Monday, April 10, 2006

The American Dictatorship: Here Already?

Geov Parrish over at Working for Change presents the argument, in a disturbing piece entitled "L'etat c'est moi", that the American experiment in representative democracy may be over already.

With Baby Doc running rampant, unchecked by congress and the courts, unaccountable to anyone -- including the American people -- shored up by his hand puppet Alberto "Torquemada" Gonzales who is of the opinion that the president is not only above the law, he is the law, we may have already slid into a dictatorship that it will be well-nigh impossible to dig our way out of.

Future presidents will have in their pocket of weaponry the precedent of the Bush Crime Family presidency in which the president can do -- and has done -- anything he damn well pleases and nobody can do anything about it.

Because he IS the state.

My history may be a little rusty, but wasn't there a French Revolution a couple hundred years ago because they had an absolutist king who actually said that (L'etat c'est moi is French for "I am the state")? Didn't we thow off the yoke of British monarchy because we wanted -- demanded -- our freedom?

The very freedom that Baby Doc gives lip service to -- and nothing else -- almost daily. When it comes to the Middle East.

I hope Parrish is wrong, but all of the danger signs and warning signals are there. If that's the case, let's just forego the futile exercise of pretending that we still have free elections and a free country, and start thinking like sans culottes.

1 Comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree w/ all you've said. But I worry if "average" Americans have the stomach - or the will - for a revolution-of-sorts.

Here in the capital city of Ohio, it's the same folks who are politically involved, year after year -- unfortunately, few new faces are added.

Are Americans "afraid" of the consequences of an uprising, or merely sheep who don't care?

I have no answers, just questions.