We Are A Nation of Sheep.

I know this will come as a big surprise to those who have read me before, but I've come to the solid conclusion that we have become a Nation of Mouflon Morons.

As I hate to bring cynicism and humor to bear on such a serious subject, I must tell you that I've been heavily influenced by two recent diaries by unagidon and Yoda.

Both look at the issue with humor, and I admire that. Both have become, in my view, welcome voices at SoapBlox/Chicago, and in the greater Blogscape-o-shere (or whatever we call this venue).

But both miss the point, which is that people simply don't care about things anymore until the issues are so large and looming so as to become insurmountable monsters, salivating devils drooling pools of santorum and carnage on their doorsteps.

Like that? I thought you would. We've become bloodthirsty monsters, as well. That's right. We are a nation of haters, eager to out, kill, maim, or otherwise utterly destroy those who are different from us. And why? People just see it as the easier choice.

That's why I shake my head in disgust when this President, and when this "Speaker" talk of "making the hard choices."

Killing is easy. Fuck it. I won't have to deal with it tomorrow. You're dead, asshole. I guess I showed you.

But you have to understand the very subtle difference between these two widely juxtaposed descriptions I have just given you. Denny Hastert is just Denny Hastert. I always use quotes on "J. Dennis" because I know it's an invented title, of sorts. I saw it coming. It's part of his power.

Denny Hastert is a mook. A tool. A lugnut. He's a man without an original thought. He was stripped of all original thought years ago when he was "made" by his original benefactor, Dallas Ingemunson, who is about to coronate his little Boy, Boy Ingemunson, as the next State's Attorney of Kendall County.

In that pact, you see, Denny Hastert agreed to strip himself down to the shell. That's what was needed to feed the juggernaut. They needed another affable front man. Like Reagan. Now, Hastert's no Reagan (Reagan was much worse), but that was the image that dealmakers above Ingemunson had for the future leaders of the party.

"Give us another mook... someone no one would think could possibly come up with the things we have in mind..."

Before being played by Ingemunson, Hastert couldn't even win a primary election in his home area. He was washed up after his first election. Ingemunson handpicked him to take the place of the man who beat him in the primary because the winner was diagnosed with cancer after he won.

No. The subtle difference I'm talking about is the difference between soul-less killers and sheep. It's really us and them (or "them and us," as it were).

The subtle difference is that "they" were chosen by their benefactors to represent power. And "they" are paid mightily.

Denny Hastert is paid mightily in the blood of American servicemen, for gleefully "doing the hard work" of allowing the President of the United States to usurp the power of the House Speaker -- and as a token, the House, in general -- in taking the nation to war.

Denny Hastert has been nothing but complacent in the face of grave dangers that present themselves to our nation, and to the Republic and our beloved Constitution.

He is paid in ransom money for selling out your future, and the future of your unborn children and grandchildren, by raising the debt ceiling and doing nothing to cut expenditures of our federal government except to punish poor people by cutting or eliminating programs that support their general well-being.

I was always taught that helping the poor was the Christian, compassionate thing to do.

Denny Hastert is nothing. He is less than sheep. He may be less than a rabbit of a man. But he is aided by power, and that power has mercilessly stripped the rest of us of our rights, our liberties, and our ability to travel freely at home and abroad without fear of invasive tampering with our private affairs.

Denny Hastert is for nothing unless it can be linked to the memory of Reagan; he will not violate the Reagan Eleventh Commandment, "Thou shalt not speak ill of thy fellow republicans," but he has horribly violated so many of our Creator's Commandments to the Children of Israel.

The shameful, naked truth is that Denny Hastert is one of those responsible. And history does not forgive his kind.

In centuries past, he might as well have been Cromwell or Robespierre. But his punishment will be retirement with full benefits and hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in pension. At my expense and yours.

But what is the answer? I really do not know. Today is a dark day, and I feel immobile.

I feel immobile due to the Sheepization of the Nation. No one cares about these things. There are too many other compelling dramas that are right up close for each and every one of us. My gas bills are outrageous. My furnace, which I've noted elsewhere is beginning to sound like a b-52 taking off, will soon cost me thousands of dollars I just don't have.

And we are a nation of sheep.

We would rather have the answers given to us, no, read to us, or demonstrated in a video presentation, so we don't have to read anymore. We don't have time. Many of us are working two jobs. And when we're not working, we're wondering where the next dollar is coming from.

It is said that our nation's workers are at 1989 wages. Mine certainly are. I was shocked when I read that for the first time. For two seconds, I was shocked, but realized that I am just like so many millions of others. Millions of sheep. Who do not have the will any longer to complain.

Many of us will awaken in the night. After an hour or two of silence and frustration, we'll turn on the television and see some complete and total asshole who is lying about the "power of calcium" tablets that cost $2 each that will ward off cancer and any number of other deadly, wretched things. We'll maybe flip the channel until it lands on something more believable. Perhaps science fiction, or some banal new $19 kitchen thingey that strains your pasta while killing germs that cause disease.

And that will put us back to sleep and we'll forget what's really troubling us, deep down.

We are in trouble.

The future turned totally black on September 11. It was made even blacker by this crowd, and Denny Hastert is just one of the mooks they keep around to try to keep us guessing about whether or not government is the cure or the ill. They've made it a black and white world, so those are your only choices.

And we are a nation of sheep, who fall asleep again and wake upon the sunrise. Only to find that the story is the same, the dangers among us are real, but they're not foreign. Nor are they foreigners. They're American dangers. And we are sheep who flock together to move together to the next place and spend our day eating and sunning... searching for shade in our idle while.

A brief respite before we enter the twilight. And again, the night.

As Hunter S. Thompson's great friend, the pudgy, nearly incoherent Samoan attorney Dr. Gonzo (Benecio Del Toro) might say: "As your attorney, I advise you to start drinking. Heavily."