Rooting For Incompetence

Odd times, these. Never before have I rooted for the CIA, but now, in the Bush Administration's efforts to pawn off all "intelligence failures" on the CIA, I find I'm on their side! Never before would I have rooted for a Military General for president, but for a few days I did just that, for Wesley Clark, till I figured out he's not a Democrat, he just plays one on TV. Whether he is a serious candidate backed by the conservative wing of the Democratic Party, or a stalking horse slated to lose to Bush or pick up where Bush left off, I soured on him quickly. It's Michael Moore's fault I got roped in, in the first place. But still, for awhile, I figured what better way to out macho the Republicans than Clark?

But there has been little to head off my feeling that it's GAME OVER for democracy in our late, great country. It's Fascism Light...all the social control with guaranteed fewer concentration camps! So far, we only have a few hundred in such camps and since they are in Cuba, we can all safely tell future historians how we had NO IDEA what evil things went on there.

However, a touch of light has been emerging at the end of this tunnel. One that was so obvious that I overlooked it at first. This is the most INCOMPETENT fascist regime in the history of politics. For every actual combatant they kill in Iraq (they may want to look up that term, by the way. It does not include UNARMED DRIVERS, for example.), they shoot themselves at least twice in the foot. That foot is probably getting pretty sore about now, and someone is bound to notice the hopping.

One very large mistake was alienating the CIA by blaming the agency for all "faulty intelligence." The CIA is quite happy to help any President in undemocratic skullduggery. I believe their motto is: "Subverting Democracy...It's what we do." But no, Rumsfield had to keep getting on their case when he didn't get the intelligence he wanted (I mean intelligence as in information, not as in Scarecrow seeking a brain). Rumsfield even started his own in-house intelligence service. He is what political philosophers term, a "dumb-ass."

And then there was the outing of the CIA agent. While the rest of America was outraged at such a blatant, anti-patriotic, anti-security, boneheaded maneuver, I was quite pleased. First, the Plame-Wilson affair was another blow to the Bush administration's credibility and second, CIA agents were outed. CIA agents should be outed, because they do illegal stuff, like overthrow countries. I won't mention any current operations, despite my TOP SECRET security clearance, but I can tell you that one target of their current shenanigans is a South American country that begins with the letter V. There, my clearance is safe.

Now, what does all this mean. If the CIA, through leaks or even nastier acts, bumps the Pres. from his throne, what sort of person will they help to put in power there? Is this where Wesley comes in? I don't know. Maybe, if we are lucky, they don't have any agenda other than payback and any moderately conservative, pro-intelligence "community" candidate will do. So while our country might still go on subverting democracy elsewhere, maybe we'll get a little help with healthcare or something. I'm not suggesting we actually stand up to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, but, you know, maybe mandatory lollipops at all yearly physicals. Something.

However, the folks behind our Pretender-in-Chief got him into power the first time and odds are, they have gotten better at their craft. I mean, these guys are so good, they could probably get Arnold Shwarzenegger elected Governor of California. Heh. That's a good one.

So, what they lack in "savoir-faire" in politics, they make up for with dirty tricks. They own the voting machine companies. They are redistricting key states. They've even been breaking into the businesses of political opponents or bugging their offices. And, not to put too fine a point on it, troublesome opponents tend to, well...die in untimely ways. Note to Kucinich: Your campaign has already been infiltrated by saboteurs, but for the love of God/dess, stay off of small planes.

They also have a long range plan. Jeb Bush in '08...or maybe Arnold...I'm not sure. These guys are in this for the long haul. As soon as they can get Bev Harris off the internet, they've got a pretty good shot at pulling it all off.

But, dear reader, we must put what faith and hope we have left in the incompetence factor. They've made every mistake you can make. They've managed to mismanage things so badly that the compliant and firmly embedded press has even had to file a few damaging reports. Nothing too outrageous, you understand. Just enough to hedge their bets in case there actually is a sea change. The cabal has alienated every ally. This makes them weak.

Of course, it also makes them dangerous.

Finally, a public call. It is time for a volunteer, nationwide election-monitoring campaign. Someone with enough extra cash for a website needs to put out this call. We need well trained people monitoring in 2004 to look for those little "discrepancies" that the press in so unconcerned about. It won't change the result, but at least you'll be able to look your grandkids in the eye when they ask how YOU tried to stop the fascists. This is a blog and all I can afford, but there are bound to be already established organizations who could spearhead this effort. If blackboxvoting ever gets back online, I'll send them a note to see if there may already be such efforts. If so, I'll get back to you. You may now return to your favorite Sunday evening reality show.