Fascism in Our Lifetime, in Our Country

You don't think so? Well, imagine the avian flu pandemic is upon us, and the Bushits, consistent with their absolute incompetence in all things, have not built an adequate stockpile of vaccine and/or Tamiflu to combat its spread in the United States. What is the Bush solution? Read this and fear for the republic:

Citing concern that state and local authorities might be unable to contain and deal with such an outbreak, Bush asked Congress to give him the authority to call in the military.

The president has already indicated he wants to give the armed forces the lead responsibility for conducting search-and-rescue operations and sending in supplies after massive natural disasters and terrorist attacks — a notion that could require a change in law and that even some in the Pentagon have reacted to skeptically. The idea raised the startling-to-some image of soldiers cordoning off communities hit by disease.

"The president ought to have all ... assets on the table to be able to deal with something this significant," Bush said during a 55 minute question-and-answer session with reporters in the sun-splashed Rose Garden.

Dr. Irwin Redlener, associate dean of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and director of its National Center for Disaster Preparedness, called the president's suggestion an "extraordinarily draconian measure" that would be unnecessary if the nation had built the capability for rapid vaccine production, ensured a large supply of anti-virals like Tamiflu, and not allowed the degradation of the public health system.

"The translation of this is martial law in the United States," Redlener said.

Chimpie and the gang know they are losing it in country at large where now only the most ignorant, deluded, or ideologically blinded support his policies. They find themselves surrounded by and soon faced with indictments right inside the White House, and all that will be left to them is the declaration of disasters justifying extreme measures that can be used to control an increasingly rebellious population.

I do not mean to downplay the public health concerns that an avian flu pandemic would raise, but why is it that this administration cannot find the wherewithal to take reasonable preventive measures, measures that our European and Asian friends seem to realize are far better than dealing with a worldwide pandemic that could kill tens of millions. From the New York Times, we learn of yet another Chimpie regime disaster-in-waiting:

Health officials have warned for years that a virulent bird flu could kill millions of people, but few in Washington have seemed alarmed. After a closed-door briefing last week, however, fear of an outbreak swept official Washington, which was still reeling from the poor response to Hurricane Katrina...Mr. Leavitt [Michael Leavitt, secretary of Health and Human Service] responded: "We need a plan. I'm resolved to make sure we have one and so is the president."

We need a plan? Why the fuck don't we HAVE a god damned plan?

But then you remember that the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rove/Wolfowitz/Perl/et al cabal has no problem with the death of innocents, whether through negligence (9/11) or willful lies (Iraq) or incompetence (Katrina) to secure their power, and you tremble at what horrors we might yet face in their quest for domination.

Fascism in America. It can happen here. It is happening here.