And I'm not being ironic or playing on words. It seems there is literally no hope.
In case you are unaware, The History Channel has a new documentary on The Third Reich, a documentary on Germany during WWII using never before seen footage of Germany and everyday German life during the war. It was on Tues and Weds night.
(You can probably guess where I'm going with this. Go ahead, invoke Godwin. I don't care.)
I watched the footage of Jews leaving Germany, having to pay 90% of their assets for the privilege of doing so. But in the words of one woman "No price was too much to pay for escape."
Call me paranoid, call me defeatist, but with each passing day it my wife and I wonder out loud, how long before we find ourselves saying the same thing? How long before we decide to run away to Canada or the U.K.? To escape this madness.
For their literally seems to be no hope. None.
I look at the U.S. like a huge room. One with rubber on the walls.
In one corner we have weak, timid Democrats, and beside them, their "opponents" for who comparisons to the Third Reich or the Mafia do not nearly exemplify how dangerous they are.
In the other corner we have a Supreme Court that operates with impunity, and is answerable to no one.
In this other corner we've got the big money from the corporations, the military-industrial complex, Big Oil, The Chamber of Commerce, etc, who now - thanks to the SC -- have unlimited say over who gets elected or not.
And in this other corner is the population of this country. There's us liberals and progressives, trying to make this a better world, but are hopelessly outnumbered/outgunned by two groups. One, the conservatives, who are far better organized and energized than us they are able to spread their influence far far past what their numbers would otherwise suggest.
Two, the great mass of apolitical Americans who are liberal but just don't know it and are far too distracted by such all-important topics such as the NFL playoffs and who wins The Biggest Loser.
Some of them voted for Obama, but now see him (rightfully) as too weak and ineffectual to be of any real use. What could have turned into a movement that could have lasted years has been pissed away.
It's like we're on a never-ending Moebius strip: we get a Dem into the White House and then - BLORP! - disaster strikes and Republicans take over. Carter, Clinton, Obama - it's never-FUCKING-ending. We are right back where we were in 2004 with blue states segregated in the West Coast, Northeast, and the Upper Midwest.
So what now? As things stand now, Obama will be lucky to be re-elected; many of those who turned out for him in 2008 will sit on their hands in 2012, leaving us at the tender mercies of a GOP White House, Senate, House and SCOTUS.
Again.
They've got Citizens United, they've got majorities in State Houses with redistricting power, they've got the admittedly formidable energy of millions of deranged lunatics who have made it clear that violence is an acceptable option to achieve political ends.
Meanwhile, our president, wants to be "bi-partisan". It's like he is expecting to be greeted with candy and flowers.
Start a third, liberal-based party? Yeah. Right. That guarantees a President Palin. Primary Obama? With who? Either way, how do you guarantee a new nominee doesn't get co-opted by the lobbyists, et al?
What's the point of all this? When the majorities of this country are willing to vote the same turds that caused this mess back into office, I seriously have to wonder if this country is even worth saving.
It's clear that a plutocratic rule is what the GOP wants in this country. Some would say we already have a de facto plutocratic government now, already. And of course, we can't forget about our fundamentalist friends who will be doing their best to outlaw abortion and create a theocratic society.
I remember last year when someone -- Meteor Blades, IIRC -- announced that his family would no longer pay taxes since Obama would not end the wars in the Middle East. We all told him that was foolhardy and would just get him into trouble.
Therefore, the wife and I are putting serious consideration into emigrating to somewhere else. We just don't have the energy to participate in this Sham-ocracy anymore.
I guess the question I'm putting out there is, is there any reason to think that there's any improvement on the horizon? Believe me, I'm all for fighting, but sometimes there's only so much that can be done. And I categorically refuse to live under President Paylump.
I'd rather be the Jewish lady on the train, as opposed to a Jewish person who remained behind in Poland.