On meddling...

America has become an imperial power. Much like the Roman Empire. Or Great Britain in the 19th century. We Americans are out to change the world. Rather than ourselves. And that's a big mistake. We think, for instance, that we can change the character of the Middle East. When really we should be changing ourselves. A good start would be to become less and less imperial. Fix ourselves. Fix our own problems. Set a good example for the rest of the world. If others choose not to follow, so be it. We foolishly think we'll bring democracy to the Middle East by invading Iraq. Well, it ain't gonna happen. Instead, it's gonna cost us $1 trillion or $2 trillion and practically bankrupt America, when the money could be better spent fixing our own problems. And if we'd quit meddling in other parts of the world, we wouldn't have terrorists after us. We're meddlers. Imperial meddlers. We're trying to fix other parts of the world when we can't even provide our own citizens with guaranteed health care. Other so-called lesser industrialized nations do it. Why not us? Because we spend our money on national defense. Yes, on meddling where we don't belong. --Jim Broede