by Loren Adams - March 22, 2009
Never would I have imagined America would arrive at such a
state – especially considering the peaceful, prosperous 90s when the
nation reached its zenith, the Cold War ended in triumph over communism, and the
world (almost unanimously) held USA in high esteem as the surviving superpower.
Recall Al Greenspan lamenting the “danger” of Clinton’s budget surpluses? Those
were the days, my friends; we thought they’d never end.
“Now we are engaged in another Great Depression testing
whether this nation, or any other nation, so conceived and so dedicated can
long endure. We are gathered on the great battlefield of that meltdown.”
Republicans don’t like to point fingers, specifically when
culpable, where the preponderance of evidence now proves, without doubt, their
policies led to abject failure, the economic collapse of a once-great
commercial power and the ensuing sense of panic gripping the public. It’s real
and it’s here. Twenty-First Century Americans may have forgotten lessons from
the early Twentieth, but it’s now observed how many quick-studies are focusing
on the ’29 Crash, causes of the Great Depression and eventual remedies.
Meanwhile, America’s economy falls like a house of cards.
General Motors leaked the news it probably won’t survive (after receiving $18
billion from taxpayers). The entire banking system is insolvent. There are no
new good jobs to be had, as unemployment lines stretch for miles and a family
is evicted from its home due to foreclosure every ten-seconds. Presently,
one-fifth of remaining mortgages are in some stage of default. America has been
totally undermined by the greedy, the religious kooks, and the crooks – the
embodiment of the Bush administration.
Republicans encouraged whole industries to re-locate to
other nations. In fact, they coined a special term for the process:
“outsourcing.”
Republicans encouraged remaining industries to hire
undocumented alien labor, and then (like true hypocrites) went after the
aliens, erected a $700 million wall at the Mexican border, and punished all but
the true offenders: the unscrupulous, unpatriotic businesses that hired them.
Republicans encouraged corporations to bank off-shore to
evade taxes.
Republicans handed out no-bid federal contracts to crony
companies (Halliburton, Bechtel, Blackwater, Enron, at al). The loss to
taxpayers was in the hundreds of billions per year. Billions more simply
vanished from Iraq and Afghanistan without a trace. There was no integrity nor
accountability in the process. Republicans (when in power) just shrugged it off
when Democrats and independent watch-dog organizations brought it to the
public’s attention.
Republicans played the reverse role of Robin Hood –
stealing from the poor to give to the rich.. In fact, tax cuts for the rich was
the only mantra ever brought to the table under Republican rule to “help the
economy.” The disparity of income reached a level not seen since the 1920s
– just before the Great Depression.
They exported our jobs while importing cheap labor to
replace those that were lucky enough to remain. They undermined industry. They
undermined the tax code. They deregulated the finance and investment sectors. They politicized the Justice Department.
They repealed and/or “re-interpreted” labor laws enacted in the 30s in a direct
effort to damage working people. They harassed unions. They undermined the
education system. They defended the insurance industry against policyholders
whose claims were inexcusably denied. They made war against science. They waged
war against the arts. They declared war against the Middle Class. They killed
stem-cell research. They killed the Kyoto Protocol Treaty. They denied global
climate change. They relaxed environmental regulations, increasing pollution in
America. They made the EPA another sounding board for GOP talking-points. They
lied to Manhattan – telling them air quality was okay after 9/11. They
gutted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – making it a toothless
agency incapable [and unwilling] to detect contaminated peanut and other
products that killed hundreds. They were powerless to lift a finger to rescue
thousands of drowning Katrina victims while pouring hundreds of billions into rebuilding
Iraq and the most expensive embassy ever ($1.2B). They unilaterally nullified
international treaties that took decades to construct. They deliberately
violated the Constitution. They suspended habeas corpus. They embraced torture
as a means of interrogation. And then they deliberately lied America into
endless, winless wars costing $2 trillion thus far.
Then they have the nerve to ask, “How’d this happen?” Or
they spin, “Must be the result of Clinton and/or Carter putting welfare queens
into homes they couldn’t afford.” That’s exactly what they’re claiming, I kid
you not. Barney Frank is thrown into the mix somehow to stir up the base even
more. (Republicans love it when their hateful “gaydar” goes off, no matter if
unrelated.)
Well, the Republican COLLAPSE is here and it’s real.
I’m reluctant to say what’s next. But here goes….
The viciousness and utter dishonesty of the opposing
right-wing will foment civil unrest. Rush Limbaugh is representative of that movement;
his spirit mirrors theirs and vice-versa. I’ve already overheard co-workers
talking revolt because of their revulsion for Obama. The deceitful right-wing
propaganda machine, as it continues to inflame its base to deeper levels of hatred
and self-righteousness, will be instrumental in giving birth to an armed revolt.
Conservatives will never accept responsibility for this
financial meltdown but will assign blame to “liberals” -- as they always have,
and millions, as a result, will take up arms against what has been framed as
“enemies of America” by right-wing talking heads (FOX, Limbaugh, Hannity,
O’Reilly, Drudge, Coulter, right-wing radio, etc.).
The Left, naturally, will defend itself. The Right, first of
all, will do everything in its power to defeat proposals geared toward reviving
the economy. Then, as the economic catastrophe deepens, they will attack
physically. Well-armed they are. Committed they are. But delusional they are as
well. The national right-wing cult is the most dangerous infection on the body
of the Republic in our nation’s history. It’ll take special surgery to remove
these toxins if we are to survive as a nation.
What will be the first signs of civil unrest? Health
clinics, government buildings, and gay establishments will be attacked.
Arsonists will set fire to these symbols of “liberalism” – as right-wing
antagonists lay blame on specific groups – like Jerry Falwell and Pat
Robertson did after 9/11: “Gays, abortionists, feminists, liberals, etc.” Next,
gays will be singled out, assaulted and shot, not that this is unusual, but the
intensity will increase astronomically – a clear indicator of civil
unrest, the child of collapse. Gay bars and clubs in Midwestern and Southern
cities will be most vulnerable. Government edifices will then be targeted,
simply because Democrats are in power. Government is the “enemy” when all but
Republicans rule. So, government employees will also become targets, just as
Tim McVeigh was stirred to action by right-wing leaders in the 90s. Snipers
will target administration officials. The Secret Service will have to be
strengthened. Blacks and black churches will again face assault. Jewish
synagogues and Muslim mosques will be fire-bombed. Women’s health clinics will
be bombed.
All this – because right-wing leaders inflame but
never construct. Compromise is not in their vocabulary, only war and assault,
like the Nazis of old enslaved by their nasty little prejudices.
Republican policies beget economic collapse, and collapse
begets social turmoil. Unfortunately, that’s the picture I see coming down the
road at present. Truth is more inconvenient than fiction, but sometimes we’re
forced to look in the mirror, such as now.
The only hope is the next chapter: Renaissance. If America
removes these deadly toxins, it’ll survive into a new age of innovation,
invention, and reconciliation. 