DESCENDING INTO FASCISM

George W. Bush is now collecting data on more than 300 million domestic and international phone calls and the huge volume of internet traffic each day. According to a poll taken last night by the Washington Post, 66% of the American people have no objection to this program.

Some Democrats, like Sen. Patrick Leahy from Vermont, have expressed concern. "It is our government, it's not one party's government. It's America's government. Those entrusted with great power have a duty to answer to Americans what they are doing," he said.

Please note, he did not say stop doing it….he just said tell us what you are doing.

Unfortunately it appears that some number of Democratic Party leaders in Washington have known about the spy program for years and have kept their mouths shut - until now. One such person is House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). She held a news conference yesterday to bemoan the spy collection effort but knew about it all along.

Even some Republicans have spoken out about the program. Right-wing Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, told Fox News: "The idea of collecting millions or thousands of phone numbers, how does that fit into following the enemy?"

Sadly, now that this new poll is reported today, many of the politicians will back-off from even making strong statements as they realize that the American people have been lulled to sleep. And Bush will feel empowered by the new poll numbers showing support for the spy agency's collection of phone information. Knowing how Bush works, this will only give him confidence to go the next steps.

Greater domestic spying and attack of Iran come immediately to mind.

It has been reported that the spy collection information was leaked to the media in retaliation for Bush's appointment of the NSA's Gen. Michael Hayden to head the CIA. The word is that many in the CIA feel that the Pentagon is grabbing the authority to do covert operations - especially without consulting the CIA's intelligence bureaucracy and its civilian leaders.

According to William Arkin, who writes for the Los Angeles Times, "The Defense Department is building an elite secret army with resources stretching across the full spectrum of covert capabilities. New organizations are being created. The missions of existing units are being revised."

The bottom line is a total consolidation of war making power inside a Pentagon that has been purging any opposition to the "endless war" plans of the Bush team. They are privatizing war making and ensuring that all decision making will be done by a very select few. Last January Rumsfeld created the Strategic Support Branch and gave it the job of competing with the CIA to "operate without detection and under the defense secretary's direct control."

So now we have a full picture of the future. The coup d' etat is virtually complete. Total military control of all intelligence operations, cutting out all civilian run intelligence agencies. Consolidation of all covert operations into the hands of just a few high-level operatives inside the Pentagon. No fiscal restraint on the Pentagon. No congressional oversight. And now a poll showing that 66% of the American people feel like the vacuum cleaner style collection of telephone calls is fine.

What's next? How long before martial law is declared? Maybe it won't be necessary. As long as the American people, the Democratic Party "leadership", and the courts go along with the show, the nation will have suspended constitutional government without much of a whimper.

To me this is the final straw that indicates we have descended into fascism. The Congress is nothing put a prop – a puppet. The opposition party fears to really stand up and fight. And when the opposition leadership won’t fight, the American people say to themselves, “Why should I make a big deal out of this? The Democrats are compliant. I should be as well.”

For me, now is the time more than ever to stand up and shout the truth. We must speak out loudly and often while we still can. I do fear martial law will be next. Bush is not going to back off now. Even though his approval ratings are at an all-time low he has no real opposition. The media still rolls over. The Democrats have no guts. Bush will keep rolling the dice.

With the coming elections in November of this year the advocates of peace and constitutional government must declare their independence from both parties and only vote for people who are willing to call for impeachment of Bush and for immediate cut-off in funding for the war and withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

And we must be in the streets as often as possible between now and then. We’ve got to get organized. Stop worrying about your job. You are now losing your country!