Mike, the questions you ask would take pages to respond to. I'll try to be succinct.

No, I do not like where we are as a country today.

I like the diversity of the people, the technology, the infrastructure, the history, the diversity of the climate, the beauty of the land...I could go on all day, but the people that make up this country is its strongest asset just as their freedom is supposed to be.

I dislike the fact that we have strayed so far from our roots politically and ideologically, that the balance of powers in our government has been usurped, that Americans are no longer guaranteed life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that we no longer have a right to privacy or habeas corpus, that our election process has been corrupted (and with electronic voting it will continue to be corrupted -- just as computer drawn lottery games can be corrupted, so can elections), that for the first time in American history we invaded and occupied a sovereign country without provocation.

How would I change things? That would require too much time and space here and I'm no expert anyway so I'll chip away at that in my blog. But a few things come to mind. I would abolish the electoral college. Every single American's vote should count individually, not by the sate they live in. I would abolish electronic voting machines. I would propose that Supreme Court Justices be voted in by the people, not appointed by the Executive Branch and approved by the Legislative Branch. I would abolish our current taxation system and instill a consumption tax to replace our production tax.   I would legalize drugs, prostitution, gambling and all other victimless "crimes". I would eliminate mandatory sentencing requirements and reserve prison time for violent crimes and crimes committed with a deadly weapon. I would limit acts of war to be declared by Congress and Congress alone and that any goverment agent or branch of government providing false information to congress regarding an act of war be held for trial and impeachment from their position. I would enforce the separation of Church and State. Again, I could go on all day but I won't.

In summary, micro-managing our lives and our morals and funneling all of our power and money into the hands of a few is not working and contradictory to the tenets this country was founded on. It is leading us to a police state. That's what I dislike the very most about America on 10/12/06.

Good post, Mike.

Rick, don't forget to add to your list "Affordable Health Care For All"

Right on, Nancy.

It's a downright shame that many of us cannot afford health insurance except under the most austere circumstances but we insist on being the police and the providers of the world. America is being taken for a sucker. When we are a third world country who is going to take care of us? When we are living in cardboard boxes and our children are dying because we can't afford to feed them, shelter them, or provide them medical attention, will the Iraqis help us? Will anyone on this planet help us? I don't think so. It's time to use American money for Americans. We made it on our own and other countries can learn to do so too without any interference from us.

i agree rick.all that money spent on other countries could be spent for the needy here.i have no health insurance and its tough....