I for one am not excited about the ongoing pissing match between Democrats and Republicans over the death of Osama bin Laden. I just want my country back. Not the made up machinations of the “birthers” or “Tea Partiers” and their billionaire puppeteers. I mean that country which predates GW Bush and the neoconservatives. It is the one which had habeas corpus and civil liberties. That country is also known to have had Constitutional checks and balances as opposed to a “unitary” executive above any law. It was one that did not violate its own laws, international law, and its own Military Code of Justice. It did not torture as rogue states do. Also it was not a security state. The country I remember was one that I didn’t have to question every waking moment whether I was getting the truth. In fact, even in the raid to get bin Laden the government felt compelled to lie to us again in the beginning much in the style of the Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman affairs. Old habits seem hard to break.

In regards to who masterminded the attacks of September 11th, 2001, our government first claimed it was bin Laden. Then it claimed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Have they made up their minds yet? One got a summary execution on the spot while the other got capture, torture and is to receive a trial of sorts. And many of us tried to point out the connections of Pakistan’s ISI and al Qaeda. We also tried to inform the public that the Iraq invasion and occupation was based on lies, falsehoods induced by torture and forgeries instead of intelligence. But no one would listen to us as we were deemed insufficient of patriotism and worse. All the while, those that lied to the nation have cost lives, untold billions, and have been hailed as straight shooters and heroes. In fact, now we see them paraded in front of our television screens hailing torture and many other illegal acts against our Constitution and laws trying to grab credit for the operation that got Osama bin Laden they were not involved in to justify their behavior. And the useless talking heads of our corporate lap dog media give into and debate the twin falsehoods of whether torture is effective or legal.

They say you can never go home again. That seems to be true for our military personnel as the completion of the TAPI pipeline remains. The geopolitics of Central Asian pipelines and privatization of Middle Eastern oil that the neoconservatives’ “Pearl Harbor” of 9/11 has produced continues while they implement the “shock doctrine” at home with an economy they have already ruined. It also seems to be the case at home whereby we have traded Constitutional rights, due process of law, and the Bill of Rights for a security state and journalism for government position stenography. You see, I have a pre 9/11 mindset. I didn’t lose my sanity nor allow myself to live a life centered on fear. I want to go home now. I hope I’m allowed to. I just hope that pre 9/11 America isn’t sharing Osama bin Laden’s watery grave. One can only hope.