And can anything be done to stop this madness?

In addition to writing to members of Congress and calling into to talk-shows, how about doing what the illegal immigrants did in L.A., and later in New York, or what the French students and labor unions have been doing in France?

I know that there were massive protests in the U.S. on the eve of the Iraq war and that they did diddly-squat.  But this was because the mainstream media were too spineless to cover them, and were supporting the general pro-war national groupthink that was going on.  Since then, many, many Americans have wisened up, and have turned against this administration, and I suspect (though I may be wrong) that there is so much pent up anger that a trigger issue -- such as a looming military confrontation against Iran, the recent revelation by Scooter Libby about Bush's selective disclosure of classified information, more revelations about the NSA surveillance program, etc. -- might cause a huge range of upset people to come out into the streets, protest PEACEFULLY, about a cascade of issues, and this time have a REAL impact on national policy.  

Why?  Because I think the mainstream media has sobred up since 2003, will cover these protests, and will force Congress -- and perhaps even Bush directly -- to take into consideration the protesters' gripes.  Of course, if this were to really work, it should not just happen in the usual liberal bastions such as New York, Los Angeles, Boston, etc., but in relatively conservative, "heartland" locations as well.  Otherwise, the demonstrations could easily be written off my the conservative media -- and conservative voters -- as a phenomenon isolated to extreme liberal enclaves.

Ah forget about it.  This is all just wishful thinking.

Point n'est besoin d'espérer pour entreprendre, ni de réussir pour persévérer. - Charles le Téméraire