"we lost the torture debate completely"

[calimary]

13. You make a good point. The country IS sick. We've surrendered completely to the lowest and worst

aspects of our nature. We're into acting out, and lashing out, bullying and being mean-spirited. That's us now. That's America. That's the so-called holy, sanctity-of-the "American Way." And it's shameful. As an American, I'm ashamed. And thoroughly disgusted.

I wrote this column, back when, that I called "The Meaning of America." It was NOT about some lofty rhapsody to our wonderful wonderful country and that tired old "shining city on a hill" canard. It was about how we're steadily devolving - we're turning more and more MEAN. As in mean-spirited. As in a bunch of meanies. As in mean and nasty. Outright hate-filled these days. As my husband now says - "America. We're not who we thought we were."

What really is the most galling, I think, is the overall lesson - the takeaway from this. And unfortunately it is that being mean PAYS. You get away with it. You're even praised and admired for it. LOADS of positive reinforcement out there for this kind of behavior. You're viewed as gutsy, ballsy, my-way-or-the-highway, get-outta-my-way, me-me-me, it's all about ME for ME and you can go fuck yourself. And there are no consequences. No accountability. You can shit on people, and if you're a cop, you can shoot first and not care about the fallout because it'll never touch you. NO! When you go mean, when do it that way, you're richly rewarded. Sometimes quite literally - you get wealthy. Or you get to feel as though you're one of 'em - because you vote for them and you think you're part of it. (Even though they're laughing at you and avoiding you like the plague!) And you think if you JUST. KEEP. ON. VOTING. FOR. THEM. and believing in them and swallowing the shit they spew, YOU TOO will be rich and powerful someday, and able to flitch off those who annoy you as though they were a spot of lint on the shoulder of your nice suit. And all the while, you loudly boast and swagger about what a devout holier-than-thou Christian you are.

It's a sickness. And I don't know when - or how - we're going to recover from it.