Alexandra, of All Things Beautiful, has asked the blogosphere for a year end list of the 'The Ten Worst Americans'.

She says:

It is very interesting how a few names are emerging as a constant. On everyone's lips is Benedict Arnorld, very closely followed by Jimmy Carter, Joseph McArthy, Richard Nixon, George Soros, Aaron Burr, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (no particular order). Jane Fonda has appeared on quite a few lists, and so has John Kerry, Lyndon Johnson and Alger Hiss.

When she says 'worst' Americans, I'm not really sure if she means plainly evil Americans or Americans who have caused the most misery through incompetence and stupidity.

If we're talking about incompetence and stupidity, Jimmy Carter and Zbigniew Brzezinski would have to top the list. They came up with the brilliant idea of supporting Islamists as a way of fighting the commies. Because of their policy of tolerance of Islamist governments, a militarily weak fascist movement has been allowed to reach Hitlerian proportions.

Jerry Falwell's moral majority and the efforts of right wing christians to dissolve the boundaries between church and state would also top the list. Since pacifism is a faith-based ideology, the efforts of pacifists like Jesse Jackson can be seen in the same light. Both efforts have caused tremendous damage.

Rachel Carson and environmentalist fearmongering about DDT has likely caused the deaths of millions in Africa due to preventable, vector-borne disease. Timothy Leary would also have to top a bumbling idiots list.

But these people are more of an example of how hell is paved with good intentions. They didn't mean to cause massive destruction. They meant well.

If we're talking about geniunely evil Americans whose deliberate intent was/is to cause great damage, the list is pretty short. There are:

1. The Assassins - John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, James Earl Ray, etc.

2. The Traitor/Spies - The Rosenbergs, Benedict Arnold, Lynne Stewart, etc.

3. Racist/Supremacists - David Duke, Louis Farrakhan

4. Opponents of Liberal Democracy - Noam Chomsky, Ramsey Clark, Walter Duranty, David Duke/Louis Farrakhan (again)

5. Cultists - Jim Jones, Charles Manson

Unlike Rachel Carson, the founder of the current "Animal Rights movement", Peter Singer, with his open hatred of humanity, his advocacy of man/animal sexual relations and his "utilitarian" utopian ideals, which advocate the murder of infants, would also to top the list of the most evil Americans; but we can't take the blame for this boil on the ass of humanity because he's Australian.