My predictions for the 2008 Amerikan Dictatorship.

[Higans]

Shortly before the 2008 Selection, a Bomb will go off in one of our ports. Bush will say that no one could have imagined that such a thing was possible. He will blame it on his good buddy Osama Bin Ladin. he will declair martial law in this country which will make it a police state (like it isn't all-ready) and then he will suspend the 08 election indefinitely for "security reasons". by that time he will have the law passed that makes it a crime for the press to point out that the president is breaking the law, so no one will say anything. and the corporate take over of Amerika will be complete. (And it only took him 8 years start to finish.)

I hope I am wrong, but history always repeats itself.

http://www.bushflash.com/14.html

http://www.archive.org/details/Despotis1946

http://www.denvervoice.org/Myth_of_divided_america.htm

http://www.votescam.com/

(edited for spelling)

[shadowknows69]

1. I hate to agree with such a dismal assesment higans

but I think it's completely plausible with this crew. 2010 Bush declares himself Emperor for life.

[Blue Belle]

2. The bomb won't be in a port...

That would mean that Bush was wrong about the port deal. No, my guess is the bomb goes off at a major sporting event like the Super Bowl or World Series...

[maveric]

3. I've been saying this since 2003.

He's not gpoing anywhere. The Patriot Act gives him the power to do whatever the fuck he wants in the name of "National Security". He's the perfect puppet for neocon rule and they will do anything to keep themselves and bu$h in power while they rape the world of all that they can plunder.

I just have a sick feeling that on Jan 20 2009, there will not be a swearing in of a new president.

[Faygo Kid]

5. Bingo. Hope we can be roomies in the camps.

If there are camps.

[maveric]

22. Or in the same "Resistance" brigade?

Most DUers dont like to acknowledege the fact that there is a possibilty of US Civil War II.
Sadly, I beleive that most Americans would side with the neocons due to ignorance, religion and fear.But there will be a small faction of us who will, for the sake of freedom and democracy, fight these bastards to the death.

This is a very negative and cynical prediction but I see it in the cards.

[Higans]

27. "Civil War II" Amerikans are too lazy. the few that do fight will be sent

to the camps.

[shadowknows69]

31. I'm not going to any camp

read into that what you will.

[Faygo Kid]

4. It will be more gradual, I predict. The law is already proposed.

Very timely. I believe they will do what they can to hold down the fort in this fall's elections, but they really don't give a sh*t whether congresspersons are Dems or GOP. Senators are tougher, but they can control that, too. The law against the flaccid media has been proposed, as you know: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x638725. It's martial, not marshal, law, by the way. The corporations are enablers, but will go with the winning team, whatever that is. Surprisingly, I believe the churches will be both the biggest backers of the fascist takeover (James Dobson) and the biggest opponents (see Dietrich Bonhoeffer, WWII).

[Higans]

8. Elections don't matter. Die Bold will install who ever they want.

[Faygo Kid]

12. Agreed. That's what I said in my post. We can't rely on elections.

This is a tough one, though, for the BushBots. It's one thing to know ahead of time that two states hold the balance - Ohio and Florida - and another to try to rig 400+ Congressional districts. Somebody will squawk if they try it. I think they will rig just a few bottom-line, must-have supporters (DeLay) and accept otherwise whatever happens in 2006. And while we are celebrating, they will make sure a crisis happens and lower the boom - martial law, no election in 2008.

[davekriss]

21. O. My. God.

This is it, then, it really is the death of democracy.

Couple the law of silence decribed by your link with things like the Secret Service Uniformed Division (SSUD), part of the continuation of the Partriot Act just signed into law, that can arrest anyone judged by any SS officer as breaking law at any "significant event", combined with the loose definition of "terrorism" as any attempt through intimidation (such as visible protest) to influence politics, combined with "free speech zones", combined with Guantanamo, torture, appointment of people like John Negroponte to positions like National Intelligence Director, combined with contracts for Halliburton to build "detention camps", combined with legal bozos floating fantasies about "the unitary executive", combined with any agency called "homeland", pResidential signing statements interpreting law at whim, etc. etc., and our Republic is truly dying a death of a thousand cuts.

I will be surprised, though, if Bush makes a move to continue past 2008; instead I anticipate an equal steward of fascist interests, from either party, will take his place, gaining office despite a curious reversal of pre-election day polls and despite stories of disenfranchised millions via election day electronic voting glitches, scrubbing of registration rolls, scarcity of voting machines in unfavorable districts, intimidation at the polls, manufacture by the MSM of Dean Screams for any dangerous candidate threatening the pre-selected, etc. etc.

On edit: I hold a thin sliver of hope depending on how the elections go this year. All rests on November 2006, in my opinion. If it goes well (or even just OK), then there is hope for us post 2008; otherwise some of us might take Chalmers Johnson's advice, when on cspan2's BookTV he said to the gathered audience that we should plan our outs now, while we still can, buy that villa in Costa Rica or condo in Vancouver, gain dual citizenship, before the gates come crashing down in final close.

[Ksec]

6. The corporations have already taken over

Completely. They own government. They own the people.

As far as your predictions Id have to say you are on the right track. If there were a high profit margin to be made in the security biz you can bet yer ass we'd be protected. Its a high labor cost venture in the US so the big multinationals arent interested. They are making loads in Iraq where they can hire an Iraqi for pennies on the dollar compared to here.

[glitch]

7. Agreed - EXCEPT instead of a bomb they'll rig the vote, catch the rig

feign shock, say no one can trust the vote so they'll stay in power (since presumably they were the last "legitimately" elected) until the vote count is fixed.
Then of course never fix it.

