Here we are in America, home of the free, land of the brave; or so we keep on telling ourselves. We have inalienable rights: the right to speak our mind without fear, the right to read what we please, write what we want, worship as we choose, or not, to equality in the eyes of the laws passed by people we elect for the purpose, and to assemble peaceably.

I've always thought that the opening line in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather was one of the most powerful moments in cinema: "I love America". Because it rang so true; we all love this country to a greater or lesser extent and in our own unique ways, not just because this is our home, but because of the rights we have here. They are what make America special; a republic, if we can keep it.

That high ideal is now crashing against the reality of the brutal crackdown by our billionaire mayor and his ilk on the Occupy Wall Street protests, here and around the nation. Blood has been spilt.

How bad is it? Bad enough that the Egyptian military junta is pointing at our government as an excuse for its own, and far bloodier, crackdown on protesters in that country.

If that isn't cause for shame, let alone resignations, recalls or impeachments, then there is indeed something very wrong with this country.