|
In some inexplicable way, far too many American citizens have been rendered brain dead. Any casual, objective observer couldn't help but see what the United States has become over the past six years. The "leaders" of our government are now the greatest threat to planet Earth that has ever existed. (Aside from global warming.) And that threat is not because the lunatics have taken over the asylum. It's because they are in control of the largest arsenal of mass destruction in the history of the world.
It's virtually impossible to identify even one iota of progress that's come about over the past six years. But the multiple disasters that Bush and his puppet masters have brought upon us has surpassed anything we ever thought would or could be possible under our democratic system and our Constitution.
In truth, it took much more than six years to make this come about. The Republican party has spent the last quarter of a century usurping the media, organizing broad swaths of religious fanatics, (or perhaps just narrow-minded, ignorant fools), to believe they were "the party of God", rigging an election system trusted by no one, attacking anyone who spoke out about injustice and the dangerous policies that were being pursued, and doing everything possible to turn George Orwell's "1984" from nightmare to reality.
We are well down the road toward the total destruction of Iraq, a country that had nothing to do with 9/11. No one will ever really know how many Iraqis have been slaughtered. But somehow, we manage to keep a count of our own mutilated troops, as well as those who died for ... sorry, but the only answer I can come up with is that they died for nothing but the greed of the oil barons. And who are these barons? The Bush family, Dick Cheney, and a cabal of incredibly wealthy and powerful people who put them in power. And they have all reaped immense fortunes that King Solomon could only envy.
Here at home, the most visible tragedy they let happen was the destruction of New Orleans. No, they didn't cause the hurricane. All they did was ignore its aftermath and the countless thousands of homeless, disoriented, and lost souls who don't know whether or not they'll ever again have a "normal" life. Then, Mommy Bush, after seeing thousands of people crammed into a miserable existence in the Astrodome said, "This is working very well for them." I suppose that these despicable words that spilled from this horrible woman's mouth were intended to make people feel better. All I can say about her and her family are the final words from "Apocalypse Now." "The horror. The horror."
But it wasn't just New Orleans. The people who comprise the Bush administration's wrecking crew are on a mission to destroy everything built by Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, voting rights, a minimum wage, the right to join a union, the right to choice regarding abortion, stem cell research that could possibly save millions of lives, and so many other issues that have been demonized and twisted to cater to the ignorance, bigotry and hatreds of mindless individuals.
So now the Democrats have control of both houses of congress. Will it make a difference? Will enough Republicans join them to overturn Bush's inevitable vetoes of sane legislation? Can they wrest the reins of power from his blood soaked hands? I don't know. But don't hold your breath for it.
In the meantime, Halliburton, Bechtel, and Blackwater are still on the payroll seeking out new places to launder their stolen billions. Will they ever be brought before the bar of justice? Will Bush, Cheney and so many others ever stand before a judge and try to explain the depravities they have committed while the rest of the world watched in stunned silence? Hopefully, yes. Realistically, no.
The only thing that is still within our power is to see that no media/corporate-backed madmen will ever again be in the position to tell the entire world to "Screw off." Unfortunately, I've lost any faith I may have had concerning the intelligence of the American public. (Not to mention the common sense of the human species.)
So will we see any real changes after the next presidential election? Who knows? Perhaps some "great" leader will come along and help us take one small step forward. But, given the track record of the human species, it's hard to know whether we will ever again see another leader with a sense of a benign future, or the foresight to expand our thoughts to the possible.
Lincoln, JFK, MLK and Bobby Kennedy all had visions of a better world. And it cost them their lives. So, from a devout agnostic, this is my prayer: Give us more Abes, Johns, Martins and Bobbies. They are out there among us now. This time, let's help them to win.
|