Checks and balances

Here's one of the things that really worries me. The whole point of having three branches of government was so that no one entity would have two much power. But what happens when the same entity gains control of multiple branches? The neocons who have hijacked the GOP (there is nothing conservative about them) are so ruthless and well coordinated that they are very close to having enough control to take over the entire country.

So far they have the executive branch and a growing hold on the legislative. Now that Dubya has a "mandate," they're going after the judicial branch. Using their well honed tactics of playing on America's fear and throwing out buzzwords like "activist judges" and "radical," the assault has begun. (By the way, the term "activist judge" refers to any judge who comes to the rational conclusion that many of the administration's policies infringe on every sort of Constitutional right to liberty.)

On Friday, soon-to-be-former Attorney General John Ashcroft attacked the "activist judges" for getting in the way of Bush's War on Terror. Ashcroft was referring to court decisions involving the rights of "enemy combants," and probably gay marriage-related decisions, too, like the Massachusetts Supreme Court.

I was honestly stunned at the things he said in his speech. Here are a couple of superb excerpts:

"The danger I see here is that intrusive judicial oversight and second-guessing of presidential determinations in these critical areas can put at risk the very security of our nation in a time of war."

"Courts are not equipped to execute the law. They are not accountable to the people."

Wow. Right off the bat, "oversight and second-guessing" is the whole point of the checks and balances system. And the judicial has always been the most thoughtful and rational branch. And because of that, it has always been the most trustworthy in the task of protecting the Constitution and the rights it affords every individual, not every citizen, in this country. So I think second-guessing by the judicial branch should not be taken lightly or attacked by fearmongers.

And then there's the second quote. Uh, that's what courts do. Execute the law. I suppose more specifically, they interpret it. But their interpretations are supposed to be executed by every law enforcement agency in the country, up to and including the Department of Justice. Ashcroft should be America's top enforcer of judicial decisions and civil rights. Instead, he politicizes and denounces them and cries "Terror!"

Further evidence of the assault on the judicial came a day earlier from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. He even used the same talking-points word Ashcroft used. He said Democratic Senate filibustering of judicial nominees (what is a filibuster?) must stop or he'll try to change the Senate rules. He called the filibustering "radical" and said, "It is dangerous and it must be overcome. The Senate must be allowed to confirm judges who fairly, justly, and independently interpret the law."

Yes, that would be a good thing. But that's why they filibuster. How can we trust the judiciary to "independently interpret the law" when Supreme Court justices and vice presidents go hunting together right before the former decides on a case involving the latter? Call me cynical, but...

The way I see it (and I don't think I'm alone), if we're just holding on to the last position of power we have, we'll be damned before we let go. Bush might get to nominate three Supreme Court justices. ACLU members everywhere shudder when they hear that. We'll do everything we can to prevent the judicial branch from falling into the neocons' hands. Once they have control of all three branches, what's to stop them from burning the Constitution to dust?

So what happens now?

Shock. Rage. Confusion. Dejection. Apprehension. Sorry, but it's hard to think any kind of positive thoughts right now. This blog entry may turn out to be sporadic, unfocused, and full of negativity, but I have to do it. Basically, rather than coherent composition, this is no more than a diary entry.

My overriding feeling is I guess a combination of all of the words above. My faith in American democracy is shattered. It's been under attack for the last four years, but it's gone now. All my young life I was told how lucky I am to be an American. And in many ways, that's still true. (After all, in many countries I'd be jailed or killed for the words I am typing right now.)

But at this point, it greatly pains me to say that American democracy does not work. The Greeks believed democracy was dependent on an informed populace. People would inevitably vote for what was truly the best deal for them.

I hate to sound elitist or "holier-than-thou," but Americans by and large have no idea which candidate will do what's best for them, because they don't bother to find out. They are, as my O'mom put it, only interested in soundbites. They hear a politically savvy candidate spout off a few lines, then turn to Fox News (or any information age news source, Fox only being the most extreme example) for quick analysis, and call themselved informed and act happy and go buy Thomas Kinkade paintings.

