The neo-cons are aware that Americans are un-informed (by corporate design) and domicile (courtesy of ESPN). Americans will not leave the couch and a good game on TV to stand out on the street to protest anything nowadays. So the onslaught continues. Congress is making haste at taking away rights that have been built up through decades of struggle.
Americans will not have the Bill of Rights to protect them, if they are labeled terrorists.
Americans will not be getting a raise in the minimum wage, as the dollar loses value.
Americans will not be able to use bankruptcy laws to protect themselves against skyrocketing health costs if current legislation passes the House.
Americans will not be able to sue corporations that cause harm to citizens if tort reform legislation passes. Listen to what New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said about tort reform in a speech to the National Press Club (1/30/05) - the very day that he reached a settlement with Marsh Mac (the largest insurance broker in the US, who ADMITTED to illegal cartel activity):
"The President of the United States..... is out there right now attacking the many problems that drive premiums higher, and there are problems.... I haven't heard a single word from the White House saying 'Maybe premiums are higher because the insurance companies formed an illegal cartel'. THEY PLEAD GUILTY TO IT, the record is OVERWHELMING.
Not a word! .....Not - a - single - word! 'Everybody else is the causative factor (the Administration is saying).' The insurance industry has corruption that is rife throughout it. RIFE! It touches every line of insurance that is purchased....EVERY LINE!" (1)
It used to be that if an Attorney General made a statement like that, policies would change. Of course it helps that the speech was given absolutely no main stream press coverage, as Cspan was the only camera there.
Listen to what Mr. Spitzer said about privatizing Social Security:
"And we are going through a debate right now relating to the privatization of Social Security, and I would ask people this question. You have an administration that failed to protect investors. FAILED TO PROTECT THEM! And yet they are the administration that is saying "Take the safety net that we have, and invest it in a system that was fundamentally broken?" (1). If this speech would have been broadcast to every American citizen, there would be no discussion right now of changing Social Security, but it was effectively withheld from the public.
Americans will not be forming any more unions, and the unions in place will be loosing their effectiveness. Nobody is going to be pushing corporations around anymore. Not government
regulators, or unions, or the EPA, or citizen's groups.
It is slowly sinking in to the American psyche that corporate crime is almost ALLOWED in this country. The crooks that are caught are slapped on the wrist and given "comically trivial" punishment for costing the American taxpayers BILLIONS of dollars (2).
Do we see Americans protesting anywhere about any of these issues? If any should occur, the neo-cons will easily be able to dispel the dissent as fringe elements, and the media will not take notice.
Something else heard only on Cspan: A lady who has worked at the Republican National headquarters for years called in one morning and said "The neo-cons came out of nowhere. They aren't Republicans." And yet the Republicans AND the Democrats are caving in to their wishes and backing everything they put on the table.
It is slowly sinking in that Americans will not be "voting out of office" members of Congress who are backing the neo-con agenda, either. It is no coincidence that the voting machine manufacturers are all Republican sponsors.
Why has our Government changed so dramatically with this Administration? I believe that
these things are happening because the knowledge of what global warming is bringing (in the not so distant future) HAS "sunk in" to the neo-cons. The society that has been created, with it's four car families and 20 mile commutes is not going to be changed, significantly, in time to ward off the effects of global warming - and quite frankly, they don't intend to even try.
American businesses are not going to be hampered by any EPA regulations. It's senseless now that we know what is in the future. If you are not aware of the consequences of global warming, please check into the Nobel Prize awarded to oceanographer Wally Broecker in 1996.. It was not given much press coverage (of course) because it is a rather disturbing discovery.....and the corporations cannot have the public worrying about such things as their children's and grandchildren's future.
It's slowly sinking in that Eisenhower's warning was ignored by the American public.The military industrial complex now occupies the White House, cabinet, and the Pentagon. Corporate control of America is now complete.
With a public that is essentially asleep at the wheel......happy to have a job......and afraid to rock the boat even a tenth of a degree.......the neo-cons have complete control. So, alright....... sit back and do nothing. Watch the Eastern Bloc countries (who really appreciate this thing called Democracy) show us how it's done.
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1) Mr. Spitzer's Speech in full text: http://nyc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/142794/index.php
2) Benjamin Stein, "A License to Steal" Page 197
Original: Things are going from bad to worse? - It has gotten worse, folks!