As year five of the reign of George W.
Bush unfolds, consider Team Bush's modus operandi: a cabinet in
lock-step with the president; secret policy-making meetings and back
door deals with the corporate elite; legislation crafted by a
Republican-controlled Congress with little dissent by a timid
opposition party; misinformation and disinformation campaigns; a
permanent war on terrorism that tolerates the widespread abuse of
detainees and secret prisons; and the chipping away at civil liberties. Don't expect the jackboots to march
around the corner tomorrow. Don't expect homes to be indiscriminately
raided. Don't expect citizens to be hauled off in the dead of night --
although that has been the case with indiscriminate arrests of many
Muslim immigrants since 9/11. Consider, however, the anti-democratic
warning signs: the Patriot Act and subsequent civil liberties-busting
legislation; election snafus seamlessly fading into history; a war
carried out on the basis of misinformation and disinformation; secret
prisons where captives are tortured. Think about how things change
slowly, yet dramatically, while good people either aren't paying
attention or are too satisfied to raise their voices. [more]
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