In the hour of the wolf, we progressive activists are sometimes visited by nightmarish political scenarios. No doubt, dear reader, you have your own scary visitations. Here are ten of mine:
1. MOVING CLOSER TO IRAN WAR
That some major false-flag terrorist attack, perhaps arranged by our own black-op agencies, will be unloosed in an American city -- maybe a dirty nuke, or some virulent toxin, or a bomb -- and the planted "evidence" will seem to lead back to Iran. CheneyBush, perhaps in coordination with Israel, will finally get their wished-for aerial assault on that country.
An attack on Iran could happen very soon. The buildup of U.S. forces in the region has proceeced apace in the past few months; naval preparations ( http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070327/62697703.html ), according to Russian intelligence, are much the same as just prior to CheneyBush's "shock&awe" attack on Iraq five years ago. The Saudis seem to be preparing for possible nuclear fallout from an attack on Iran's reactors. ( http://www.chris-floyd.com/content/view/1463/135 ) Not a good sign.
The result of a U.S. attack on Iran would be a catastrophic rise in violence in the Greater Middle East, more hatred of America around the world, the dollar heading into the toilet, various holders of billions of U.S. notes calling them in, a possible anti-U.S. economic embargo of essential resources, the economy in ruins, America a pariah in international affairs.
2. ABOVE & BEYOND THE LAW
That there won't be an inauguration of a new president because Bush, following some major incident (perhaps the false-flag operation noted above or something similar), will declare martial law and rule by decree. Which, not incidentally, is pretty close to what he's doing right now with his signing statements and executive orders and his refusal to obey decisions of the courts and Congress' subpoenas requiring testimony and documents.
Under the cockamamie "unitary executive" theory, and hiding behind his supposed wartime powers that assert that Bush can do anything he wishes as long as he says it's done as "commander-in-chief" during "wartime," Bush has effectively put himself above and beyond the law. The only hope for saving what remains of our democratic institutions lies in impeachment, a rebellion in Congress and among the populace, a united Supreme Court ruling against him, a refusal by the military to fire on protesting civilians, or a sweeping, massive Democratic victory in November. Probably most or all of these at the same time will be required.
If none of these stop-gaps work during CheneyBush's residency in the White House, it could be incarceration in FEMA camps for all manner of protesters and resisters.
3. A THIRD TERM FOR BUSH
That Hillary Clinton's destructive campaign (praising McCain as fit to be "commander-in-chief" while constantly demeaning Obama as unfit to rule and unable to win the general election) will effectively result in Bush being elected to a third term. That is, John McCain would win.
McCain would be aided in this by Ralph Nader, who as a "spoiler" once again would be financially supported by the Republicans, as happened in 2000 and 2004.
4. PILFERING AT THE POLLS
That the November 2008 election, assuming we actually have one, will be stolen yet again by the GOP in enough key states to guarantee a Republican presidential victory through a combination of manipulated vote totals by the private, GOP-leaning companies that tabulate the ballots, and by the host of dirty tricks that by now the Rove-ian forces have down to a T, such as:
Culling the voting rolls of hundreds of thousands of likely Democratic voters in minority precincts; robo-calling registered Dem voters again and again and again, supposedly by Dem candidates, to irritate those called into not voting for that candidate; telling poor voters that if they have any unpaid traffic tickets, they are liable for arrest at their voting precinct; distributing leaflets in minority communities that voting this year will be on a Wednesday; etc. etc. (All of these, and more, were vote-suppression techniques utilized by the GOP in 2004 and 2006.)
Bernard Weiner, Ph.D. in government & international relations, has taught at universities in California and Washington, worked for two decades as a writer-editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, and currently serves as co-editor of The Crisis Papers (www.crisispapers.org).
After seven years of witnessing the unprecedented, underhanded tactics by the perfect storm of neo-conism, arrogance and belligerence, I can actually envision scenerios - the details of which - that are better left unmentioned.
A realistic assessment of the threats looming large in our new America.
Around September or October, an immense event prompting Bush and minions to 'postpone' US presidential elections would be yet another 'shocker'... just as the attacks of 911 were. Right.
Then, all we need is for the aliens to shown up.
Michael McCoy
by
Michael McCoy (6 articles, 1 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 396 comments)
on Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 7:56:10 PM
You know it really is just spitting into the wind to oppose the egregious actions of the current Administration. The big Bozo was elected twice by a majority (2nd time around at least) of the voters in the country. What he did and is now doing has been sanctioned by the populace and is therefore appropriate under U.S. law. After all in a Democracy you get the government you deserve. The majority are his enablers and are equally responsible for his criminal acts.
by
Archie (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1336 comments)
on Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 8:20:41 PM
...Either in 2000, when he was finally appointed President by the Supreme Court, and in 2004, when rampant GOP election fraud eliminated a big chunk of Kerry votes in Ohio and elsewhere. Much of the evidence in the latter case in Ohio has been destroyed, in violation of state and federal laws.
I, and many others, have spent the past 7 years opposing this regime in every legal way possible. Clearly, we no longer have a government by the people, for the people! So no, we are not sharing the blame with BushCo. In this country, virtually every major media outlet is owned and operated by the beneficiaries of the GOP. And the result is a near media-blackout on the many crimes of BushCo.
Most people I interact with during the course of my work day have no clue about what's really been going on. No idea. Their main source of news being either the Faux news network or CNN. A cornerstone and a hallmark of a democracy is a free, open press; one that is free to report on actual news and even (gasp!) criticize the government. We no longer have that, and we also no longer have a democracy.
