I was surfing a couple days ago and came across a t-shirt featuring an american flag and the phrase: "I am a citizen of the most powerful nation ever." Something about it struck me the wrong way. Perhaps the hubris of it. Or maybe it's the notion that power is a quality worth crowing about.

Power, particularly of the quality and quantity presently hoarded in the American government, is a dreadful burden. If it's wielded awkwardly or maliciously it tends to make targets of the powerful. Everybody's gunning for the tyrant. And, not surprisingly, the US government and, unfortunately, its people, have become international targets.