Remember Shannen Doherty? I used to think she was so hot. I actually still do. Especially when she wears shirts like that one. I've always had a thing for bad girls. That and hot brunettes.

Thanks to The Feeding Tube for the pic.

A night at home. Relatively quiet. Very nice. After the turmoil and tussle of the past week or so, it's nice not to have anything to do. Just me and the kids.

I've been reading back issues of The New Republic. Anyone ever check it out? It's a fairly liberal, small magazine with articles dealing with politics and the nation. I know, it sounds boring, but being uninformed isn't just being stupid, it's dangerous. It's like that bumper sticker, "If you aren't outraged, you aren't paying attention."

I've let politics drop since the election. Frankly, I was a bit burnt out. I don't know how people in politics do it. It's a lot of stress to worry about the fate of a city, state or nation. It's stressful to see injustice and feel helpless to change it.

What I've learned from reading the magazine is that I am woefully uninformed about the state of the nation and even it's history. It's amazing the things you don't know that you don't know. One article was about the United State's 'Cowboy Diplomacy.' It's a phrase applied to Bush's policies of 'shoot first' type diplomacy. How he sees the U.S. as the world's leader for freedom and justice. It's discussed as if it's a new policy. Truth is, this type of thinking and policy has been around since the Founding Fathers. Presidents from Washington to Jefferson to Teddy Roosevelt have thought along these lines. The article goes on to discuss how this need for world power is ingrained in the American people. From the removal of the Native Americans from their lands, to slavery to the modern invasions of Panama, Haiti and Iraq. We see ourselves as the moral judge of nations and then impose our version of freedom on them. I think I'm personally more of an isolationist. I don't see where it's our right to impose anything on anyone. I don't think democracy works for some cultures. At least our form. There are nations run by sovereigns that do perfectly well. Granted, there aren't many, but there are a few. I'm not saying we should sit back and let genocide happen. But Iraq three years ago was not genocide. And we all know the other reasons Bush told us that we were invading were proven wrong. The thing is, even in times of genocide, we are slow to respond. We didn't jump in to save the Jews right away. There is proof that the American government had been told what was happening. We didn't jump into Kosovo until the last minute. We aren't doing shit about Darfur right now. And in Iraq, during the last Gulf War, we let the Kurds and Shiites get massacred by Saddam by encouraging them to revolt and then not helping them in any way.

My point of this is that I think it's time the U.S. takes a step back from it's chosen role as world leader. We have 'nation building' to do in this country. We have poverty and injustice, racism and disease. The billions spent in Iraq could do wonders for our educational system.

But that's just my opinion.