"There are people who hate freedom. This is a fight for freedom." George W. Bush, September 17, 2001

We should have known, way back then. In the same speech referenced above, the ex-Prez also said, "There's no rules." He was speaking of the methods used by al Qaeda, but it is apparent that he and his advisors applied that to their methods as well.

But that bit about the "rules" is just a symptom. Our ex-Prez and his pals all have a huge persecution complex, and in the end, that's what fucked us.

Folks wonder why talk radio nut jobs are so extreme and also so popular. It's pretty simple. Over and over, they tell their audiences that "right-thinking" people are victims. Victims of the "liberal media," victims of "left-wingers," victims of affirmative action and so forth.

Just about everyone of a certain age (say, thirty-five or forty) is at least a little disappointed in how their lives have turned out. A lot of us are fat and what attractiveness we had in our youths has fallen away, just like our hair. The wife (or husband) is alright, but certainly no dreamboat. The kids have their good days, but every once in a while you wonder if you'd go to jail for muzzling the rugrats.

And we don't even need to talk about careers, do we? We're not all making millions on the PGA Tour or racing around ovals with scads of horsepower throbbing between our legs. We're getting by. Which isn't exactly where we wanted to be.

So here comes a talk radio host to tell us that we are not responsible for our failed dreams, but someone else is. This is a most seductive argument.

Never mind that these same radio hosts accuse all sorts of other people of the victim mentality. You hear this screed directed mainly at folks who might qualify as minorities in any number of ways. And then, after excoriating the powerless, these hosts blame the powerless for wrecking the lives of the (relatively) powerful.

It also helps to have a grounding in the Christian church, as the early history of the church is one of persecution and flight. Indeed, the first great populizer of the faith persecuted Christians before (literally) seeing the light. Christians got whacked by gladiators and eaten by lions. Even in the liberal churches of my youth, we were taught that there is nothing nobler than to be killed for your faith.

If there is a faith that truly unites Americans, it is a faith in freedom. And so when the ex-Prez kept telling us that our enemies hate freedom, he was recalling that persecution complex. And this works just as well for Jews, of course. The Holocaust is nothing if not an evil monument to the persecution of a faith. The terrorists hate our secular (yet sacred) faith in freedom? Those bastards!

Somehow the most powerful nation on earth became a victim. Our ex-Vice Prez is still hurling this idea at us. He seems to be saying that we tortured our enemies because we were victimized, and we won't be victimized again. The implicit doctrine is that we were wronged, so we have the right to do whatever we want.

Many Christian preachers (evangelical and otherwise) routinely announce that Christians are being persecuted today and will always be persecuted. Our ex-Prez told us that we were being persecuted by terrorists because we know the truth of freedom. This idea resonates much deeper than many might imagine.

There's something comfortable in being a victim. It takes away the responsibility of thinking for yourself, of actually striking out on your own and working hard to make something of yourself. If, in the end, some (insert bogeyman here) is just going to take it all away from you, why try?

There's an easy answer. The freedoms we cherish in America give anyone who puts in the work a chance to make it. There are no guarantees, especially in a land that cherishes freedom as much as the United States. But more often than not, hard work will pay off. Which is something that still cannot be said in most countries around the world.

One thing I like about our current Prez is that he doesn't talk like America is a victim. By admitting our mistakes, acknowledges our power. By setting forth clear ideas and goals, he is creating a blueprint for the use of that power. You may not like his plans, but he stands for a strong America. It's somewhat shocking after listening to the language of victimology for eight years, but it's reassuring nonetheless.

Jon Worley doesn't like whiners.