Holte's corner

9:00 on the Totalitarian Clock

I've been frustrated with Presidents before. But this one bothers me in ways the others didn't. This Supreme court nominee and his constant references to "unitary executive" scare me. I know what they mean.

I'll read the President's speach in the morning. If I could I'd carry a sign in front of the Whitehouse. Or I would attend and simply turn my back on him the moment the first lie came out of his mouth -- probably within two minutes of talking. Why can he lie so shamelessly to us but not to a court? I wish he had to give the speach under oath. Then we'd have to impeach him.

I can't do that anymore. The Secret Service would arrest me.

It didn't used to be that way. Before Timothy McVeigh came, one could walk down to Pennsylvannia avenue and chat with all the protestors. Some were crazy, some were fairly sane. Those protesters, all claimed the constitutional right to petition the government. I used to talk to them about what a wonderful country we lived in where protestors could protest right in front of the white-house -- try doing that now.

That went away thanks to Timothy McVeigh and then thanks to 9/11. The protesters were first swept back from near Pennsylvannia Avenue on Lafayette Square during the Clinton Administration, but they were finally swept out of the park during the Bush Administration. We don't have the right to petition this government -- at least not the executive.

With me, I'm too old for such protests anyway. I've got a day job (and a wife) that doesn't let me wander the city streets anymore. And in truth, I'm afraid. They've used tear gas on protestors. They've locked them up without trials for a couple of days and then let them go after the protests were over. The Police are back to using agent provocateurs to try to incite violence so they can arrest everybody in a group. All this is documented. It's not my paranoia talking -- though it is making me scared.

I don't think it's systematic yet. Or is it? I can still say hi to the police here, but I'm wondering how long. I can still vote, but will it be counted? I can worry about the Feds breaking down my doors for a crime I didn't even know was a crime or that I didn't even commit. That is how it works. Pass enough laws criminalizing enough things and even the most law abiding citizens have to be extremely careful not to get arrested. Then the police and prosecutors have power. They can selectively prosecute. Then it becomes a crime to be in the opposition. We aren't there yet. That is why i'm protesting now. We are getting close.

I never was hot on protests, but now I'm scared sufficiently. This stuff is working. It's worked on me. The terrorism has succeeded. Not Bin Laden's but the President's. He believes in Propaganda, he proudly will tell you so. And it works folks.

Still I'm not too old not to protest as much as I can legally -- and hope that it remains legal for at least a little while longer -- or that we American's will wake up and smell the coffee. We are like crabs in a pot filled with water and nice smelling spices. It's getting warm, but are we upset yet? Can we still get out of this pot or are we already cooked and just don't know it yet?

I should create a clock like that of the Doomsday Clock. I could call it the "Totalitarian State" clock and list characteristics of a totalitarian state. The number of degrees on the hands would correspond to the degree and severity with which we match those attributes. Are we the largest military in the world? larger than all the others combined? Yes. Are we locking up people without trials. Yes. Are we totalitarian yet? No. Maybe we are at 9:00 PM. Not yet midnight, but if we go asleep now, we may wake up with the Totalitarian Clock past midnight. Or we might not wake up. The water is awfully hot here.

When Clinton came to office it was 6:00. Ms. Reno let the BATF do some unjust things with the Waco nuts and a few other gun nuts pushed it to 6:30. When they reacted to McVeigh's attrocity by closing down Penn Avenue, that put it at 7:00 PM. 9/11 pushed it to 8:00. This Unitary Executive theory, and the concommittent ignorings of law and oaths. These internal spyings, domestic operations, and the general attitude of the "red states" towards the rest of us, are pushing close to 9:00 Pm. The spineless response of so many of our politicians is letting them get away with it. We have to push back.

Let's get back to daylight. Please?

Chris

Posted by cholte at January 31, 2006 09:29 PM