A Strong, Civil, Healthy Society?

Checking in at Common Dreams this morning I see this headlined as the breaking story:
US Accused of Bid to Oust Chavez with Secret Funds.

"The goal of the programme is to strengthen democracy, which is consistent with President Bush's 'Freedom Agenda'," said a USAID official yesterday. "A strong civil society is a critical part of any healthy democracy, just as it is in the United States, England or anywhere else in the world."

President Bush's "Freedom Agenda." An agenda for a strong, civil society. As a critical part of a healthy democracy. Hmm. What the US might be trying to do to Chavez aside for a moment, what the hell is it trying to do to America?

For just one example, directly above this breaking story in smaller print is this article:
Number of Americans without Health Insurance Increases Again

46.6 million Americans lack health insurance. I and my family are four of them. Nearly 16 percent of America.

How can we have a strong, civil, healthy society when this administration and its cronies continue to focus all of its energy and our money in other countries trying to undermine and/or oust their presidents?

How can we have a strong, civil, healthy society with this?

"It's a bizarre situation where the pie is growing pretty dramatically but most people's slices are getting smaller," said Harry Holzer, a visiting fellow at the Urban Institute and former chief economist for the U.S. Department of Labor.

That wasn't true, however, for high-income workers. The 20 percent of U.S. households with the highest income accounted for more than half the total U.S. household income in 2005.

It's all just too absurd for words. But perhaps there's one that explains much of it.

Oil.