The Importance of Self-Analysis

That being said, I was hoping to write a little about the vital act of looking at yourself, or the actions of people you identiy as "being like you".
Now I know that it's not all the popular right now, especially with Karl Rove, or George Bush (who seem to imply that self-analysis is itself a kind of weakness), but I think that it may be one of the most vital tools available to a human.
Where would we be if, when we did something bad, or even found out we were doing something hurtful to someone on accident, we didn't say to our selves " Gee. I would hate to be the person I'm hitting with this hammer! Maybe I should stop?" or even "You know, by flinging feces out my window, I sure am making the neighborhood stink!".
All sane humans know how to modify their behavior. The key to that modification is realizing the results of an un-wanted behavior. Conversely, the only way not to change is to never see what your doing wrong. Just rage and scream at the results of a behavior you didn't even know you had.
What they imply, by questioning those who would examine our own actions as the "Hate America First" crowd, is that:

1) We can do no wrong. Just by being who we are, we are perfect. To question that perfection is to question America, and let Osama and Saddam come traipsing into your living room and eat your Cheetos and turn off the best parts of the ":O'Reilly Factor".

2) That it's okay and logical to get so angry that everything is broken, that you run around and smash everything even more, making you more angry, making you smash more, making you...

If only that magical time of self-reflection had come a bit sooner for George and Karl (Steven Backus has an idea). A little of the Golden Rule would have gone a long, long way.