[Higans]

9. Plausible if the democrats win even after the bomb goes off.

[glitch]

10. I think a bomb will emphasize their failure, so they'll go a way that

makes them look like heroes taking charge.
You know how narcissists love to look like heroes...

edit to emphasize: I completely agree, they will try some excuse to do martial law. At this point they can't afford to lose power, it could mean prison and (worse for them) reparations.

[Higans]

That is why they will say "No one could have imagined" just like 911

Just like Katrina. it's population control. they have to keep us in fear.

[drthais]

17. I agree wholeheartedly

I don't think they're planning on going anywhere
they think they are here to stay

can you even imagine any forces that be
trying to drag them kicking and screaming from the White House?

[The Sleeper]

11. Don't need to declare martial law to do all that.

Just need to render term limits as "quaint"...Easy to do in the face of another "terror attack". It won't be soldiers on ever corner. It's just a few thousand trouble makers that need to be rounded up...or maybe a few hundred thousand in all.....Everyone else will fall into line nice and quiet...

[glitch]

14. Even better - then they can continue rigging the vote their way - who's to

tell the American people? Certanly not the corporate media.

This is the easiest path and at this point they don't need to try something new.

[readmoreoften]

13. I don't think it matters to them so long as the PNAC is in charge.

The PNAC will just Diebold another candidate into office and control them. The candidate I'm most afraid of is Mitt Romney. Even though he's from Massachussets, he just placed 2nd in that important poll of southern Republicans that happened the other day. Frist was first.

Here's why I think it will be Romney:

1) Romney's a fairly young, good-looking guy. We live in shallow age where presidents are nothing more than products. Republican is the brand, and they want an attractive package. (John McCain is in his 70s and kind of fat and swollen these days. He'll look sickly in the debates. America won't buy a product in a damaged box.)

2) Romney is the poster boy in the fight against gay civil rights. Far from being a typical Northerner, Romney fights the libruls "on their own territory." Romney is the darling of the homophobic right. This gives Rove a chance to keep anti-gay politics at the forefront without having to explicitly harp on it-- which would alienate people who don't necessarily like gays, but also don't like negative campaigning.

3) Romney was pro-choice, citing a death in his family from a backstreet abortion, and then went pro-life when his ambitions became presidential. Because abortion is probably going to be the wedge issue this time around, Romney can work hard to convince the religious right that he actually is pro-life while Northern moderates and pro-choice republicans will consider his position to be "pure politics." We'll hear a lot of "Oh, it'll be fine. You know he's not *really* pro-life. He's just saying that to get the votes. Don't worry. It'll all be fine."

4) Unless we run a southern candidate, we won't gain southern votes in the face of a Romney candidacy; but we could lose a few northern votes.

[Eric J in MN]

15. This is baloney. Bush won't be in office on January 21, 2009.

nt

[cali]

19. Fairly stock

tinfoil stuff. I don't know why it bugs me so much. Guess I want to believe that DUers are more sensible than this.

[Perky]

29. Baloney is almost the same word I wouldhave used.. Agreed.

Sometime DUers well intentioned as they may be, need to go out side and breath some fresh air.

Bush will leave office on January 20th, 2009. I just wish it were sooner

[cali]

16. What a simplistic scenario

I'd be glad to wager a fair amount of money that this won't happen. First of all; if "they" are as diabolically clever as you credit them with being, why shouldn't they be more subtle, and simply install a new puppet? Or are you suggesting that bush himself is diabolically clever?

Statements like history always repeats itself, fail to take into consideration that history never repeats itself exactly or even close to it. The results of a culture ending event may be the same; that which leads up to its demise is always different. In other words: Paradox.

So unless you understand both sides of a statement like the aforementioned one regarding history, you're missing the complexity that is the burden of such a statement.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

23. I tend to agree with you

At the very least, it is impossible to predict. Emperor for life? I don't see that happening.

[Hubert Flottz]

18. It started on December 12/2000...

In case you hadn't noticed.

[aden_nak]

20. I disagree, but not for a positive reason.

There's no reason to keep Dubya in power, since he really isn't in power in the first place. They will just run some other Neocon who will bill himself as the "Real Neoconservative movement". It could still be Jeb, but now that's going to be harder. Not impossible, but harder. I wouldn't put it past the boys to fake a feud if George's numbers get low enough. Wouldn't that just be a shoe-in for 2008? If Jeb quarreled publicly with his brother? Surely anyone that would speak out against his own brother must really BELIEVE in what he's doing, right?

Man, I should just stop typing. I'm giving that square-headed freak ideas.

[DanCa]

24. I dont expect a smoth transfer of power at any rate.

I hope your predictions or wrong Higan's. But I feel that even in the best of circumstances the repugs wont go graciously into the good night. Not only do we have to have a win in 08, but we gotta make it stick.

[Imagevision]

25. Hey! 9-11 was horrifying -- wouldn't rule out anything from Team-Bush

[Higans]

26. don't you mean Terrorfying?

[Sparkly]

28. Perish the thought!!

One other affect of a bomb from one of the ports: it'd stop export/import at all ports immediately. Imagine what that would do to our economy?? Nothing would move until they finally got their act together and established real security. (And who knows how long that'd take!)

[MasonJar]

30. But why would that be something that W would want? He hates

any kind of effort outside biking and brushing (as in removing) He must be under constant threat of assassination. The world hates him. I am surprised he cheated to win in 04. I thought it was mainly to outdo daddy.