I persist in doubting the obvious

The latest madness: The Pentagon (Wolfowitz) has determined to exclude from bidding on Iraq reconstruction contracts any companies from nations that didn't support our invasion, most notably, by name, France, Germany and Russia. Part of the payback that Colin Powell warned them about.
I am amazed, again, again, at the audacity--the unvarnished, arrogant exercise of power--of this Administration.
I am amazed even more that I am amazed. I feel like the Jewish family in prewar Germany who kept saying, "It'll blow over," "They don't really mean it," and "They wouldn't dare." Well, next time I doubt, even for an instant, the utter evil of these madmen, please, somebody, hit me over the head with something--preferably soft, however, like a paperbackcopy of Mein Kampf.

An afterthought: Shouldn't the Iraqis have something to say about this?