O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

America the Beautiful, verse 4
Katharine Lee Bates, 1913

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From the Washington Post, today:

A chance meeting with Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, became an argument about Cheney's ties to Halliburton Co., an international energy services corporation, and President Bush's judicial nominees. The exchange ended when Cheney offered some crass advice.

"Fuck yourself," said the man who is a heartbeat from the presidency.

As it happens, the exchange occurred on the same day the Senate passed legislation described as the "Defense of Decency Act" by 99 to 1.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6025-2004Jun25.html

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O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
-Francis Scott Key 1814

(The question mark is increasingly significant.)

Michael Moore's "Farenheit 9/11" opens here today.