Meanwhile there are all the other things we should be talking about...

Note: While the prime topics of the past few weeks has been about SSA private accounts, gay marriage, Brad & Jen, etc. the much more vital issues have disappeared from the news and collective consciousness.

Where is the discussion of the "crisis" in Medicare? The current and long-term issues of "unlawful combattant" detentions, state legislation initiatives on assisted suicide and medicinal marijuana, civil servant patronage, restrictions on lobbists, medical malpractice and health-care error rates, energy usage with negative incentive plans, federal budget deficit reduction measures, food and drug safety, inter-galactic threats, or e-waste/sanitation/trash processing, all of which are much more immediate problems than a manufactured "crisis" in Social Security.

The Army Specialist recently convicted of prisoner abuse has one year from commission of his dastardly deeds to coming to trial. What about Lay, Kozlowski, Rigga, Ebbers, and the myriad of other business officers implicated in criminal wrongdoing? When is the last time you saw something about them? Are they in jail, or heading there?

We, the collective citizenry of this great country, are permitting the Bush Administration to solely define what is important. As recent events in SE Asia, in Russia, and in the Middle East prove, we had better stop being so focused on pre-defined issues that have distinctly political solutions sets, and get to work with serious effort on tackling impending problems that have been allowed to percolate below the surface of our awareness.

Do we need a tsunami to indicate there is a problem with high concentrations of people living on coastal plains? Does Freddy Mac or Fannie Mae have to go into virtual bankruptcy before they are dealt with in a macro-economically defensible manner? Are we working on arrangements and adaptations that will become necessary due to the rapidly changing climatic conditions?

Sad to say, it doesn't appear so. The current crop of bozos promote attention to semi-meaningless side issues like "gay marriage" while ignoring issues that really hold the potential to affect every living entity on the planet.