Barbelith Underground > Switchboard > I'd Make a 1984 Reference, but it Seems too Obvious...

That's my real fear, Jake. If nothing comes of this, what does that mean? I mean, what has to come to light before the morons who voted for him realize that, thanks to them, we’re living in a state of tyranny- to a level never before seen in this country!?! I simply can’t believe the sheer brazenness of the administration for thinking they can get away with this! But I think they might. Which is…. Well, it’s horrific, is what it is.

Did you see the recent poll which said that the majority of Americans approve of torture?

The problem with Bush, to some extent, is that he realizes exactly how much he can get away with. When it comes down to it, almost everyone inside the Beltway prior to his administration really thought in terms of conventional politics, and even the most die-hard right-wingers were operating under self-imposed restraints out of some sense that Americans had some sort of vestigial faith in and respect for the rule of law and democratic processes.

Unfortunately, the fact of the matter seems to be that the majority of Americans split the world into two camps: Bad People, and People Like Themselves. They will let the government do anything it wants to do to Bad People or in the name of fighting Bad People. Anything. A. Ny. Thing. If anything, they think that the problem is that the government is too soft on Bad People. Bad People need to be hung by their testicles in the public square while People Like Themselves stab them with rusty scissors.

They neither accept nor really even understand the argument that the very idea of due process and inalienable rights implies that even those alleged to have committed the most heinous offenses need to have their rights respected, and they really don't seem to think that the government would ever do anything to People Like Themselves next.

The only things most Americans care about are their own economic well-being, and the idea that some Bad Guy out there in the big scary world outside the US is laughing at People Like Themselves while he gets away with blatantly being a Bad Guy.

Americans, to make a huge generalization, are undereducated, angry, paranoid about losing social or economic status*, and ignorant about the world outside America's borders, and the combination of those things leads them to some pretty disturbing trains of thought.

* And for good reason, since wages in inflation-adjusted dollars have been stagnant or declining for most Americans for decades now, and most Americans don't have the skills or education to compete in a global economy.