The Republicans get power by appealing to special interest sub-groups...telling people what they want to hear on topics that do not necessarily relate to how certain serious issues are going to be approached.
(You didn't hear any campaign slogans saying "Your freedoms will be curtailed as we strive to reshape the world to our own strictly conservative ideals, and we will use ANY methods we choose to accomplish this!"

What you heard was "we will fight terrorism to protect you"..etc...

Any nation with an electoral process can temporarily be hijacked by amoral leaders with bad judgement who lie and/or dissemble (look it up) to get control, then rely on hiding the truth to KEEP power.

Once John Q. Public has voted FOR a party or person, he tends to want to believe he made a good choice, and resists believing that they are incompetent or immoral or downright evil. (Remember how Nixon was defended by many until it was totally clear what he & his minons had done!)....The problem is, what Nixon was did was mostly internal to the USA, while Bush is bombing and torturing 'guys we don't like much, anyway'.

It is too bad that articles have to be titled "America's Shame" to get attention, as there are many millions of Americans who are not fooled by the idiocy and immoral attitude of the current administration. Sadly, in a democracy, it only takes a few hundred disputed votes in one state to set in motion a series of events which make an entire country appear to be using muscle to impose its will on others by force.

It is embarrassing....as well as expensive and dangerous, for us to endure this, but we have 3 more years of it before we can correct it and for the Democrats to figure out how to elect a better bunch without relying on the same underhanded tactics as the Republicans in the process.

   I do not know how bad America's (it is common to use the term...no one thinks you mean Canada & Mexico)image will be by 2008, but I shudder to imagine! We do get a new President then, but I fear the same tactics will be employed with the message..."We know Bush embarrassed many of you, but TRUST us with another Republican who won't be 'quite' as stupid."

It is an interesting experience to be old enough to remember when the USA was mostly respected and admired and to see that way it has changed.