We are constantly told that we must fight the terrorists over there so we don’t have to fight them here. In other words, our safety is directly and only dependent on finishing what we started. Do you believe that? I don’t. It will take a lot more than killing some of the terrorists in Iraq. What about the ones that are left? What about those too young to fight now that are being nurtured all around the world as we wait for the Iraqi’s to get their act together?
After the Iraq effort is concluded, by whatever means, a lot more has to change to absolutely protect us. In a past article, I suggested a neocon plan to keep us ‘safe’ by staying at war over there for the foreseeable future. Now I suggest another authoritarian plan. Both have been in work for some time. Both still have a ways to go before they are fully implemented, unless ….
This alternative plan requires that we all cooperate with George Bush, the ‘Noble Lie’ neocons and the evangelical RWAs as they lead us to their final solution – a single-party ‘safe’ state. Here is what we need to ‘let’ happen:
- Learn to suspect others not like ‘us’ – the enemy
- Apply derogatory labels to any dissenter
- Accept that these enemies are guilty once they are labeled
- Help perpetuate fear of these enemies
- Become self righteous and lose our conscience
- Spy on our dissenter neighbors
- Inform authorities about their activities – real or imaginary
- Accept government bounties for providing information – authentic or not
- Support any government action necessary for “national security”
- Trade in our civil rights as necessary for greater levels of security
- Accept limiting representation by lawyers for these ‘enemy combatants’
- Inform on such lawyers – another enemy
- Accept the use of torture regardless of the timeliness or validity of information obtained
- Accept the expansion of executive authority
- Accept the elimination of checks and balances
- Accept increased electronic surveillance by the FBI and NSA
- Accept Attorney General Gonzales as the President does
- Accept packing the Department of Justice with RWAs from “tier three” religion based law schools
- Elect a Congress less inclined to question the Administration – bring back Tom Delay and Bill Frist
- Accept constitutional changes to reduce the number of national elections, put an end to term limits and add the election of federal judges
- Accept the nationalization of all local police and security forces
- Accept an executive order to authorize government control of the internet and national media
- Accept uniting state and church
- Accept the use of national IDs and external ‘badges of loyalty’
- Accept the conversion of the Bill of Rights to the Bill of Executive Power
- Accept the resulting dictatorship for the ultimate in “national security”
After full implementation of the above, about one third of us will be ‘safest’ and comfortable for being compliant with every step. Some of us, who just let it happen, will be ‘safer’ but always looking over our shoulder to see who’s watching, and the rest of us will be ‘safe’ in detention without representation.
Since neither the war-forever plan nor the single-party plan is fully implemented and since we spoke up last November, we have one more chance. We can continue what we started with the last national election – reduce the influence of the Conservatives Without Conscience – and put together a plan that will actually reduce the threat of terrorism. Or we can sit back and accept a single-party theocracy and/or multiple wars to generate more terrorists and spend this country into bankruptcy.
Andy Hailey