Outside, the sun is shining, and birds are singing of the renewal of Spring. The trees have new buds appearing on their branches. Small children are playing in the parks on jungle gyms, laughing and screaming, running and chasing, taking in the warmth of the day amid their mothers’ sweet, knowing smiles.

Teenagers put off their homework, and contemplate which girl or guy to ask to their prom. Easter is just around the corner, and Spring Break, and more lazy weekend afternoons of leisure playing golf, or tennis, or sipping lattes at the local cafe reading the paper or conversing with old friends.

You could almost close your eyes and imagine that life is good — you could that is if you could forget for one second that we all now live in Crazy Town.

(More after the break . . . )

Jon Stewart of The Daily Show was the first to popularize the term. He meant it as satire. I mean it for real.

Because we’ve all “taken the bus to Crazy Town,” we just didn’t realize where we were headed. We thought we were headed for safety and security. We thought our driver knew what he was doing. But somewhere along the way our he took a turn that no one expected, that no one even believed possible, and gradually, imperceptibly, we have found ourselves relocated to a landscape we never imagined existed except in the fevered dreams of dystopian novelists:

Aggressive War as our primary tool of statecraft.

Official use of Torture in violation of legally binding international treaties and federal law.

Unlimited Detention of US Citizens, the denial of their constitutional rights against (1) unreasonable searches and seizures, (2) to counsel, (3) to a speedy trial, and their arbitrary Designation as Enemy Combatants by Presidential Fiat.

Fixed (which we now know means neutered) Intelligence to Mislead the American Public into Supporting War.

Use of the Big Lie technique (i.e., propaganda, disinformation, psy-ops, etc.) to deceive the public and cow the media and Democratic members of Congress from opposing Bush’s policies.

Leaks of Classified Information to smear the Bush regime’s opponents.

Outing an Undercover CIA Operative to punish a critic of the President’s war policies.

Warrantless Wiretaps of US Citizens in circumvention of federal law.

Inflammatory Rhetoric from Government Leaders suggesting that Those who Dissent or Criticize Our President are Traitors.

Surveillance of Anti-War Groups by the Pentagon US Intelligence Agencies, and local Police.

Secret Government Files on Peace Groups and their Designation as Terrorist Organizations.

Presidential assertions of Unlimited Executive Power and Authority.

The use of Orwellian Double Speak from Bush administration spokespersons and supporters.

The coming Criminalization of Abortion.

Promotion of Religion by the Federal Government.

Government Suppression of Science, from Global Warming to Evolution, for Stem Cell Research to Vaccines that could Prevent Cancer.

A coming Economic Catastrophe fueled by Record Federal and Trade Deficits.

Hate Speech toward Gays, Lesbians and Transgendered Persons for crass political gain.

Suppression of the Right to Vote by supporters of the President and his party.

All of these examples of our nation’s moral and political degradation are bad enough. But now we have learned that our country’s political and military leaders are planning the First Strike Use of Nuclear Weapons against A Non-Nuclear State. Let me re-phrase that in the interest of clarity:

Bush is Planning to Bomb the Shit out of Iran with Nukes in Order to “Save the Iranian People.”

[ED. Note: No, I’m Not Fucking Kidding! That’s what the asshole believes. It’s right there in the New Yorker article by Seymour Hersh.]

So yes, friends, that truly is proof positive that we now reside in Crazy Town. What used to be a funny witticism by Jon Stewart is now our beleaguered reality. What used to be Margaret Atwood’s nightmare vision of an America controlled by fascist theocrats is coming closer everyday. We are ruled by a faction that believes in the Ultimate Battle of Good versus Evil: Armageddon. And frankly, they are the evil which they think they oppose.

In short, we are in the hands of a Messianic Madman. Of Greedy, Corrupt Corporations and Religious Zealots. Liars and Deceivers all. They are the rulers of our new home, a place that used to reside only in The Twilight Zone.

And the price we are about to pay if they are permitted to carry out their ignorant and reckless plan to bomb Iran is beyond what I can, or even wish to, imagine.