America - the next "olde world" Afghanistan

America. One word that was known the world over. Associated with good, benevolence, opportunity, hope, love, courage, strength, and even wealth.

How, in such a short time have we, as a nation, gone from purple mountains majesty, waving seas of golden grain, honor and dignity to a "once-was, menagerie of clanging tarnished gongs, politically correct, partisan, ignorant armpit of western civilization"?

I hear news of a West African man accused of molesting a seven year old girl, then an 18 month old girl, whom the judge lets off because they cannot locate a sufficient interpreter for his native tongue. Deported? Nope. Imprisoned? Nope. Roaming the streets to repeat it once more? Yep.

Or how about the two parolees, fresh from the slammer, who stalk a wealthy neighborhood and randomly select a couple and their daughters to sexually assault and murder - only the father clings to life - a life that I would argue to be not worth living in light of this travesty.

What about the law-abiding citizen who presented a firearm to diffuse a situation where imminent and grave danger were seconds away, yet he was arrested and charged? Adjudication was withheld and his probation was terminated early having met all of the requirements, his record is being sealed, yet the weapon cannot be returned to him as it is dubbed a "fruit of the crime." It can be returned to any other law-abiding party who can then give it to him, but the law prevents him from taking possession. He can vote. He can buy another gun today. He can keep other guns already in possession. But that one is off-limits until it's given to him by someone else.

Contrary to what we have come to think of Afghanistan, it was once a beautiful country, ruled by a benevolent monarch until . . . a mere quarter century or so ago, the Russians invaded. Friend turned against friend, brother against brother, husband against wife. The nation was destroyed. Many who fled to Pakistan as refugees failed to survive the trip. Women and children were ruthlessly molested, sodomized, tortured - their faces today reflecting the gross disfigurement of an evil man's knife. Their futile attempts at slumber tormented by the recollections of something that happened in an alleyway. And when the virus known as Russia slithered back across the border, the road had been paved for the Taliban. A once beautiful land of beautiful people now lay barren under the oppressive thumb of a handful of zealots believing that they are doing Allah's will. Allah. Yahweh. Jehovah. God. The God I once knew so well is loving, just, kind-hearted, charitable, gracious, merciful, a deity whom we could call Abba ("daddy") . . . yet these monsters have turned their so-called deity into a scourge. The people fear "his" cronies and in so doing, fear him. They seek jihad. And for what? What religion mandates that others die in its name - in the name of its deity? What religion uses the promise of intercourse with multiple virgins as a reward? Do the math - a 30 second orgasm with 72 virgins amounts to 36 minutes of "pleasure." And for what? Killing others who aren't on that bandwagon? Have you noticed that its fearless leaders preach of "do as I say, not as I do"? The suicide bombers are patsies. The leaders wouldn't do what they mandate of others.

History serves as a warning. At what point will we heed its sagely advice? At what point will we look back on 2007 and conclude that we saw it coming yet were blind? Who among you must die? Your wife? Mother? Daughter? Brother? Son? When will the barren desert that once was home to life & love, overflowing with milk, honey, mulberry and dates remove the shroud that thinly veils the future that awaits us?

The concept of Orwell's "1984" is all but cliche' today; perhaps Hosseini's "The Kite Runner" will become the voice in the desert, crying to be heard.