The song — an updated version of one written by Pete Seeger in 1965 — wasn't heard on your favorite pop or oldies station, but on a folk music program. The song was written in response to the escalating Vietnam War; the new lyrics in response to the debacle in Iraq. Bring 'em home.

I was opposed to the Iraq invasion from the time it first developed as a sick idea in the twisted minds of BCR — Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld. But once we invaded and conquered, a stabilizing, short-lived occupation force seemed best. Not any more. Bring 'em home.

Three years ago, stunned by the apparent Bush victory in the presidential election, I warned that electing such a candidate was lowering the bar of the presidency. I mistakenly criticized voters for the grave lapse in judgment, when it turned out that they, at least, had defeated Bush by half a million votes.

It was the Supreme Court that made the mistake.

After 9/11, any president would have gone after al-Qaida in Afghanistan. Only BCR would — and did — invade Iraq. With the imperialists the president brought into his administration, we were going to go after somebody, somehow.

A manifesto produced in 2000 by the Project for the New American Century, founded in 1997 by Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle, et al., made that clear. It called for a global American empire. Throw Bush into the equation, and up pops Iraq as the first target in his axis of evil.

The presidency is a powerful institution, and Americans need to have a powerful leader. That need, unfortunately, translates into a blind trust. BCR violated that trust with lies to justify the invasion of Iraq. Send 'em home.

Imagine, BCR had half the country thinking Iraq was involved in 9/11 and most of the other half feeling threatened by Saddam's weapons of mass destruction. And that brainwashing included Congress, which gave BCR the green light. Send 'em home.

And now Congress has been suckered again, granting final approval just this week for $65 billion for further military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Senators were so embarrassed they didn't even do a roll-call tally. That money is on top of the $62 billion authorized in April for the invasion and occupation.

But time and money are not making Iraq more secure for our troops. The Iraqi resistance fighters also have the time and money. Too many of our soldiers are dying without a good cause. Bring 'em home.

Gee whiz. $150 billion. Isn't it disturbing that the greatest nation in the world can come up with that kind of dough for military aggression but can't seem to make sure its own people aren't going to bed hungry?

A recent government study showed that about 12 million families last year worried that they did not have enough money for food. Nearly 3.8 million families were hungry last year to the point that someone in the household was forced to fast because the family could not afford to feed everybody.

That is 8.6 percent more families than in 2001, and a 13 percent increase from 2000.

Three years, eh. Guess who's been president for three years? Sounds like he's put world domination a lot higher on the priority list than helping his own people with basic needs. Send 'im home.

When, after the 2000 election, I jokingly suggested a good headline would be "Nation Bush-whacked," I never "nightmared" (one of Bush's legacies may be that the word nightmare also becomes a verb) that circumstances would get so bad that the word would actually end up the title of a book. But columnist and author Molly Ivins has done just that with "Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush's America."

Ivins documents the tragedy not just of the president's foreign aggression, but also how tax cuts, economic and environmental policy, corporate criminals and the assault on civil liberties are hurting the average citizen.

And people are starting to see what's going on for themselves, as they realize they can't trust what their leaders in Washington are saying. A poll released this week indicated that 40 percent of voters plan to vote against Bush next year.

People are seeing that all his harping about a robust economy has translated into the loss of 2.6 million jobs since he took office — the worst job-growth record of any president since the Depression. Send 'im home.

Meanwhile, with the killing and wounding of American soldiers in Iraq — 379 dead and 2,155 hurt at last count — mounting each day, you have to wonder how long their families and others will put up with it.

Sneaking the maimed and wounded back into the U.S. at night won't cover up our misguided mission forever. Bring 'em home.

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Cary Brunswick is managing editor of The Daily Star. He can be reached at (607) 432-1000, ext. 217, or cary@thedailystar.com.