The Pivotal question: Will the election fraud issue finally break out? The electronic voting industry is under attack in several states. An epidemic of machine failures in primary elections has been discovered and disclosed, and numerous law suits are being filed against e-voting companies and election officials. And yet, at the same time, thanks to the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), an ever-growing percentage of votes are being cast, recorded and tallied with "black boxes " designed and operated by GOP partisans using secret software and without independent means of verification. Despite the absence of so much as a mention of these problems in the MSM, the public continues to lose confidence in the integrity of the elections.
Suppose that the approval ratings of Bush, the Republicans, and the Congress continue to fall, and that by November, the polls show Bush 's numbers in the high twenties and the Congress in the teens. And suppose that the same polls reveal that the Democrats have a thirty-point lead over the Republicans in the "generic " vote for Congress. Now imagine that the election returns show that despite losses in both houses, the Republicans retain control, thanks to a few "miraculous " upsets in key races, all in favor of the GOP.
Will the public accept this? The voters have accepted the very suspicious results of the 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2005 elections, essentially on the word of the media. But with the declining credibility of the MSM, and a nation-wide clamor to "throw the rascals out, " will the public stand for yet another "miraculous " but unverifiable "upset " by the GOP?
And there is still more.
The hurricane season will soon be upon us. How will the public react if and when another devastating storm strikes and the federal government is once again unable or unwilling to come to the aid of the disaster victims?
The value of the US dollar is sinking in international currency markets, as the rest of the world appears finally to have had enough of Bush 's monetary and fiscal recklessness. This has serious implications for the US economy, and may well signal a recession, or even a depression, in the near future.
Add to this the imminent collapse of the housing market, which could lead to the bankruptcy of millions of middle class Americans, while Bush continues to push for still more tax breaks for the wealthy.
Meanwhile, the Iraq war drags on, the casualty figure mount, as Bush hints of another war in Iran and United States government becomes ever more despised in the international community.
Is there no limit? The Bush Administrations rules through threat and intimidation. When General Eric Shinseki told Congress, contrary to the policy of Rumsfeld and the neo-cons, that more troops would be needed to pacify Iraq, that candor ended the General 's career. When Joseph Wilson correctly reported that there was no evidence of Saddam purchasing uranium ore from Niger, the White House retaliated against his wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, ending her career as a CIA operative.
The Busheviks also rule through fear, with constant reminders of 9/11 and with a permanent and ever-expanding "war on terror. " And when the going gets tough for Bush, Inc., that 's the time to trot out another "terror alert. "
Last February, I compared the political scene to a placid landscape atop an active fault. Below the surface, the tectonic forces accumulate along the locked fault, until eventually it ruptures, irrevocably altering the landscape above. Similarly, beneath a quiet volcanic mountain, the pool of magma ascends until the pressure below exceeds the capacity of the weight of the mountain above to contain it. Then it explodes.
Analogously, below the surface of the Bushevik rule by intimidation, retaliation and fear, the pressure of public opinion, of discontent, of dissent, and political opposition is rising. A myriad of separate factors economic, political, legal, informational are converging all at once into a perfect political storm.
Something 's got to give, more likely sooner than later. In the Chinese language, the concept of "crisis" is expressed by combining the symbols for "danger" and "opportunity." This aptly describes this crucial moment in American history. What follows may be horrible, or it may be hopeful. There exists the danger that a new terror attack will sweep away all that is left of the rule of law and the Constitution, and that a dictatorship will follow. On the other hand, this convergence of forces may present us with an opportunity to solidify and unify the opposition whereby, as with Nixon and Watergate, we might re-establish the rule of law and restore allegiance to the United States Constitution as Bushism is peacefully overthrown.
We are all victims of the ancient Chinese curse: "May you live in interesting times."
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