Pakistan ia a nuclear power--and a U.S. ally. Now the Pakistani military is under orders to fire on American forces if we launch another unauthorized incursion across their border. Even our "friends," it seems, don't like us much anymore. Maybe we need to be more likeable.

We are witnessing the apocalyptic economic consequences of unfettered free-market capitalism. "Caveat emptor" does not adequately safeguard the citizenry against greedy, unscrupulous, and/or incompetent profiteers. Even staunch deregulators like George Bush and John McCain are reluctantly beginning to recognize that only government, imperfect as it may be, can delineate and enforce the implied social contract between buyers and sellers.