In the Worst Presidency in American History.
Worse than Warren G. Harding, who had to be put away by his friends before Teapot Dome hit the fan. Worse than James Buchanan, who dithered while the nation spiraled down to Civil War. Worse than Ulysses S. Grant, a hard-drinking son-of-a-bitch general, but a lousy judge of character, and who also served two terms. And worse than Richard Nixon, a demented genius whose instinct to attack and smear brought him to the ignominy of the only President forced out of office (at least our leaders figured out a way short of assassination this time).
I send this off at High Noon, the time set by the 20th Amendment of our tattered Constitution for the peaceful transfer of power to take place in our republic, which once was a representative democracy. In the classic anti-McCarthyism film, High Noon, Gary Cooper put off his retirement and honeymoon in order to single-handedly take on the bully returning to town for revenge.
It’s pretty clear by now that the regency of Cheney/George H.W. Bush, the cabal which installed the puppet regime of W., the frat boy king, was a all-out war on the Constitution, representative democracy, tri-partite government, and an acknowledged revenge on what they claim were the abuses of Watergate, all under the legal mumbo jumbo of the unitary executive monarchy. The bully brigade is trampling on all who protest this hostile takeover.
Yes, we now have an MBA Presidency, with Daddy as Chairman of the Board, Dick as CEO, and, as in most businesses a token power position, Georgie as President. And yes, our government is another victim of globalization, as we have outsourced the power “of the people, by the people and for the people” to the multi-national corporatization of the “best government money can buy.”
In this monarchy, Prince Halliburton, Prince Diebold, Prince Merck, Prince Exxon, and Prince Carlyle sit at the round table, and King Dick mocks Camelot.
Our great country has endured 66 months of this putsch. Can we take another 30? Of course, because we have no other choice. Any calls for violent overthrow play into the oppressor’s hand.
But we can continue to express ourselves bravely. We can work to expose this gang of thieves, and force election reform. We can support our progressive candidates to such an extent, that the exit polls will be so out of whack with the official results, that the oligarchists will be faced with either Mexican-like mass rallies in the Capitol, or reluctant backing down as they marshall their forces for another take-over attempt down the road.
When your son or daughter asks you, someday, what you did to reclaim our country, what will you be able to say? Were you the cowards who backed into their comfortable homes and looked the other way? Or were you Gary Cooper, taking responsibility at High Noon?