What a poignant and gut-wrenching post. I agree. I'm ashamed to be American. The shame is mixed with a feeling of helplessness - what can I do? I want the bullying to stop.

School bullies. I was taunted on the school bus for nearly every day the first few years of high school. Nothing like what happened to your brother, but obviously emotionally damaging as I still remember it bitterly.

I sent an anoymous letter to one of the bullies who had married and had children of her own. I had clipped out articles about how to stop your children from being bullies. I sent the clippings and a note that said, "You were a bully in school. Don't let YOUR children be bullies."

Preach it, Sister Toni.

So brilliantly put. I too am ashamed of our country. And mostly embarrassed that we are being led by a bully named George W. Bush.

I watched the Nick Berg video. I recommend you do the same after reading this post. You can survive the bullies of this world. You can't survive the butchers.

I don't need to see the video to know there are butchers in the world. There have always been butchers in the world. It doesn't mean we should join their ranks. You can't take the high road and the low road at the same time.

That's my point... we haven't joined their ranks. Not even close. Not as a people and not as a nation.

Corey, do you think that the lynching mobs so popular in the good ol' US of A are somehow different from the recent murder of Nick Berg?

I am mindful of the fact that there are millions of decent, good hearted Americans (present company included!) but every culture and society has its bad apples. We are currently seeing the worst of Islam. Let us also remember that there are millions of decent, good hearted Muslims around the world who are as outraged at the violent acts committed by _all sides_ in recent years.

My advice to the American administration is to stop the arrogance and the bullying and start listening to the rest of the world.