Sayonara, USA

No Mercy - from The Pessimist:

The American Republic is in its final days now that the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the US Supreme Court is all but completed. The addition of the Big-Brother-government-and-corporate-friendly Alito to replace a relatively moderate O'Connor is going to result in a more authoritarian society in which a few dictate to the majority what the rules will be. With a now solid lock on the three branches of government, and with the open background support of those who control the means of vote tabulation, one-party government in this land is essentially a reality. Considering the lack of civility shown by Bu$hco supporters to those of us who prefer representative democracy, we have become a divided nation, one of those with connections, and the rest of us. The K Street project illustrates what we face in the near future. Political affiliation is the primary consideration when job applicants are offered jobs there. Can we doubt that this practice will now spread? Will it become legal to terminate employees whose politics don't match that of the employer? It is already allowed to terminate employees of religious entities who don't follow that particular religion, so that precedent has been established. Organized labor will become outlawed de facto if not de jure, as courts across the land continue to establish the principle that a labor agreement isn't worth the paper its written on - just like the US Constitution. And the legislation sponsored by organized labor will be among the first repealed legislatively or judicially, as major impediments to business activities - things like minimum wages and maximum work weeks - draw attention and demand remedy. There will be no avenue for redress of grievances as the courts turn against the common citizen. The concept of innocent until proven guilty will only apply to non-human entities. The reverse will be applied to real people. All of these things - and many others I omit for space reasons - will lead to people wondering what the hell happened to their rights. Even those in the Red States will at some point notice that they aren't as free as they used to be, and that those entities that make their lives more difficult than necessary - such as the West Virginia mine operators who care nothing for workplace safety - are virtually untouchable under the Bu$hCo Corporate Code. Forget about protesting this New World America! Under the USA Patriot Act, you could find yourself 'voluntarily' inducted into the BFEE/PNAC Petroleum Pirate Posse patrolling the Pakistani border with Afghanistan because you didn't want to end up in Guantanamo as a presidentially-declared enemy without a country to claim you as a citizen. Stateless people have no rights. So to all of you who didn't think that it could come to this, do not attempt to complain to me about any of these things happening to you. I've been trying to reach you - as many others have - and you chose to believe that nothing was going to happen to you just be cause nothing already had. You did this to yourself through your inattentiveness and irresponsibility. Pray that your Deity will have mercy on you - for I will not. You are only getting what you asked for - and what you deserve.

As a youngster I looked laughingly at those crazy kooks standing on corners, holding signs and sometimes bullhorns, predicting doom and gloom for the world. Little did I realize that they were just a bit ahead of their time....