Article: TOO LITTLE TOO LATE

As the time nears for the Democratic Congress to take office, debate is beginning to rage about whether the Pelosi approach is the correct one and it is more prudent for the Congress to launch investigations to hold responsible certain individuals in reverse chain-of-command fashion, dealing with rapscallions on each level in order to obtain testimony against those higher on the food chain or whether the direct attack would be more immediate and productive and follow the leadership of outgoing-Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and others of like mind and go directly to impeachment. It is the opinion of this writer that both approaches to haltering the rampant adventurism of this administration are too little and too late.

This is not your old-fashioned game of political niceties that is being played here. It's a combination of Texas Hold-Em with all guns on the table and the world's greatest chess masters with behind-the-scenes coaches who now find themselves in check. The ploy that will win means to take all the chips at once, permanently, and they are down to their last hole card. The last draw is for the very future of the entire world or its possible destruction and the devil will take the hindmost.

First, since the only thing that has been constructed in Iraq on a permanent basis are fourteen permanent military bases and an "American Embassy" the size of The Vatican and of a scope of grandeur, fortification, and defensibility that would have been envied by the glory-loving sheiks of old, it appears that withdrawal in any fashion at any time has been ruled out. This glorious city has not been built for the purpose of leaving the area, no matter how badly beaten and raggedy-assed the once-proud American Eagle may become. This is not about patriotism or even about democracy. It is about raw power and world control and nothing less.

Please note that work is rapidly being completed on the Guantanamo Bay complex of "Court Houses" and their support facilities offshore. Ostensibly, this location is to exempt the administrators of "justice" who practice there from the limitations of the American Constitution, despite the fact that few of the prisoners who have been held there for years of agony and brutality will ever be tried there. (As an aside, they have mis-read the Constitution which states that the legal caveats apply "anywhere in the jurisdiction of the United States.". As a property which is owned, operated, and administered by the government of the United States, even a casual reader would assume that it is within the jurisdiction of American law, but nobody has seen fit to challenge the opinions of the White House legal "scholars".) Nonetheless, the "court complex" will be completed and the hierarchy will gather there with all the comforts of home to watch the pronouncement and performance of punishment upon the rebellious malcontentss who refuse to bow to total control.

Throughout the United States, multi-national contractors are hard at work on "relocation camps" to be used in case of "national emergency" so that large numbers of people may be confined there for long periods of time. A "shadow government" has been formed outside the Washington area to be safe from any possible "invasion", peopled by hand-picked official who are poised to take control of all governmental functions if and when the legitimately-elected Representatives of The People should be rendered incapable of functioning. It is now being planned that increased military might may be obtained by the "selling" of American citizenship to foreign nationals who would have no compunctions against arresting and interning ordinary Americans, probably with no knowledge even that such actions should be illegal. Executive Orders and Justice Department opinions have prepared the access to power to allow the arrest of lawfully-elected officials as well as civilian resisters, "deport", try, convict, and execute as many as necessary to discourage any further resistance by the hoi polloi, and continue on track to become, as they feel they are entitled, "the Rulers of the Universe."

Investigations? Impeachment? It does not matter at this late stage. Either is too slow and ponderous. Nothing short of a secret grand jury indictment for treason and the immediate arrest of the highest officials in the Executive, State, and Justice branches now in office will be able to save our United States, restore it to its former status as a beacon of freedom in a troubled world and save all our sorry asses. Throughout this whole takeover of the United States, from the initial electoral blitzkreig through the unilateral initiation of two separate wars, the shredding of the civil rights that have been granted by the Constitution, the draining of the Treasury through no-bid contracts with hand-picked multi-national corporations, and the assumption of absolute power of the Executive, the Neo-Con cabal have been two jumps ahead of those in Congress who might attempt to bring it under control. By the time Congress determines that there us a "problem", it is already too late to do anything about it and, meanwhile, the next step in the coup d'etat has been solidified and another initiated.

"Whose fault is this?" you may well ask. It is yours and mine, Mr. and Mrs. John Q! We allowed our franchise to govern to be stolen away by the spectacle of national elections that have become no more and no less than popularity or beauty contests. The handsome face or the well-cut suit will win every time over the rumpled shirt and the great mind topped by a homely countenance. Abe Liccoln would not have stood a chance in modern-day America! And it is "inconvenient" for us to devote the needed time to the health of our democracy in order to keep up-to-date on current events. We refuse to believe that politics is anything more than a game where we pit sides against each other and the only prize is the glory of knowing that we are a bit better than the other guys.

Well, this time it is not a spectator sport. This time it is, most literally, a contest for all the marbles. The winner WILL take all. They already have your good-paying job; your house, your car and your pension are in the pot and the only thing you have left will be your freedom of self-determination. You're down to your hole card. Raise, fold, or draw!