Sacrifices must be made

Thanks to Crooks and Liars for posting part of a routine by Bill Maher the other night: it has been commonly noted that el Presidente did not ask the general population to make any sacrifices on behalf of his adventure in Iraq and of Halliburton's enterprises. But Maher argues Americans have indeed made sacrifices:

. . . When it comes to sacrifice, don't kid yourself–you *have* given up a lot! You've given up faith in your government's honesty, the good will of people overseas, and 6/10 of the Bill of Rights. Here's what you've sacrificed: search and seizure, warrents, self incrimination, trial by jury, cruel and unusual punishment. Here's what you have left: handguns, religion, and they can't make you quarter a British soldier. If Prince Harry invades the inland empire, he has to bring a tent.

[snip] . . . Look, George Bush has never been too bright about understanding "furriners", but he does know Americans. He asked *this* generation to sacrifice the things he knew we would not miss–our privacy and our morality. He let us keep the money. But he made a cynical bet, that we wouldn't much care if we became a Big Brother country that has now tortured a lot of random people.

The best line?

I mail myself a copy of the Consitution every morning, just on the hope they'll open it and see what it says!

Clever, but sad.