Rome is Burning.

I was watching something on The History Channel or Discovery or something. It was talking about political dynasties. I think specifically it was talking about Nero, but the key point I took away from it is that by the time you get to the third level, everything goes to hell. I remembered specifically that it was Julius, Augustus and Nero. Though after doing some research I see that there's a few other levels between Julius and Nero. Actually the Dynasty starts with Augustus and ends with Nero, though Caligula is third on the list, and well frankly that fits in just fine too. I thought they had other examples as well, though I don't recall them off the top of my head.

The point is, we seem to be at the tail end of another political dynasty. We've had Senator Prescott Bush, who according to some had Nazi ties and was part of a conspiracy to overthrow FDR. Then George Herbert Walker Bush, who I think did a pretty decent job as Vice President, President, and muse to Dana Carvey. And now, we have Dubya, who based on many recent comments I'm pretty sure is completely insane and totally out of touch with reality.

This of course is really why we are taught history in High School. At least in theory. It's been often said that those who ignore history are destined to repeat it. If Americans were better educated, then they would have known that the third generation of any dynasty is totally insane and not fit to rule. He never would have gotten elected as the Governor of Texas and McCain would have won the Nomination in 2000. I can't say how this would have played out in the general election. Though Gore was only a second generation politician, so in hindsight, he may have been better. But in the end it doesn't matter. We as Americans ignored history, and we've sent Nero to the White House. The country is falling apart around us, but at least we have some music to listen to as we sink into the night.

Just for the record, I'm not just another liberal bashing Bush. In fact I'm not a liberal in any sense of the word, except that I like Science. I thought going into Iraq was a good thing. Not because I thought Saddam had the bomb, or because he was crazy and dangerous(though I was a bit worried about Qusay,) or because I thought he had anything to do with 9/11. (In fact I think Al Queada was looking to over throw him as well.) I just thought it was the right thing to do. The Western world has been screwing over the Middle East for years. The whole reason Saddam was in power is because of Western meddling. I supported Bush for a long time, but I can't just sit back and ignore what's plain to see. I just hope we as a country can survive the next year, and that Bush doesn't dig us into a hole that we can't get out of. That is if he hasn't already.