As we reach the fifth anniversary of the U.S. military invasion of Iraq, we mourn the deaths of 4,000 of our brave military and the loss of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of Iraqi citizens. For those of us who agree with the prevailing opinion of independent military and foreign-policy experts that the war should not have happened, cannot be won, and is in fact making us less secure around the world, the continuation of the war is both heartbreaking and inexplicable.

The reason for Peter Pitts' overheated rhetoric in a recent River Cities' Reader guest commentary ("We're Taking Your Medicine, Literally," Issue 674, March 5-11, 2008) would have been a lot clearer if he had disclosed his multiple entanglements with the brand-name pharmaceutical industry.

The folks at the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services have devised a new citizenship test for those few illegal immigrants who, for some unknown reason, are actually trying to become lawful citizens. The new questions, the bureau claims, are calculated to better measure how well newbies understand what it means to be an American rather than how well they can memorize answers.

"Our country is insolvent, and bankruptcy will come."

- U.S. Representative Ron Paul

I've never seen our country in worse shape - culturally, constitutionally, or financially. Marriages and families are falling apart, our liberties are being eroded, and the U.S. economy is in serious trouble. We are, as author Robert B. Reich noted in a recent New York Times editorial, "totally spent." All we're managing to do now is keep our creditors at bay.