It doesn't actually matter that Bush lies through his teeth (although he does it very carefully so the media can't or won't actually explicitly say he lied) about what he'll do for people or what he stands for. He's going to destroy Social Security and Medicare, raise people's actual cost of living, all the while pulling the tax-cut wool over their eyes. A line from the movie Gladiator comes to mind:

I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob. He will conjure magic for them and they will be distracted. He will take away their freedom, and still they will roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the Senate, it is the sand of the Colosseum. He will give them death, and they will love him for it.

Now replace "Rome" with "America." Hmph.

The media, though not fully to blame for this, has certainly accelerated the process. The Internet and 24-hour news networks feed the viewers more soundbites than they can possibly consume, leaving no room for the information of actual importance. They argue back and forth, using buzzwords and phrases like "people are saying." Who is saying? They never say.

Jon Stewart, possibly one of the smartest people on television, knows this and did his best to expose it on CNN's Crossfire in mid-October. Known for being funny, he implored Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson to "stop hurting America." Carlson, Begala, and the audience laughed, but Stewart was dead serious. And dead right. Realizing he was right, Carlson (the guy on the "right") could only respond by complaining that Stewart wasn't being funny and light-hearted. And Stewart looked at him and said, "No, I'm not going to be your monkey."

Going back to the "tax-cut wool over their eyes" thing, my friend saw a bumper sticker the other day that said something to the effect of "I got my tax cut, thanks, George W. Bush!" The cut this sticker refers to is the $300 checks we all got in the mail in the summer of 2001. This was NOT A TAX CUT. It was "tax relief," given for only one purpose: so that in Campaign 2004 they could all point to those checks and the gullible public would think warm fuzzy thoughts about the happy day they blew it on a new DVD player. Never mind that it was really just an advance on your Social Security that the country REALLY couldn't actually afford to give you.

Random thought

Might be too complicated given what I just wrote, but maybe what the Left needs to do is convince people that the words moral and religious are not necessarily synonyms. Just now watching CNN they pointed out that of the 20% of voters who voted based on "moral issues," 80% went for Bush. We need to win back some votes by demonstrating that we can still have good morals and "family values" even though we don't believe that homosexuality, abortion, and pre-marital sex are automatic, go-straight-to-hell sins that should be outlawed. God gave humans free will. The government should, too.

Hell, Kerry even tried to do a bit of that in the debates, explaining that while he personally believes abortion is bad, he can't legislate his "article of faith" and force it on to anyone else. If there's any way we can win back the "moral values" crowd, that's it.

But anyway...

Dammit! That last bunch of writing was way too analytical. This is supposed to be me venting my rage. And no, it's not gone. It may not go away for years. Worst case scenario, it haunts me until the day I die, suffering from extreme poverty, from the collapse of Social Security, and anarchy, brought on by the total collapse of the American society due to the fatal burden of the soaring national debt. Sounds like I'm being melodramatic, but it's more likely than most people realize, which I suppose is why so many people voted for Bush (or in the case of young adults, didn't vote at all) in spite of reality.

That kind of brings me to another point. The "didn't vote at all" category. Early in the election day, Dems were excited by reports of high turnouts, saying that it likely represented young voters who finally cared enough to get off their asses and get to the polls. WRONG! The 18-25's let us all down. There was tons of buzz and a Vote for Change tour, but in the end it didn't make a damn difference. If they knew what debts and deficits and wars will really do to us when this group reaches 50, they'd have been out there.

Running out of energy...

...but I will say one last thing for now. I'm not sure exactly what to do now. All the Dems interviewed on TV say the right things, to not give up or withdraw but to keep up the fight. But part of me is so disgusted right now that I want to get out. I want to move to Canada. Or maybe Norway. (Hell, my dad's in Norway right now. Damn fine country.) But if I give up and leave, then how am I any better than all the people I just ranted against? I guess I can be grateful I live in beautiful, secluded, safely liberal and progressive (except for Rio Dell and most of Eureka) Humboldt County. Here we can live in our own little hippie liberal world. U.S. OUT OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY!!!!