illustration by amy ruppel

The Nose felt no remorse.

Six months after Twin Towers became Ground Zero, much of the Nose's life has returned to normal. He is making his way back to PDX airport. Irony has returned to his repartee. He is watching less CNN and more Elimidate. But one thing hasn't changed--he is a flag-waving booster of the military's campaign to pound the lairs that shelter those responsible for 9-11.

And since 9-11, the Nose's support for our troops paralleled his unspoken approval of our commander in chief. Sure, the Nose didn't vote for him. But the Bushman was taking the right steps in the right direction on the most important matter before us. Besides, his muscular rhetoric gave voice to all the feelings the Nose had but was too embarrassed to express.

Next Monday marks the half-year anniversary of 9-11. Six months of immersion into special ops, the founding principles of the Taliban and the unique properties of thermobaric bombs. Six months of viewing the president as commander in chief--and secretly liking the view.

In the past few weeks, though, something has happened. The Nose's conviction about what to do in Afghanistan has not wavered. But his feelings about Dubya certainly have.

Call the Nose traitorous. Call him Unamerican.

It's not clear what pushed the Nose over the edge. Perhaps it was the news last week that our president has decided to shift the bulk of the costs of this country's Superfund waste cleanup program from industry to taxpayers. Maybe it's the coziness of Bush staffers to Enron. Maybe it's that the reality of John Ashcroft as our attorney general has finally sunk in, soaring eagles and all. Perhaps it is Bush's penchant for secrecy, whether it be withholding the names of those who met with VP Cheney to form energy policy, the administration's blocking of the release of thousands of pages of records from the Reagan years, or the establishment of a shadow government without informing even the leaders of Congress.

Or maybe it's the sneaking realization that the Bush tax cut really is just a way to make the rich richer.

Whatever the cause, the Nose now finds himself rarely in the Bush camp when it comes to domestic matters. He can't agree with many of Bush's views on taxes, the environment, judicial nominations or the crony capitalism with which the president is so comfortable.

Does that make the Nose a Judas? Does patriotism allow dissent at a time of crisis? Is the Nose nothing more than a crank who will always find something he doesn't like?

Bombs away.