Today is one of those days—cold, pleasant enough—that makes midwinter in New England enjoyable. At least, that is, to someone like me who grew up thinking of winter as the 57 minutes in January when the Texas heat gives up, throws down a few half-hearted snowflakes and then returns to the regularly scheduled heatwave.
But while I sit here, enjoying the sunlight reflecting off a snowy hillside, down in D.C., the Democratic Senate is busy putting the final nail in the coffin of our Republic. It’s at once sad and terrifying. It is as if Watergate had occurred, and instead of impeachment, the Congress had made breaking into an opponent’s campaign headquarters legal, and, what the heck, officially "fun." Instead of impeaching Bush and Cheney for spying on Americans without warrants, we’re going to make it legal and give the telephone companies who participated in their illegal activity a free pass. Is there anything this deeply unpopular boy-king has wanted which he hasn’t gotten, one way or another?
No one who can make a difference seems to give a damn about what is happening (though thank heavens for the few, the proud, like Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold). At some point, we have to give over and face it: we are now a corporatocracy with heavy leanings toward old-school fascism, topped with hints of feudalism. Classless society, indeed. The mechanisms of governmental intrusion into our lives are at the ready for one who would use them—and we can certainly count on Bush to do just that, and Cheney. "Small government" Republicans, huh?
And to think I actually experienced a brief period of hopefulness when we elected a Democratic Congress. Too bad they’re Democratic with a capital D, but not actually democratic. Does the nation I grew up in only exist in the past? This isn’t America, at least not America with its uniquely American ideals intact. Where’s this train stop, anyway?
UPDATE: Well, I feel much better now. While I was concerned about my country’s status as a democracy, I was missing the forest for the trees. Today is more important than I knew. Because today also brings us the new Video Vest—which I bloody well am not linking to, thank you very much—which enables marketers to send human televisions out into the world to chat up potential buybots like you and me. What the hell was I so worried about? As long as I can still be advertised to, it’s still America! (And remember to spend the dough Dear Leader will soon be sending you, because if we don’t buy stuff, the terrorists will win.)
