As we examine the actions of the Bush administration we are faced with a multitude of questions. Not the least of which is the how when and who surrounding the torture of human beings in the name of our safety.

The arguments defending and condemning torture are as endless and timeless as the practices themselves. As we navigate our way through these dark and uneasy waters we have begun to become accustomed to the monster that hides beneath the waves.

Even as I write these words there is someone here in America making a joke about it. Maybe it is Keith Olbermann making light of Sean Hannity's cowardice in not living up to his offer to be water boarded for charity. Maybe it is me laughing inside at the thought of Jesse Ventura water boarding Rush Limbaugh until he admits that he has a penchant for underage Filipina girls.

Maybe it is the reality of having our innocence stripped from us like a raped virgin schoolgirl. Maybe.

But one thing is clear. It was not the terrorists that stole our virginity and our innocence. It was not an evil master mind hiding in cave in Pakistan or Afghanistan that leeched our courage dry. We did this to ourselves. We gave it up as freely as a confused and degraded whore with no self esteem. Harsh words I know but it is the truth.

If it is true that we have become strung out addicted whores it is also true that our pimps and our dealers not only share the blame for our loss of national pride they are in fact the profiteers that have fattened themselves at the alter of the sacrifice of our nation's values.

I do not care much which side of the argument you stand on anymore. I really don't. I find myself becoming increasingly extroverted and yet reflective. Everything I say and hear seems to be mere a reflection of me, of us, of what we have become. A never ending broadcast of our national psyche.

So let it be known that to those that condemn Wanda Psyches for her so called over the line remarks at the National Correspondence Dinner that she is a merely a comedic reflection of the people we have become and damn it at least she is funny.

There is little doubt that as a nation we are facing a crossroads. Some say left. Some say right. Some say let's charge a new path down the middle. I say that until we set aside our fears and rebuild our bridges; now all but ashes, we are doomed. We are doomed to arguments without ends, doomed to wars without victors and doomed to make the same mistakes over and over again.

We cannot even begin to rebuild our national pride until we at least acknowledge we have made huge mistakes. So to that end we have Dick Cheney reminding us that everything is alright, and that everything we do is good no matter how evil it makes us feel. We've got to thicken the national skin. It is all for the best. Just ignore that monster beneath the waves. They know what is best.

To ignore that monster is to ignore the pimps, thieves and charlatans that lead us here. Here is a term that is hard to grasp for every one but if you are at all confused about where here is all you need to create a fairly accurate map is read this op/ed again and then a whole lot of history.