R.I.P. America

All it took was 18 guys with box cutters and America was no more. Not "defeated," of course, because we are still the most powerful nation on the planet -- if one measures "power" on such things as size of nuclear arsenal, numbers of conventional killing machines, consumption of goods, corporate wealth, stock holdings, private educational opportunities, etc. But the horror of Sept. 11, 2001 -- events that, we've since learned, might have been prevented if the President had fulfilled the responsibilities of his office or might have been used to bring people together to fight terrorism rather than turn us into the most reviled nation on earth -- sent America into a tailspin, one that we've yet to pull out of. Rather than becoming a stronger, more confident and ennobled nation, we've become exactly what our forefathers warned us against: a tyranny. With almost comical irony, the new tyrant, like the old one, is called George.

Let's start with something on which we, so-called righties, lefties and moderates, should be able to agree: In the name of fighting terror we have ourselves become terrorized by our government. The recent reports of the President's warrant-less spying on American citizens seem lifted from Josef Stalin's daily to-do list. Russell Tice, a former National Security Agency operative forced out of his job for whistleblowing last year, recently told reporters that the spying was not, as Bush insists (and when do people simply stop believing anything said by this pathological liar?), limited in scope. Indeed, Tice says the number of Americans illegally probed "could be in the millions."

Further, the FBI has been given carte blanche by attorney generals Ashcroft and Gonzalez to monitor "groups with suspected ties to foreign terrorists." And who might some of these terrorist groups be? They include environmentalists, animal rights activists and poverty relief proponents. In other words, there's a good chance that if you've ever said anything against the president, expressed antiwar sentiments on the phone, joined an environmental group, gone to a rally for the poor or protested the treatment of research lab animals, you have been tapped, probed and otherwise breached -- and you will never know what they have in their little files. While it would be, in a bragging-rights sort of way, an honor to be on Bush's enemies list, it can and will ruin your life somewhere down the line. As Philip K. Dick put it, "Once they notice you, they never completely close the file."

The most heinous act done since 9/11 in the name of "fighting terror" may be the least noticed, largely because it was passed with bipartisan support and very little discussion: The Real ID Act, which became law on May 10, 2005. This anti-American legislation, the very embodiment of Bush Era paranoia, is the exact opposite of FDR's famous speech: The only thing we have is Fear Itself. As reader Mike Agranoff told me, "Not only will privacy be destroyed, but your life can be ruined by inaccurate data that you cannot correct. And Government will be immune from liability. Any dishonest bureaucrat can finish you."

Details to follow in a future column.

Brief note: Bloggers like Daily Kos, Atrios, Steve Gilliard and My DD, as well as progressive news sites like Liberal Oasis (now based in Northampton!) and American Politics Journal rose to the occasion for the Alito hearings. This is good for many reasons but mostly because the so-called mainstream media (MSM) failed miserably in its coverage. This vitally important story was largely framed by the MSM as a quiz show or a celebrity roast. Will Alito crack? Will his wife crack up? Why are senators so mean? Will Biden ask a freaking question?! Theirs was meaningless drivel masquerading as journalism and they treated the confirmation of Alito -- as extreme as Scalia, Thomas and Bork -- as a fait accompli.

These unsung, and for the most part unpaid, bloggers dug deep into the minutiae of the hearings, provided expert analysis, and fact-checked testimony, finding numerous whopping lies and dissembles that dribbled from Alito's mushy mouth. In short, they did the job the MSM used to do. In the process, they exposed the MSM's dirty secret. That is, via CSPAN, bloggers -- let's call them informed, concerned citizens -- saw the same events unfold as the "legitimate" reporters. The difference between the two camps' coverage, however, could not have been more stark -- simpering on the one hand, serious on the other. This invaluable public service spat directly into the wind of our burgeoning tyranny. Sam Adams would be proud.


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