Hey Be Us Corp Us

LeonT asked his old friend Vlad for a conversation over coffee. Here's the unedited transcript.

LeonT: Tell me Vlad, in the great democracy known as the United States, the President has signed a bill allowing for faster prosecutions and quicker sentences. Why would he do such a thing that seems to violate the spirit of the constitution?

Vlad: Ah, my friend you have stumbled upon the great unspoken and unreported contradiction in the American Government. As they become more desperate in this losing war on terror, they tighten civil liberties at home and guard against all opposition, be it at home or abroad.

LeonT: But why are they so reflexive in their actions instead of being the great liberators Vice President Cheney thinks they are in Iraq?

Vlad: Well, you have to go back to the early years of the American independence movement. At that time, the rich, white intellectuals led by Thomas Jefferson et al, set out to provide what was best for them as property owners. They wanted to liberate themselves from England and drew up the constitution as a template for the elite. This was done as a reflexive action to protect and preserve their status in the country. [and to avoid taxes] Bush and the Congress are doing the same thing but are twisting the laws of the land to favour the current elite.

LeonT: But why change a fundamental right to a fair trial and for busted individuals to know what they are charged with?

Vlad: Fear. It's the Bush gang's motivation for everything they have done since 9/11. And it's a straight forward formula. First, you scare the public into thinking there is an imagined threat against them. This is characterized by Al Qaeda led by Osama bin Laden. The collapse of the World Trade Center was the new Pearl Harbor. Second, you take the fight oversees to an unknown region and spend billions of dollars to control a so-called war on terror. When this starts to go badly, as it has done for 3 years, you enter a state of panic because the people aren't buying the first two arguments. For the Bush gang, the only way to be seen as successful is to limit civil liberties on prisoners and begin prosecuting them at home. This would make it “appear” that you’re winning. Besides it scares the shit out of anyone who questions authority.

LeonT: So, in other words, they are trying to change the game by changing the rules so that they, the elite, can come out on top.

Vlad: Exactly, just like they did in 1776 and every other change in the President's powers since 9/11.

LeonT: One last question for you, Vlad.

Vlad: Sure, I'll do my best to answer.

LeonT: When does it all end?

Vlad: When the Bush gang suspends the Constitution. Then the totalitarian state they want to avoid becomes their own.

LeonT: Are you sure?

Vlad: That's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

LeonT: I think I need another coffee.

Vlad: No; let's blow this pop stand and get something stronger.