[Mb-civic] Article from Tom Dispatch

[Cheeseburger]

Re:  Article from Tom Dispatch


Tom Dispatch wrote:

"It's worth remembering that it's not, as they say, the end of the world."


=======


I'll have to disagree with that futile shrug of the shoulders heading into 
the usual kneejerk optimistic reaction many of us "opposed to 4 more years" 
might be sitting in America right now having as well.

For all general purposes, yes, it is "the end of the world".

At least as we have known it.

Unless, of course, like you mentioned in your article, something happens 
with Bush like that which happened to Nixon in his 2nd term.

One can only pray and feverishly count our green stamps.

On this one, I'll simply stick with The Chinese Government's statement a 
few days before this election "We consider 'The Bush Doctrine' to be 
nothing less than Global Military Dictatorship".

Unquote.

Someone like China, as ruthless as their "New Non-Communist" government 
continues to be, who America owes the majority of its national debt to, and 
who is sitting over there on a small arsenal of Nuclear weapons etched with 
Chinese idiograms, aren't really *that* stupid, nor that *afraid* of many 
people on this planet, but found it within themselves, even though 
"business hasn't been that bad under Bush", to come out a couple of days 
before this election and pronounce "The Bush Doctrine" as nothing short of 
"Global Military Dictatorship".

I'm with them, lol.  The hammer on the head of the nail.

And in the face of that basic reality, the world is heading for the crapper 
even worse than it has been in "the last 4 years".

Various situations "Abroad" are certainly not going to ever improve, but 
only worsen, as so many people already know just from watching the results 
of this Administration's "Foreign Policy" so far.  What a disaster.

W & Gang, I just have a feeling, lol, aren't going to "turn over a new 
leaf" and suddenly become drastically "middle road diplomats".

Sad but true.  That means "people like al-Qaeda" will only grow in numbers 
and ingenuity and "prestige" among their "fellow admirers", all around the 
planet.  That dictates chaos in its purest form, perpetually.  And remains 
the perfect rationalization to "attack anything that moves, no reason 
necessary, kill everything that gets in our way, brand as Traitor anyone 
who disagrees", both Abroad and Domestically.

So much for "Abroad", and as has already been noted, and continues to be 
printed, any "allies" we once claimed on this planet, very likely will 
begin to become far and inbetween, simply for their own protection.

That's a real zonker, but then we turn to "The Domestic Situation".

This is gonna be a real bummer, lol.

If anyone paints you a pretty picture of it, tries to show you the 
"optimistic points" of the "possible future" in the face of "current 
events", walk away as quickly as you can, they're either fools, 
brainwashed, or liars.

This is going to be a nightmare.  Another 4 year extension of "domestic 
nurturing" by a basically Fascist Regime.

Democracy is dead.

It may be shining in your heart, and millions of others right now, but it's 
certainly not in your hands, where it belongs.

Nor does it look like it's' coming back there anytime soon, either in the 
next 4 years or The Future.

And for the next 4 years these people currently running this government are 
certainly going to do their best to chop it up in little pieces, bury it in 
a landfill or dump it in the ocean somewhere, and defame, denigrate, and 
label as, again, "Traitor", anyone who shall dare disagree with either 
their actions or their motives, the latter which they obviously no longer 
feel a need to produce to anyone as a rationalization.

The cover-ups, the classifying of documents, the continuing erosion of 
personal freedoms, rights, etc, and etc etc etc, will only escalate as it 
picks up speed.  The neat new technological government domestic spy toys 
are also really gonna be a great seller this Christmas.

And there is also a vast "sideband" of citizens who, sure, definitely, 
would "rather be with them than branded as not being with them", to fill in 
any gaps that might occur here and there.

As has already been mentioned, the appointments of any judiciary people, 
will remain that, their people in place in the courts.

So, lemme look at this all a second, lol, the "Abroad" situation is fixing 
to turn from Dante's Inferno to something indescribably undelicious.  The 
"Domestic" situation is fixing to change from Hell With Tomato Lettuce And 
Bacon On Rye Bread to Just Plain Hell On Plain Toast.  Daschle is 
gone.  Delay is in Heaven.  The Republicans control the White House, the 
Pentagon, the CIA, the Senate, the House, the Supreme Court, the FBI, the 
Justice Department, the You F***ging Name It.

That's quite an extent of control, and another 4 years to make it really Shine.

These current Wackos have managed to turn back Time itself to how it was 
before whenever all those people in 1776 decided to get together and Free 
Themselves from whatever kind of Oppression they envisioned themselves 
subjected to.

If someone is saying "it's not the end of the world", in one sense, you 
might be right, the world might not immediately come crashing to a 
screeching halt.

On the other hand, however, our world has been thrust back into historical 
time itself, and the ring of "1776" will be just some useless little toy 
babies play with in their cribs in the future, as we have returned what was 
left of Democracy back into the hands of the same kind of people we created 
our Constitution to begin with to get away from in the first place.

If Bush stays in office the complete 4 years, everyone who is about 14 
years old now will be able to vote in the next election in 2008.

The "Christian Coalition", etc etc etc, among others, will spend the next 4 
years training them what to believe, what to think, how to act, who to 
hate, and definitely who are the only worthwhile people to Vote for.

