Our home and the entire neighborhood needed to be made safe again. We looked to our president to lead us. Democrats and Republicans, Independents and Greens, Christians and atheists, all showed they would support the president, if only he would truthfully and honestly lead us.

We started out on the right path.

We went into Afghanistan with a mission. We were going to find those behind the attacks and bring them to justice. Brave men went into the hostile territory and sought out the madmen that attacked us, our values and our way of life. Some of these advocates of terror were found and justice was swift. And, although the key figures remained alive and untouched, we were getting closer to them every day. Our soldiers courageously vowed to risk their lives to bring us justice and safety.

Instead of staying true to our goals and remaining committed to making our home and neighborhood safe again, we were led astray by the Bush administration.

While cooler heads moved closer to punishing those responsible for hurting our country, the Bush administration chose to squander lives and resources to get back at anyone they didn't like.

Instead of finding the murderers who attacked us, this administration thought it more important to get the guy who shook his fist at them when they drove by his house.

Their first claim was that he had a stockpile of bad things that he was going to use to attack our house again.

Trusting the word of the president, many Americans believed what he said. Democrats and Republicans stood behind him when he choose to ignore our neighbors' calls for reason. We were lied to and we found that out when we burst into the Iraqi home and found no weapons.

The administration declared the neighborhood a better place, a safer place - but the murderers of 9/11 are still roaming the streets.

While rational voices pointed back to our original path, Republicans and the Bush administration wasted time and resources seeking ways to dole out billions of dollars in corporate welfare checks. And even that wasn't enough. They wasted more resources and time pushing large government handouts to the elite few and millions in small handouts to the rest of us.

And still the murderers of 9/11 stalk us.

What has been accomplished in the last half a decade?

Instead of bringing sure and firm justice, we've chased around the world, diverting troops from their true mission. We've sent brave men and women into a conflict with poor equipment and no plan for their return. Instead of strategy, we've allowed this administration to ignore the need for setting a goal and left our troops to take fire and face death because of weak leadership.

Despite having the strongest military in the world and the most well-trained troops, this administration's lack of planning and disregard for voices other than their own has allowed our sons and daughters in uniform to be killed and maimed by insurgents armed with bombs made from nail polish remover and detonators made from garage door openers.

And still the murderers of 9/11 are roaming the streets.

The Bush regime has set us on a course of spying on each other and distrusting our neighbors. It has become more important to check library records, make lists of who calls who, and find out if Hester Prynne is still dancing in the woods than it is to return to tracking the killers who planned the attacks on our country, our home.

Republicans have doled out billions to cronies and pals and left real Americans to foot the bill. Oil companies are reaping record returns and the rest of us are looking at record gas prices at the pump.

Our ports are still wide open. Our government has been distracted with the need to keep nail clippers off of airplanes and has neglected to find a way to ensure that the billions of tons of cargo entering our country every year is safe.

We've managed to alienate our neighbors and create an environment where many in the world fear the instability caused by the United States more than they fear terrorists. Our unfettered spending of money we don't have has most of the world afraid of what might happen to the world economy and our unilateral uses of military force have many afraid of the terrorist breeding grounds we've created.

Too much time has been wasted with petting bickering over who should get the bigger room and the keys to the Lexus. Most of us don't care, we just want our home to be secure, our family safe, and our future secure. And since the Republican elitists with the reins of the House, Senate and the White House can't be bothered to balance the check book, secure our home and improve the neighborhood, it's time to remove them from office.

The right path is over there... Let's elect people who can see it, stick to it and lead us along it. We can't afford to wander aimless anymore. It's time to show real strength. It's time for real leaders.