[Asclepius]

... The "Land of the Free" should be better than this ...

Better than what, little one? What's your basis for comparison?

[ArrogantBustard]

The basis of my comparison is the America I knew decades ago, boy. Maybe you don't remember it? Maybe you have the attention span of the six o'clock news?

I, OTOH, have a memory.

And don't just mindlessly chant Nine-Eleven at me.

America is a lot older than that. So am I.

It'll be a sad situation indeed if this time next year, Iraq is freer than the USA. Not sad for the Iraqis; they deserve a good turn after almost thirty years of bloodthirsty dictatorship. Sad for us.

If you're content, sonny, to be nibbled to death by ducks, Fine. I'm not. I've had my fill of bureaucratic BS. I don't accept it as an excuse for anything.