I have to suspect that my lingering shock & disbelief that so many fellow citizens could have been so stupid, lazy, ignorant, and misguided to get us to this point, urges me to grasp at any evidence that says it can't happen again. So yes, I do believe that there are sound reasons supporting the notion that November 2008 will not be repeated in November 2012. But November 2012 will not hold the same level of significance or impact of November 2008.
To me the most sobering argument against pinning our hopes of a ballot box solution comes down to the fact that I doubt that anyone can name more than a handful of Constitutional Conservatives poised to either remain or take office this November, and I for one can't identify ONE candidate for the Presidency that will make a real difference. The very thought that the election of more Progressive Republicans (call them RINOs or your term of Vichy Republicans) as a counter to Progressive Democrats is both futile and ultimately dangerously destructive. The point is that our government bodies at all levels are filled with the evil that parades under the banner of "Progressives" whether they wear the Republican or Democrat mask. And as you so accurately continue to point out to us, the odds of the wholesale cleansing that is required, happening at the ballot box are too small to even measure at this point.
Again, thank you for keeping me focused my FRiend!
We're caught in a stunning contradiction - between our faith in the rule of law and the unspoken trust that underpins the social contract,and the fact that in the back of our minds, we know that that trust has been corroded to the point of vanishing. This is the trust that allows us the confidence that we can honor each others business AND personal transactions. The foundation of everything from the handshake deal to the most complex of business transactions; from the trust of friendship to the bonds of marriage - all have been assaulted, battered and railed against by the reigning popular orthodoxy. From the pulpit to an evenings worth of television, the message that we get is that our collective salvation lies in servitude and that our partners in business and love can't be trusted. All pretty much as Gramsci envisioned. Those of us with any sense of history know the final destination of that train.
These two views are irreconcilable. We must either deny and vociferously reject the destructive anti-values and messages emanating from our pastors and our popular culture, or settle for surrender. How many of us will go for the latter case is a question yet to be resolved.
Never forget that the stakes in this game of suicide poker with liars wild is - us.
And to what end? Orwell told us over half a century ago:
"We are the priests of power-do not forget this, Winston. Always there will be the intoxication of power...If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face-forever."