I wonder.....

I wonder.......

Did you ever buy one of those cheap "wooden" bookcases? You know, the ones made of particle board with a very thin veneer of what appears to be wood, but is probably paper with a wood grain on it? And, when the veneer chiped, you could see the ugly board underneath?

We now see how thin the veneer of civilization is. Its no surprise, given the very poor response of the government to the storm, that the veneer has been chiped away in New Orleans and Mississippi. And we can see the ugly side of human nature. Murder, rape, assault, looting. The news last night said even the cops in New Orleans are having to loot to find water while they're on duty.

Civilization is breaking down in the area.

Meanwhile, using Katrina as an excuse, the oil companies are raising the price of gasoline and heating oil. To the point where the working poor and even the middle class are finding it more and more difficult to make ends meet. And they wonder why so many Americans use the word "businessman" as an epithet.

And in the aftermath, no one seems to be considering the unemployment spike that is going to result from the loss of all those businesses in the area.

I once said that, if the 2004 election was as crooked as the 2000 one, there would be an armed revolution. Apparently, I was wrong. The American people will tolerate almost anything.

But I look at things happening today and I wonder.

Rising prices, the worst disaster I can remember, worse unemployment, dissatifaction with the war in Iraq.

I think our country is reaching the breaking point.

I remember a song from my youth.

"I see a bad moon rising."

And I fear for my country.

And I wonder.