I remember thinking at the time of the flood that devastated New Orleans, that the US has been reduced by BushCo to a Soviet-era state - so pathetic, so meager, so jaw-droppingly fucked-up, and so entrenched in party-line ass-covering was our response.
And then, of course, there was the populating of important Iraq reconstruction positions with incompetent Bushies. No wonder that billions (with a "b," bitch) of American taxpayer dollars went missing, and that the residents of Iraq, four years later and in an oil-rich country, still cannot count on the fucking lights staying on or the toilets flushing for 24 hours in a row.
And now, we appear to have interrupted BushCo in the midst of replacing every competent and non-partisan U.S. Attorney with a Harriet Myers or Alberto Gonzales pod-person. I'm not sure they appreciate that the words "Justice Department" were not meant to invoke ironic sniggering.
Ted Koppel has quite rightly pointed out that a recent film about life in East Germany before the wall fell has reminded him quite a bit of the political climate in this country in the past 6 years.
At one time, there was much sturm und drang in US politics about the threat of communism. Much time was devoted to the discussion of how to keep the weaker countries of the world from falling like dominoes to the overpowering influence of the Commies. Vast political empires were built on fear of a communist government invading and ruling the United States.
But when our government, and every vital program it administers, and every agency that stands between us and goodbye, cruel world, is run by people whose only qualification is party loyalty, well, what's the fucking difference between us and a Soviet state? That I don't have to sign up on a four-year waiting list for lightbulbs?
Great. I'll try to remember that the next time they decide not to let Democrats vote anymore, and get away with it.
