the problem i see there, unfortunately, is a lack of great democratic candidates. On a side note, when I vote in the next election, I will probably go Green, but my own vote for a third party does not change the almost certain reality that I will be governed by either a Democrat or a Republican.
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Just because Bush says dictatorships are easier, doesn't mean you're on the way to a dictatorship. As long as you have a constitution, seperation of powers, and the right to speak your mind, you do not have, and will not have a dictatorship.
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Well let's see.
Separation of powers. The Supreme Court has already proven its ability to be partisan in the face of important national concerns. The Congress has bent over backwards to yield to this President, basically giving up its constitutional responsibility to be the arbiter of American involvement in war.
The Constitution. The PATRIOT Act has already made brutal attacks on the constitution. There are people rotting in jail cells right now who have been charged with no crime, have not been given access to an attorney, and are being held as "material witnesses"... witnesses to
what, nobody will say.
The same act makes it cake for the federal government to wiretap and use CARNIVORE to intercept emails (I have firsthand experience, my cousin and his family got a visit from the Feds after they intercepted email correspondence with some family in Pakistan.) In addition, the institution of Military tribunals on civilians tried in terror-related cases makes the use of secret evidence (which a defendant and his attorneys have no access to) legal.
Most of the congressmen who voted for the Act admitted that it was so long they didn't even get a chance to read it first. Talk about bending over for the executive branch.
Yeah. We're certainly not at 1984, but the idea is to stop it before things get that far.