And now to my stupid story:

The night before election day, I was working on my vehicle, and one of the 
neighbors walked over and helped me hold the flashlight while I fixed the 
problem.

He asked me was I going to vote.  I replied something like "Of course, but 
not for that c*cks*cker Bush".  He replied, "But Bush is a Man Of God, how 
can you talk about him like that...????".

And I just looked at him.  The epitomy of your everyday normal next door 
neighbor completely uninformed American Citizen.  So I started to ask him 
questions.  And a midnight conversation with both religion and politics 
mixed in emerged for half an hour.

He instructed me in the True Holiness of Bush.  How he was a Man Of 
God.  Appointed by God himself to lead America in these trying times.  How 
he has Been Chosen.  He showed me how all Gay People were evil, because the 
Bible teaches that they should be put to death, and that it is an 
abomination to the sanctity of Marriage.  And that Marriage is a holy bond 
between a Man and a Woman only.  He went on to Stem Cell Research and 
explained why it was a sin against God because All Life is held sacred by 
God and Jesus.  Of course, the same Christian Argument holds true for 
Abortion, which he set me straight on as well.  He rattled off a few more 
Subjects, and then proceeded to explain to me how The Democrats, Kerry Etc, 
were not of God, they wanted to take "In God We Trust" off of everything 
everywhere that it might be on, they were for Abortion, they liked Gay 
People and condoned Gay Marriage, they were For Stem Cell Research, and 
lastly not blessed and appointed by God Himself as Bush was but a blatant 
Tool Of Sat*n, and, of course, he told me to disgustingly look at the 
ultimate sacrilege that had taken place in the highest echelons of our land 
of Freedom by The Democrats when Clinton pulled out his dick in The White 
House and got a blowjob.

He rattled on for quite some time, and then I finally asked him "Where did 
you get all this from...?"  He replied, "Oh, I went to Church on Sunday, 
and that was The Sermon".

I have flown a giant American Flag from my pickup since my father died 
right before 911 for both him and the country, the next day I tore it down 
and now fly an enormous rectangular piece of black cloth, brilliantly 
flapping in the wind as black as midnight as I tool down the highways of 
America at 70 mph.

Out of sheer respect for America and Democracy, I will never fly an 
American Flag again.

Democracy is dead.  It *is* the "end of the world" as you have known it.

When you get a chance, do your best, prove me wrong.

I triple dog dare you.  Anyone.

Until then, you'll always know how to identify me on the highways of the USA.

If you see some scraggly-bearded old guy laugh at you as we zip by and 
shoot the finger and moon you, don't be concerned, that's just Uncle Sam, 
he's along for the ride.

Yell "Peace" at him, and he'll bean you with a beer can.

All those hundreds of years for nothing.

All that sacrifice.  All that suffering.  All those deaths.

Swept into the ashcan by these guys as if it was just more rubble 
cluttering the floor.

Amazing.

I went over to someone's house briefly election night, and they basically 
predicted the outcome before the polls even closed.  They said something 
like "look for a repeat of 2000".  I asked them what they meant.  They 
replied "They're going to fix it again".  I said "Well, that's almost 
impossible, but not completely, what makes you think that..?".  They 
replied "They've had 4 years to plan it and make it happen anywhere but 
Florida...".  I responded "Yeah, that may be true, but that would take an 
enormous effort on their part and a nationwide concerted effort...".  They 
answered "And..?  So..?  What's your point...?".

I'll have to agree.

The day of the election, I stopped into a little convenience store gas 
station here.  I asked the girl "Are you going to vote..?"  She responded 
"I went to vote, they wouldn't let me vote."  Why, I asked.  She said "I 
don't know.  I registered last year.  They should have let me.  But they 
wouldn't, so I just came to work.  They also wouldn't let my mother vote, 
and we both registered at the same time.  She voted also in all the 
elections last year with no problem whatsoever...".

After listening to her words, and thinking about all the things I had read 
from TruthOut, AlterNet, so many other publications etc, about Diebold, 
voter intimidation, poll challengers, vote fraud, etc etc etc, I got in my 
vehicle and went to vote anyway, already knowing the outcome.

Oh well, I'm through, my little inconsequential story is over.

Just remember, however, as you're walking down the streets of America, that 
about 57? Million of your Fellow Americans think you are not only Fools, 
Idiots, and God's Enemy, but a Traitor as well, for even repeating Factual 
Information to them.

As with Bush, it means absolutely nothing to them whatsoever.

Oh well, lol, be careful who you sneeze at, it's a new world order.

And they have God on their side and a Prophet in The White House.

The Fact that they have just finished selling out their childrens' 
childrens' chidrens' even opaque glimmer of a bright future for the rest of 
eternity to the illustrious organization which Eisenhower coined as "The 
Military Industrial Complex" (a nice new mixture of basically The Mafia, 
the Vatican, Jerry Fallwell, Halliburton Etc, and Nazi Germany) for a 
handful of magic beans which won't grow into nothing but sh*t will always 
remain secondary to the fact that God has finally come to America and his 
Chosen One is at last at the head of it taking care of everything for them.

I'll have to agree, Harold, some Americans are by far THE dumbest people on 
the entire planet.

I foresee no change within the next 1,000 years.



Cheeseburger

- Democracy:  DOA.