My brief thought on Empire (originally posted on the BBC's election blog)

Does anyone believe that the US has any choice BUT to behave like an empire at this point in history? Our entire way of life is dependent on cheap oil from the Middle East. We need strong, authoritarian regimes ruling Middle Eastern countries in order to guarantee this.

Bush's policy of spreading democracy sounds great, but no one is discussing what we're supposed to do during the transition phase. What's supposed to happen after the outbreak of true democracy in a region that hates our guts before freedom and democracy get the region to stop hating our guts? We've already seen the answer in the Palestinian Territories: Hamas. So much for the march of freedom. If these people ever really get free, we're doomed.

Meanwhile, back in America, we get dumber and fatter by the day. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and more people watch SportsCenter than the nightly news. Power is increasingly concentrated in the executive branch of government. Here we sit, citizens of the next Roman Empire, and watch the barbarians gathering somewhere beyond the gates.