This is what your government has done for you this week:

1. Arrested a FEMA employee and her husband because they dared to wear anti-Bush T-shirts outside of a "free speech zone."

2. Voted to keep the horrific Patriot Act exactly as it is, including the parts about the government's being allowed to know what you (yes, you ) are reading.

3. Refused to permit Senate discussion of homeland security appropriations, despite the fact that we are being told that terrorists are about to attack us. (In all fairness, there was a Republican offer to deal with the matter on Friday, as long as all busines was completed by Monday--both are Senate travel days.)

4. Decided to continue to permit prosecution of people who use marijuana for medical purposes.

5. Dismissed one of the most important lawsuits of our times--translator and whistleblower Sibel Edmunds'September 11 suit to allow her to disclose what she knows about intelligence failures. The information Edmunds has is enough to frighten the White House into invoking the rarely used state secrets privilege.

Feeling better now?