Occassionally, they get it right.

I've really been trying to avoid writing about politics this week, but the subject has never been juicier. Its almost like everyone woke up on Monday and discovered the long lost science of common sense. People that I never would agree with have been in my good basket this week, and people that I generally like have failed me politically.

So here are the highs and the lows:

1) Governor Terminator actually removed himself from the California Budget Process. The result: A quickly created California budget compromise that gives something to everyone in the state. Wow. Just the fact that the budget is done early is enough shock, let alone everything else.

2) Time Magazine did something incredibly stupid in "leaking" the information about the government monitoring bank transactions. Its not that terrorists didn't already know we were doing this. Its not that this is really anything new in intelligence circles (although this specific program was launched post 9/11). Its the fact that Time Magazine seemed to be trying to drum up liberal support with yet another, "SEE! THEY'RE SPYING ON US!" articles. Honestly, when was the last time you transferred 100 million dollars to the Middle East through seven dummy corporations around the world? Heck, they monitor this stuff on Alias every other week. Shame on Time Magazine. This was a stupid article and a waste of American time.

3) The U.S. Supreme Court said the Bush Administration overstepped its bounds by ordering military tribunals for Guantanamo Detainees. DUUUUUHHHHH! I realize that there are all sorts of steps and proceedures that must take place before these things can come to trial, but I knew the correct outcome of this case the day the Bush Administration proposed the course of action. Finally, we're going to get some real answers about just how notorious these prisoners really are. (I'm not above "hiding" a few really key terrorists from the rest of the world, but to give a blanket authority for such treatment of Osama's Limo Driver? Come on! Look up the word Totalitarian in the dictionary).

4) Pat Buchanan (yes, that guy!) wrote a sterling article that I read in the San Francisco Examiner about our future in Afghanistan and Iraq. Regardless of how we got into these wars, or whether they were justified, we're in them now and we don't appear to be trying to win them. Buchanan basically pointed out three different plans the current Administration could adopt - Win the war (need more troops and a plan for victory) Status Quo (terrorists get stronger while we get whittled away for no purpose) and Withdrawal (leave the bloody aftermath for someone else to deal with and all that that entails for our world wide reputation). The article did not suggest any one course of action, but it did put the US on the carpet to come up with some answer. We can't bury our heads in the sand and forget Iraq exists. We've got to do something about it. I'm not a Buchanan fan, but his article made sense.

I think its easy for Americans to get discouraged with their government and have been doing so since Thomas Paine. But I really believe we've reached a crossroads and its time for each and every American citizen to ask themselves, what kind of country do they want to live in. What is America? What will it become? We're not shaping the now. We're shaping the future.