Goodbye, My America

Leonard Pitts Jr. helps us say goodbye to the America we knew and loved. Excerpt:

"For better or for worse, a new nation will be born here. And it will be different from the one it supersedes. For the first time in its history, the United States has claimed for itself - and now puts into action - a doctrine of preemption, the right to hit first any nation we suspect of hostile intent. In an era when nuclear, chemical and biological weapons might easily fall into the hands of stateless religious fanatics eager for martyrdom, the President says anything less would be suicide.

It's a compelling argument, yes. But it has frightening implications, for it frees any nation to strike any other on the grounds that it perceives a threat. Indeed, it can be argued that the new doctrine gives thug nations an incentive to strike American interests first - to pre-empt our preemption, in other words.

But the new nation being born here is not just a product of the Bush Doctrine. It's also the product of Washington's recent taste for unilateral action. As the old order passes, it evidently takes with it any inclination on America's part to embrace a role of constructive leadership as part of the community of nations.

Truth is, we have been rejecting that role since well before the terrorist attacks of Sept.11, 2001.

What else did it mean when we abandoned the peace process in the Middle East? When we repudiated the Kyoto Protocol and withdrew from treaties to which we had already agreed. When we stopped listening to the rest of the planet, even our allies. When we, simply put, withdrew from the world."

You know, stop and think about it. It really is true. Bush has single-handedly changed the destiny of this planet and the way in which we think about and feel about our country and the rest of the world. We will now spend the rest of our lives with the fear of terrorism in our cities at any time, any place. We will be hated when we go abroad, and we will resent other nations for feeling that way about us, because we, personally, didn't want this war. But there's nothing we can do now. What's done is done and we can thank Bush for it (and don't forget every Democrat who voted for Nader - you should thank each and every one of them). Life will now suck even more for the rest of our days. I saw it coming, way back in December, 2000, outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building.