What if...

I'm proud to be an American. At least, proud to be what America has and can stand for. But when I say America, I mean the philosophical ideals, the ethereal connotation of it.

America to me means freedom, liberty, equality; none of which seems to exist in America as it is today, in its practicing societal form.

What if...
America has become the "great evil empire" of the new millennia? I was remembering Russia being labeled this by Reagan in the 80s. Now that I look at it, there are many parallels to 80s Russia and the current US government, which back then were deemed "heinous acts."

The one that really got to me was thinking about the strike Russia took against the Mujaheddin insurgency in Afghanistan in 1979. The main difference being that they were there to support the existing government instead of overthrowing it, as we have in Iraq. But both wars were (are) very unpopular and utter failures.

How far away are we from an all-powerful government? Closer than you might think. The current administration, using "executive privilege" are creating a branch of government shrouded in secrecy, and is bordering authoritarianism. The Bush administration are not typical conservatives. True conservatives typically prefer small government power, more as a administrative role to the constituents than active decisions. Bushies are, as Dean puts it, "radical authoritarians." They make decisions without informing the people (or even the other branches of government, in fact) of the what, why, or even how. When our own legislative branch can't ask questions of the executive branch under oath, ESPECIALLY Karl Rove, the checks and balances have failed. What does the Executive branch have to hide? There are no National security issues here. It seems to me that they are just flexing their political muscle, pushing the envelope of their power. To put things into perspective: Nixon waived privilege during the Watergate hearings, as did Reagan during the Iran-Contra hearings.

Our liberty is disappearing, along with our power as a people. If you have any doubts, I recommend you read Lord Johan Steyn's Guardian article here.

Back to my original question. "What if..." Do you think the Russian people during the Cold War were any bit the wiser as to the actions of the government? So far we still have free press, but no telling how long that will last. Besides, the current administration has a well-known history now of giving out false information and propaganda.

I hate to admit it, but perhaps we're more in the dark than we believe.