Our America is Slipping Away

America has always been the bastion of the free. Imagine a place where torture was unthinkable, where the Bill of Rights was always a shield against abuse of authority, where the people's vote always counted and where politicians took seriously their oath to protect and defend the Constitution. This is our America and it is slowly slipping away before our very eyes. Some point to 9-11 and blame the acts of terror by those hijackers for every abuse of authority since then. The real change, however, took place on Dec. 13, 2000. The day the SC trumped the will of the people and handed the White House to a cabal whose primary aim was to protect the interests of the super rich and corporate elite. Our right to have our vote counted has since come under question. Machines owned by Bush loyalists are in charge of the counting and they will not open up their machines to scrutiny. Our sacred votes are at their mercy. Back to 9-11, that horrible day our dear leader sat reading, "My Pet Goat" as the Pentagon burned and the dust and the smoke of the Twin Towers choked the lungs of New York City. We will never cease to wonder where the downed plane in Pennsylvania would have hit if not for the bravery of its passengers. As a result of this horrible day, Congress passes the Patriot Act in haste, an act that should make the terrorists hate us less if "our freedoms" are what they really hate. It is set to be renewed and the sunset clauses taken out. This with the blessing of many Senate Democrats. The Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment have been "rendered quaint" just as the Geneva Convention. The abuse of power continues with the War in Iraq, or rather the Quagmire in Iraq. 1,700 soldiers officially dead. Many thousands more wounded physically and psychologically. There is no accurate count of Iraqi dead but estimates range from 10,000 to 100,000. Over half the population of the US says it was not worth it now and some are realizing the extent of the brainwashing lies used to get us to war. Yet, there are still those who ardently support the war; however even the able-bodied among them are not joining the military these days not to mention even willing to pay taxes to pay for it. It's easier to blame the "liberal media" and "permissive liberal parents" for the shortfall in recruiting. Congress in the meantime is intent on appeasing every whim of corporate America. Tort reform, the Bankruptcy Bill, and the rape of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge have all come to pass just in this session and it is not over yet. A few more years of this and life in our country will become unbearable. Whether we can save our America is unclear right now. The voice of reason somehow must come through during the next election cycle. The people must get beyond prejudice and Texas chuztpah and vote to restore our democracy. Until then people of conscience will struggle for change and continue to fight, for, as Al Gore put it in 2000, "The People, Not the Powerful."