We're shamefully frightful, too.

Fear. Fear. Fear. We Americans are living in fear. Of so-called terrorists. That's what we've labeled 'em. They're really criminals. And religious fanatics. But we dignify 'em. By calling 'em terrorists. And we're supposed to be afraid of 'em. Even to the point of not wanting to put them into prisons in the USA. Because they're "too dangerous." Give me a break. They're dangerous because we insist on painting them as dangerous. We're horrified. But worse, we're sissies. We have to pretend that we are waging war on the terrorists. In Iraq. And in Afghanistan. Under the pretense of keeping 'em out of America. Give me another break. We could spend the trillions of dollars that we spend on "wars," and channel it instead into intelligence operations. To root out these criminals. That's all they are. Criminals. And we can't even track down the big kahuna, Osama bin Laden. Because we're busy fighting wars. Rather than taking effective police action against a common criminal. Yes, we're inept. We're Republicans and Democrats. Feuding with each other. Showing utter lack of respect for each other. Blaming each other for all the futility. Yes, we're a collection of ignoramuses. And there sits Osama bin Laden. In a cave. Laughing his head off. As we grapple with the scourge of terrorism. We're not only frightened as a nation. We're shamefully frightful, too, in the way we are dealing with the situation. Like chickens running around with their heads cut off. --Jim Broede