe de Veraguas. If you REALLY want to get off the radar, have a look at Potrelillos or Volcan or Cerro Punta (Chiriqui province), anywhere in San Blas province, perhaps Margarita or La Mesa in Cocle province.

Or, you can seek out towns with a modest or larger communidad de expatriados: Ciudad Panama, of course, David (capital of Chiriqui province (and a town I will vouch for), Playa Coronado (bring money!), Bocas del Toro (capital of the province of the same name), or even my small town.

In general, you can pretty much deal your own cards here. More information if you wish it.

Best to you, and FReegards!

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