The end of American democracy?

Many people have said to me that this is the most important election in their lifetimes. I neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement, but have just been thinking about whether it is so.

Today I concluded that the statement is true indeed.

I believe that the present regime is so immoral and dishonest, that another 4 years could mean the end of democracy.

1. The Bush crowd (the "fascists") fixed the election in Florida, disenfranchising tens or even hundreds of thousands of US citizens. The head of the Bush campaign organization was in charge of the election. It is a fact that under honest election conditions, Gore carried Florida, and Gore rather than Bush would have been president.

2. No one has been prosecuted for the crimes that were committed in Florida, because the crimes were federal, and John Ashcroft is in charge of the US Department of Justice. Were he an honest public official, he would be prosecuting the legion violations of federal law which occurred.

3. As every knowledgeable lawyer knows, the conduct of the US Supreme Court was totally illegal. In the first place 2 of the judges in the majority were required to be recused from the case, Scalia because 2 of his sons worked for the law firm representing Bush, Thomas because his wife worked for Bush and her job only existed if Bush were the winner. In the second place the decision itself was totally contrary to the unbroken line of authorities decided by the Court over a span of more than 30 years, all of which held that the equal protection clause does NOT mandate that people in different areas be treated equally (witness, e.g., the San Antonio School District case, in which it was held that it was permissible for children in poor school districts to receive an inferior education to that received by children in rich school districts, since it was okay to discriminate on the basis of poverty, poverty not being one of the factors meant to be prohibited by the equal protection clause). It was a totally fake decision, and the court signalled that by stating -- for perhaps the first time in US Supreme Court history -- that the decision could not be cited as a precedent. That is because the US Supreme Court did not want to ever have to explain how they came to their lawless conclusion.

4. The Bush regime is totally merged with the corporations it serves, and is even willing to wage war, and to occupy foreign lands, at the cost of thousands of lives, in order to aid its corporate allies.

5. The fascists in the White House seek to curry popular support by continually making references to disconnected symbols that have emotional resonance: 9/11, 'sanctity of marriage', rights of 'small business owners', 'family values', 'trial lawyers'. Meanwhile their legislation and acts break down families, deprive families of medical care and the right to subsistence, enhance the ability of large businesses to crush small businesses. Their lack of vigilence, and their obsession with corporate greed for oil, caused 9/11. And they have no problem whatsoever with 'trial lawyers' so long as they're trial lawyers that represent large corporations.

6. The Bush campaign is afraid of any kind of dialogue, insisting on 32 pages of preconditions before agreeing to debate Kerry, not letting anyone into a Bush speech who does not sign a loyalty oath, having dissenters and protesters arrested, carting innocent people off in mass arrests to silence dissent at the Republican convention.

7. The 2000 campaign sent a bunch of brownshirt congressional aides to intimidate election workers who were trying to count votes.

8. The tactics used in 2000 in Florida are being used all over again in 2004, due to the lack of law enforcement and totally fixed election process presided over by Bush's brother Jeb.

9. The Supreme Court, packed with right wingers, is on the verge of overturning Roe v Wade, a decision which has saved thousands of lives, and restored safety and freedom of choice to women.

10. The fascists, although quick to condemn dictators who won't play ball, are more than pleased to do anything for those dictators who ply them with money, such as the Saudi Arabian aristocracy, who behead people for being gay, stone women for wearing the wrong clothes, and haven't a clue as to democracy.

11. The fascists are attempting to fix the 2004 election across the country, making sure that the new electronic voting machines manufactured by Diebold DO NOT HAVE PAPER TRAILS. Meanwhile the head of Diebold -- the manufacturer of the voting machines -- has stated that he 'will do everything in my power to deliver Ohio for George Bush'.

12. Although campaigning in 2000 as a conciliator, and although he received no mandate for his platform from the people, having lost the popular vote, Bush then proceeded to go on a reign of terror, using the power he has to solidify more power, and showing no mercy to Democrats.

13. His crowd have illegally gerrymandered the Texas congressional districts in order to solidify a Republican stranglehold on Texas's congressional delegation.

14. Some of the most central themes in the Bush presidency have been the destruction of our personal liberties: destroying the separation between church and state, stifling dissent, instituting preventive detention, destroying the right to privacy, taking away the freedom of reproductive rights, taking away the right to vote, failing to enforce the laws to protect competition, taking away freedom of speech, arresting people who wear dissenting t shirts.

The similarity between the United States in 2004, and Germany in 1933, is startling.

How can any thinking person doubt that if the Bush regime gets another 4 years, it will be about nothing but (a) increasing the power of the corporations, (b) packing the courts with right wing judges, (c) destroying all checks and balances, (d) continuing to destroy our personal freedoms, and (e) destroying the rule of law in this country?

For these reasons I have concluded that this is the most important election in my lifetime.