This is the first part of a two-part series. It's a longie but, I believe, a goodie. Here, as something of an enticement, is my conclusion to this first part.
In short, the terrorists have won thanks to the actions of their virtual allies the Republicans and the acquiescence of a whole lot of Democrats and the only real question is just how permanent and far-reaching their combined victory over America is going to be.
OK, no doubt this comes off like tin-foil hat stuff. Even I was surprised by the extremity of my conclusion. But just humor this old bastard and keep reading because, near as I can tell, my argument actually adds up. Of course, that's what they all say.
Let the main body of text begin.
In one of my earlier posts I reached the conclusion that Republicans are, for all practical purposes, fifth columnists doing Islamic Jihadists' bidding, though I wouldn't go so far as to say the collusion is deliberate. Our country is being run by a president and a party who are far more loyal to themselves than they ever were to America to the point where their behavior doesn't just border on treason, it quite arguably crosses the line. (Anyone who doesn't believe that, is just some crank like Valerie Plame.) And yet few even on our side seem willing to point this out. I mean, where's Stephen Colbert when you really need him? The current bacchanalia of right bashing in the lefty blogosphere is like watching a bunch of hedonists orgiastically dancing around a bottomless abyss of perfidity by pretending it isn't any less innocuous than a nose-deep cesspool of corruption.
Part I: What it's Supposed to Mean to be an American and How it doesn't Match with the Present
One of the best ways to alienate any sentient person is to talk about the importance Americanism. Still, being an American ought to be good for something and I like being proud of the good stuff even if I am sincerely repulsed by the bad.
The two basic principles that America is supposed to be all about are 1) the right to be protected from needless government intrusion and harassment and 2) the rule of law, these being the legacy of some of our more unpleasant experiences with British royalty and oppression. That's why the Bill of Rights is chock o' block full of stuff like insisting upon the right to assemble and free speech. More significantly these days is the right not to be subjected to warrantless searches. Then there's the bit about not being tossed in jail without due process of law. The constitution would never have been ratified if these protections hadn't been promised as part of the deal. This is the very stuff that's allowed us to hold on to our moral legitimacy in the world despite some of the truly heinous acts we've managed to commit.
There's something else. Although people don't like to mention it, the American Revolution was very much a rebellion against the idea of religious interference in government and an in-your-face rebuke to the notion of divine right. King George was not just a royal despot who had supposedly been put there by God; he was the very head of the Anglican Church. The American Revolution, therefore, wasn't just revolutionary, it was also heretical. Thomas Paine who wrote "Common Sense," the book that Washington read to his troops to explain just what it was they were fighting for, was an atheist. During the constitutional convention, notorious whorer and ladies man, Ben Franklin, suggested that each session begin with a prayer. He was overwhelmingly voted down. There were also the relatively fresh memories of centuries of religious warring in Europe. The principle of separation of church and state was around long before communists and hippies. When fundamentalists claim that the constitution was divinely inspired and that America was founded as a Christian nation, they are not just confusing the issue, they are destroying our heritage.
As President Bush himself has stated, terrorists hate us for our freedoms. (They also hate us for other stuff like supporting dictatorial, unelected oil-rich regimes like Saudi Arabia--and, earlier, Saddam Hussein. There's also the Iraq War, which certainly seems to have garnered a certain amount of ill will. And let's not forget our support for that endless fount of Arab goodwill: Israel, which I endorse though I'm not always happy about it.) If there's one thing Islamic theocrats are known for, it's quashing dissent to keep their hold on power.
So, if you want to keep America America which is what you absolutely have to do if you want to keep the terrorists from winning, you want to make absolutely certain that the absolute barest minimum of our traditional freedoms and democratic principles are sacrificed, if at all. That's what a true American would want. What a terrorist would want is for us to push the panic button, eviscerate our freedoms and become a hollow mockery of our former selves. An Islamic Jihadist terrorist would also obviously want us to bring religion front and center into the political mainstream. And none of this mushy progressive religion, either with stuff like woman and homosexual ministers. No, they'd want an oppressive, repressive, fundamentalist my-way-or-the-highway sort of religion that denies evolution, keeps women in their place and punishes gays just for being gay, even if it's Mark Foley or Ken Mehlman. OK, so the religion here is Christianity and not Islam, but the important thing is they both worship the same God who has some very backward notions indeed.
Now, offhand, which way would you say the wind has been blowing? Well, let's see. President Bush has 1) got the government to fund faith-based initiatives thus blurring the line between church and state while making an Oprahesque deal about his personal relationship with Christ, 2) arguably won his first presidential election in 2004 by running against homos so as to cater to the "Left Behind" crowd, 3) declared that he not only has the right to hold people without charge but can keep them imprisoned even after they've been declared innocent in court, 4) stated that he doesn't need a warrant to tap phone lines, 5) claimed that he can break pretty much any law he wants, including laws he's personally signed himself, 6) valiently fought for his right to sponsor torture, 7) has excluded anyone who doesn't look like an obvious supporter from attending his public appearances so he doesn't have to face critical questioning, 8) punished government employees for dispensing accurate information, including scientific information, that they are required to dispense.
I could go on about how transparency and accurate information are the life blood of a genuine democracy while this administration shows its contempt by being both secretive and chronically misrepresenting what it's really up to, but that's Paul Krugman's turf. Then there's our cowardly and complicit mainstream news media, which has obsequiously misreported and quashed news stories inconvenient to the administration with a consistency that wouldn't be too out of place in a state-run media. America has become s a place where political power is based on ignorance, fear, deliberate misinformation, appeals to the Almighty, deligitimizing inconvenient questioning as dangerous and disloyal and where the president's legal experts all but openly insist that he is an elected dictator. In short, the terrorists have won thanks to the actions of their virtual allies the Republicans and the acquiescence of a whole lot of Democrats and the only real question is just how permanent and far-reaching their combined victory over America is going to be.
Tomorrow or soon after, Part II: How Republicans have actively aided the terrorists, let 9/11 happen and made us more, not less, vulnerable.