"'Kill every male child from among the enemy, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the girls that have not known a man by lying with him, keep them alive for yourselves.'" So they went back and did as Moses and God instructed, killing everyone except for the virgins."

— God (Book of Numbers 31, the Bible)

The vanishing of President George W. Bush this coming January 20th is so beautiful on so many levels, I hardly know where to begin.

But what I'll miss least once he's gone is the whole "God talks to me" politics that spread like a theo-maniacal plague throughout the Bush Administration in the last eight years.

Foreign and domestic policies were filtered through a religious (and secretive) crucible that has not been seen in government since the witch hunts of Salem.

Do you remember former Attorney General John Ashcroft covering all the bare breasted statues in the Justice Department because he thought they were immodest and sinful? Wasn't it goofy (and just a little humiliating) to live in a country that would waste time and money doing stupid stuff like that?

But aside from the silliness that went with the Bush-Biblical years there were also the atrocities. The most barbaric and ludicrous policies were implemented under the banner of "God's people versus the bad people" and the result was... well the result is the world you see around you today.

A horrible example is the the present crisis in Gaza. The United States is sitting back and sticking to its Israel-can-do-no-wrong policy while they annihilate innocent civilians in one of the most densely populated and poorest sectors of the world.

Gaza's main hospital, already full of Palestinians wounded in the week-long Israeli air assault, reached critical mass on Sunday, according to a Norwegian doctor volunteering at Shifa Hospital. "We've had a steady stream of patients every day, but the last 24 hours has brought about triple the number of cases," Dr. Erik Fosse, a western volunteer, told American news reporters. "So this day has been extremely busy." Fosse said he estimated that about 30 percent of the casualties at Shifa Hospital on Sunday were children, both among the dead and the wounded. Your American tax dollars at work.

And what was George Bush's response to the bloodshed? In his weekly radio rant he said Hamas, not Israel, was responsible for the latest violence and rejected any talk of any cease-fire. There was no mention of and no remorse for the dead women and children. I would like to interject something here for your consideration: The United States has poured more than $84,854,827,000.00 into the State of Israel, according the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. That's a total American taxpayer cost of $23,000 per Israeli citizen. You would think with that type of investment, the "Holy Land" would resemble something a little more holy, or at least a little more friendly. Instead, our dollars have produced blood all over the streets. I hope President-elect Barack Obama relies less on religious zeal and more on enlightened reason when dealing with "our closest ally."

Israel has seen to it that no foreign news agencies get into Gaza to actually see what's happening. Any uncensored footage from Palestine has been completely blacked out in the U.S.

Until now.

This past Saturday, a Palestinian with a camera witnessed a devastating bombing. His video shows the brutal, bloody results of an air strike on what appears to be a civilian area.

In the footage, scores of bodies — men, women and children —lay strewn about a Gaza market as abject chaos spirals around them. Some struggle to their feet, covered in concrete powder and blood, as others assess their injuries or join the effort to carry away wounded. It seems the God of Jacob is at it again. Only, this time, it's not the Midianites, it's Palestinian civilians in Gaza — more than 500 of them as of Sunday evening — dead.

And this is ultimately because George Bush, and those who share his beliefs, actually think that God said one group of people are racially entitled to a certain slice of real estate along the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Is it just me or has this whole God bit gotten really out of control and far too bloody?

I hope America's future president includes the following philosophy in his foreign policy: Look people, you can privately believe whatever you want... but you're not aloud to murder other people's children.

Contact Michael Quay at pmquay1@yahoo.com.