Fortress America

This is a new piece from Chris Hedges, one of America's best journalists and truth-tellers.  He has been front and center in sounding the klaxon for the very serious potential of America becoming a real dystopian police state. 

I have read many articles like this one before, particularly as Bush II was concerned in his authorization of extreme interrogation methods (torture).  What I think made this a different experience for me this time around, was the timing.  This debt ceiling debate has instilled a degree of insecurity and maybe even fear among people who otherwise don't really think about current events all that much, other than when it affects their pocketbook, which national debt certainly does.  And while an American default probably won't happen (not to say that continuing on our current course is sustainable either), the chances of a default or some other calamity happening is significantly higher than it should be (10% to 20%, maybe).  

So many things are happening.  I'd say that, for the short term, we'll probably be okay, but in the next 5-10 years?  I'm not as enthusiastic.  There is an anger among the populace about our economic situation (both individual and collectively) and the extreme wealth disparity that exists.  As our economic downturn becomes more and more pronounced, and as bailouts keep happening, that anger will start to carry over into more visible ways, such as protests or riots for example.  And then, you are going to see the same system that Hedges describes in his article, the system that is being used as a steamroller to run over Muslims and undocumented immigrants, applied towards more and more Americans who try to stand up to their government.  I think that we came pretty close to fascism after 9/11, and some of us think that we did indeed become a fascist country on that day, if not before.  But if some disaster, economic or otherwise, came about, I think that we will run off the rails into clear, unmitigated, fascism.  

Sadly, I do not think that Bush, his administration, his lawyers or his commanders in the armed forces, will ever be held to account for their crimes.  Bringing such powerful people to trial is a huge hurdle in and of itself, but you'd need a working legal system in order for that to even be possible.  This, we do not have.  Our legal system is fraught with corruption and internal ideology.  You'd have to fix that first before having a crack at prosecuting these people, and if that were to occur, they will all likely be dead.