We'll be damn lucky to even have an election in November. I don't think we will. I pray I am wrong, and just an anxiety-ridden, somewhat paranoid, overworked professional who reads too much.
by
Anna Van Z (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 7 comments)
on Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 9:28:02 PM
None of the three candidates remaining is likely to upset the capitalist applecart much, and the Republicans would certainly like to hang the war and the depression on Democratic shoulders if they could. So they may welcome a four year hiatus from the White House, rather than being the party that brought democracy to an end in America. They may, in fact, by allowing the Democrats to control the White House and the Congress in these next few years, be forcing the Democrats to be the party that reinstitutes the draft, turns Iraq into another Vietnam, and possibly invades Iran. And if the economy gets as bad as it could, it may be the Democrats who impose unpopular control methods, relying on troops or mercenaries to quell dissent.
Republicans start wars: Democrats win wars. As it is said.
by
W.M.L. (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 439 comments)
on Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 11:07:19 PM
VOTING FOR DEMOCRATS AS THE LESSER EVIL A FUTILE TACTIC
First of all, it is outrageous to keep repeating these Democratic Party lies about Ralph Nader. Not only did it turn out that Kerry carried Florida by a small margin after the media counted all the Florida ballots in the 2000 election but there was massive disenfranchisement of African Americans who vote Democratic by a 90% margin. In Florida, the task of purging the voting rolls of convicted felons was outsourced to private companies. Those companies who cut corners by only compiling a list of people who had been CHARGED with felonies without further checking to see if the people on the list had been CONVICTED were the low bidders who won the contracts.
Some people have argued that even if Gore won Florida when all the ballots were counted, Nader was still a spoiler since, even if there were other factors responsible for Gore being declared the loser, Nader's running was still one of the factors responsible for Gore's loss. Others have argued that if Nader had not ran, Gore's margin of victory would have been too large for there to be a legal case about the ballots. Thus the Supreme Court would not have had the opportunity to appoint Bush. But when you consider the massive numbers of African Americans prevented from voting, a number which dwarfs the mere hundreds of votes by which Gore won when all the ballots were counted, it becomes clear that, whatever the actual numbers, if the Republicaans had needed more votes to give Bush a false victory, they would have simply stolen those additional votes. The Republicans would have stolen whatever additional votes they needed to win even if Nader had not ran. So Nader's campaign was not even one of the factors responsible for Bush's false win.
The charges that Ralph Nader received substantial financing from the Republicans also turned out to be false. The few Republican contributions to Nader were only a very miner part of his campaign budget.
But second, and more importantly, while the Democrats are not quite as bad as the Republicans, the difference between them is too slight to make voting for them as the lesser evil a viable strategy. Nancy Pelosi announced that impeachment was off the table even before she became Speaker of the House. The Democrats continue to vote for the bills to appropriate funds for the war in Iraq and none of the Democratic candidates support withdrawing ALL U.S. troops from Iraq. And the Democrats are lying when they claim they need two-thirds of both houses of Congress before they can override Bush's veto and end funding for the Iraq war. It only takes 51% of the vote to defeat an appropriations bill. They all leave loopholes for keeping some U.S. troops in Iraq and the U.S. still mired in the quaqmire. And Hiliary Clinton has said we can't call for single payer health care because "the American people won't support it." Her plan only calls for making it legally required for everyone to have medical insurance with the government paying for the insurance of the poorest people. I am sure the automobile companies would be enthusiastic supporters of a plan requiring all Americans to own cars with the government buying cars for the poorest Americans. Barack Obama's plan does not even require universal coverage.
The author of this article and many others have pointed out why impeachment is necessary for the survival of even even the semblance of democracy that America has. If Bush and Cheney are able to escape being impeached in spite of all their crimes, the same precedent will be established for all future presidents. And since at least 20% of every health care dollar is wasted by insurance companies playing postal ping pong by sending medical bills to each other, single payer is the only way we can get our escalating medical costs under control. So even if the American people are not ready to support it, the only alternative we have is to keep advocating single payer until we have convinced the majority to support it. And one of the reasons single payer was derailed in 1992 was Bill and Hiliary Clinton and the Jackson Hole Gang pushing "managed competition" as the alternative to single payer.
So if you have not been able to make any progress on impeachment, ending the Iraq war, and achieving single payer health care with your tactic of voting for the Democrats as the lesser evil, you have not won anything on these three most crucial issues with this tactic. It should be obvious that you need to try another tactic. As hard as it is to build a viable third party with the present winner take all electoral system in the United States, our only alternative is for enough of us to begin the sustained effort to build that viable third party. A tactic that has the possibility of success in the long term with enough hard work is better than a tactic that offers zero chance of success.
Sorry to digress, but if Raphie wanted to be anything but a "spoiler" in this system, he should have been doing WAY more in-BETWEEN elections to CHANGE the voting System...like advocating for Instant Runoff Voting, so that Americans could RISK a third-party vote without losing the farm entirely!
A bit too much Ego, methinks!
by
Bia Winter (1 articles, 2 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 169 comments)
on Friday, April 4, 2008 at 12:33:08 PM
6 comments
How would you rate this?
You must be logged in (if signed up) to do ratings.
It's free to signup! And easy. And takes just a minute or two....
Must Read (
Well Said (
News (
Touching (
Funny (
Supported (
Interesting (
Inspiring (
Valuable (
