However, off the top of my head, the standard that it is okay to preemptively attack any country you perceive as a threat or to force them to become what we define as a democracy. The standard that US soldiers only obey international law when they agree with it. The standard that our environmental faiths trump everyone else’s needs, for example, global warming does not exist whatever the rest of the world may think, and our refusal to work with the rest of the world on dealing with a probable problem for which we are a major cause. The standard that, because some large percentage of us believe in certain kinds of family structures and behavior, international organizations to which we contribute must enforce those standards whatever they and other contributors may need or think. The standard that “our god is better than theirs” and that, and that alone, makes us right.

All of these boil down to might makes right — the very essence of imperialism.

It may be true that might makes right, but in the past we have held ourselves to a higher standard — at least in word and occasionally in deed. We used to try to be a different and better country and to set a standard for the rest of the world. Today we are wallowing in the mud just like everyone else, holding and even torturing without trial people we define as our enemies and insisting that there is nothing wrong with that, attacking countries that haven’t attacked us, clamping down on civil liberties at home, ad nausium.

How is that different from Sadam’s behavior? We are no longer different in kind; only in degree — and in raw power. Whatever the justification, I think that is a very dangerous and sad thing to happen to my country.

And, to bring this back to the matter at hand, playing imperial power while pretending that it doesn’t cost any sacrifice at home has eaten up every penny that Mr. Bush might have spent returning us to Earth’s moon and going on to Mars. . . .

What might those standards be?

I make no apologies for my opinion of Mr. Bush, which I believe to be more-or-less accurate. History will tell. . . .

And, oh yes, Mr. Bush is demanding that the rest of the world conform to standards set solely by the United States. How would you define an imperialist?

— Donald

— Donald