Paying taxes then vs. now

As I write this, I am planning to spend some time today on TurboTax, preparing and filing my 2008 income tax returns.

And I realize that it feels different this year.

I used to resent paying my taxes each year.

I resented the fact that my tax dollars would be used to fund George W. Bush's an unnecessary war of aggression in Iraq.

I resented the fact that my tax dollars would be used to pay the salaries of torturers.

I resented the fact that my tax dollars would be used to pay the war profiteers like Blackwater and KBR, who terrorize the Iraqi civilians and endanger our troops.

I resented the fact that my tax dollars would be used to keep the prisons running at Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, and an unknowable number of black sites, under conditions that violate the Geneva conventions and human rights law.

And I resented the fact that my tax dollars would be used to manipulate scientific data in favor of the corporations that pollute our air and rape our planet.

The Obama administration won't be perfect. No administration is. But I feel better this year, knowing that my tax dollars will be spent on constructive endeavors, not destructive ones.