September 20, 2007 - In ancient days storyteller Kai Lung described a most effective curse, a trilogy of dire fates:

 May you live in interesting times.

May you come to the attention of those in authority.

May you find what you are looking for. 

President George W. Bush has certainly led America into interesting times indeed. Has he come to the attention of those in authority?  The highest authority in our Constitutional Republic rests in its people and Mr. Bush has certainly come to their attention.  All one needs to do is look to the depth of his approval ratings in the opinion polls to realize that his conduct of our interesting times has gotten the peoples’ attention.   Has he found what he was looking for when he took us into Iraq?  

What can we observe about the interesting times into which President Bush has led us? We live in a continuous state of officially encouraged fear.  Fear that the demon living in a cave or villa, we don’t know which, somewhere in Afghanistan or Pakistan will hatch another plot and strike deep within our nation.  In our interesting times the Constitutional promise that the people would be secure in their persons and papers has been traded for a governmental promise of national security; our conversations are monitored; our homes are subject to secret incursion; our commercial transactions are subject interception and entry to a national database; and even our reading choices are open to examination in a vain effort to ferret out terrorism.  Merely by attaching a label to our names – Enemy Combatant – we are subject to seizure and imprisoned at the whim of our government and all in the name of patriotism. What can we do to escape the Curse of Kai Lung? 

How can we restore the liberty and freedom that was once ours?  How do we end Death’s daily drumming of a ghastly cadence for the march of the fallen?   Or is it now too late to elude our interesting times?