Friday, September 08, 2006

We got to move into the future maybe, And think about a new tomorrow

I'm 57 tears old, have been a political junky since watching the '56 Election coverage, considered supporting AuH20 briefly, but became a Kennedy Dem. I was a peace protester all during Viet Nam, marched with black friends here in SoCal in '66 against racist rental practices, and believed in Gene McCarthy, who was the most conservative of all the candidates in '72, because he was against the war.

I've been aware, at all time, of sleazy backroom deals by both major parties, as well as similar misdeeds and idiocies by minor parties as well, so I'm no niaf lost in the wilderness.

I'm aware of some of the bad sides of "The New Deal", as well as its good sides. So I feel that while coming from a definitely leftist opinion, I have a pretty clear understanding of all political views, the true conservative, the Randian libertarian, and the extremists on all sides.

With that as a background, I'm scared shitless by the far right in this country, more so than at any time in my life, including when my lottery number (I was in the very first one) came back as 13. If Cheney, Abu Gonzales, Alito, et al have their way, we will end up a 3rd world land mass, with a plutocratic theocracy running all aspects of government, no middle class, and most of us working service jobs for below poverty wages. The "investor class" will do well, while those of us who actually do work, like me in the music industry, will be out on the streets.

And if China & Japan call in their markers, even the investor class will be on the streets. Only the oil families will be left, living on St. Barts, with Swiss bank accounts. Abortion will be illegal in all circumstances, and so will be all forms of contraception. A constitutional amendment mandating prayer in schools, fundamentalist protestant Christian prayer, that is, will have passed. Federal minimum wage & overtime laws will be struck down. OSHA, & EPA will be dissolved. Fair Housing laws will be overturned. All limits on media ownership will be struck down. Current limits on church political activities will be struck down.

The IRS has already, in case some of you don't know, disbanded the section which audits and chases down fraud by high income earners, and is gearing up to go after those alleged cheats whose incomes are middle class and on down, and is outsourcing collection tasks at very high cost. US adherence to the Geneva Conventions will be rescinded.

Corporations will be given even greater "personhood" protection, and will be protected from most lawsuits and litigation. More and more government functions will be outsourced, at considerably greater expense. Blackwater and other security firms will be given greater power to act as police and military, including here on US soil. More prisons will be built to house the poor and debtors since the Bankruptcy reform law passed last year, and as the usurious ARMs begin to fail and foreclose, and as more people who had pensions wiped away begin to retire, often forced to by health conditions (see: Delta Pilots.)

2nd & 3rd strike offenders will be given the "option" of joining the military, for extended tours of duty to fight in Iraq, Syria, and Palestine. Stop-Loss practices will be codified, allowing the military to keep enlistees for as long as they see fit. Pre-crime laws will be passed (see: Philip K. Dick) and political dissent will be forbidden. Gerrymandering will be more frequent, and overtly biased and often racist. Racial profiling will be written into Federal law regarding public transportation and jobs. States will soon follow. Election laws will disappear, and poll taxes, Picture IDs, and maybe even property ownership will be required to vote. Indentured servitude for debt payback will again become commonplace.

Education will shift to vocational training, starting with middle school. No liberal arts classes at these schools, just basics: Reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic, along with job skills such as manual labor training. Advanced students will be given training such as retail clerk and food service. State and Federal funding for all levels of schools will drop. More private middle and high schools will appear, with costs such that only the investor classes can afford them. More and more help desk, clerical, and data processing will be outsourced, to India, and increasingly to China. The only remaining middle class jobs in the US will be IT related, along with other skilled service jobs like auto repair, electrical, AC, and building contractors. And most of that work will be given to "visiting workers" who live in projects built to house them. And more and more teaching will be done in computer labs, just like language labs except that all classes will be taught this way, drastically reducing the need for skilled teachers.

A constitutional amendment allowing unlimited Presidential terms will be passed, as will amendments dissolving Congress's "advise and consent" duties, allowing unchallenged Presidential appointments. Congressional rights and duties will be amended even further, making both bodies largely ceremonial, and lobbyists will be allowed to hold office.

Or we can fight. How about it? They haven't won yet.


Update: Links added, more to come.

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