God, what must I do? I have brought peace, your peace to my neighbor to only find animosity. I have tended to my brother’s needs to only find betrayal. I have been forgiving to my offender to only find more offenses. My parents have taught me how to be a good person, a good citizen. I have even become a teacher in order to pass on the deeds being taught to me. However, the harmony that I seek is nowhere to be found. The entire globe is experiencing disasters. There is a constant rat race. Nature is even mad at us for not taking care of our Mother. Mother Nature is losing her motherhood. Mother Nature is revolting. Let us face it! Tsunamis, Tropical Depression, Hurricanes, Cyclones, Tornadoes, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and global warming are the latest revolts of Mother Nature. Our world is eroding not because Mother Nature does not love us. It is eroding because we do not care for her. We do not care for each other. We have entered the age of McDonal-ization where we expect everyone to be exactly the same, much like burgers. We want everyone to have the same ingredients, the same thought processes, and the same belief system. We do not follow our own principles but yet we want to inflict our own beliefs on each other at any cost. I met a fellow whose name was, Compassionate Conservatism. His name was also No Child Left Behind, Bring them to Justice, Dead or Alive, Deficit, and Commander-in-Chief. All these names have been used conveniently to defy the will of the American people. We have been tricked and we are all in agony. But the fellow leads by spreading fear and hopelessness instead of being a compassionate conservative. While he lives lavishly in the Lincoln Bedroom, Washington DC remains the most polarized city in the world. There is the rich and powerful and the poor and powerless. There is heavy security for the members of the diplomatic corps in NW DC and there are the combined communities of Ward 7 and Ward 8 where gun shots are the only sounds of fireworks they will ever know. Well, let me take it back, there is joy ride constantly since a car is stolen every minute on the hour. There is more. The fellow had a different name. But that name has been used with a smirk, No Child Left Behind. It is a mirage. There are children left behind a lot more than expected. The strategy is to leave them behind through unreliable and invalid test scores. So, inner-city boys believe that the only way they can measure their score is by getting a girl pregnant. Sad story for the community! After the 9-11 incident, the country was united to find strength and a new purpose. But more importantly, the country wanted to honor the innocent lives that were lost by joining hands with the Compassionate Conservative. But that spirit of unity was quickly eroded when he forgot his other name, Bring them to Justice. His attention deficit disorder became even more apparent when he forgot his other name, Dead or Alive. He forgot Bin Laden. The nation is in agony. That’s not all. His name is also Deficit and Commander-in-Chief. The world is experiencing the biggest deficit ever recorded in the history of humankind. Not only does the national surplus have evaporated but the cost of human lives, human dignity and human progress is beyond repair. Now, since you are the Commander-in-Chief, how do you account for the loss of love and understanding for our country abroad? Since you are the Commander-in-Chief, how do you account for the loss of economic opportunity, economic mobility and hope for the factory workers and inner-city youths in our country when your focus is on disarming Saddam in order to take his gun as a collective item? How do you want to be remembered when your name is no longer Commander-in-Chief? The Agony is about finding closure. You have successfully consolidated the three branches of government under your control through fear. But you have made a big mistake by underestimating the intelligence of the American people. One day, we will come out of our fear and will demand real democracy and real respect for human life. We are keeping hope alive and we are working for that miracle! © 2005 Manes Pierre