It's the Constitution, stupid...
May. 28th, 2003 02:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kitsap_charlesThe meme that eventually brought down Bush the Elder was, "It's the economy, stupid." (Unless you subscribe to the consipiracy theory that claims Bush I deliberately tanked his re-election campaign, so that as a "lame duck" he could issue pardons for the Iran-Contra felons with relative impunity, since if he'd remained in office for a second term he'd've been impeached for his complicity in undermining the Rule of Law that the Clinton zipper-sniffers bayed about so sanctimoniously... but that's another story.)
And to be sure, the economy's not only in the shitter, but (according to the Financial Times, quoted in Paul Krugman's New York Times opinion column), the neo-conservative ideologues for whom Bush II is but a shill are actively promoting an economic collapse, so they can force the government to destroy the social safety net built up over the past seventy years.
But it's not just the economy this time, and the 1990's meme isn't enough for the 2000's crises. As the SCOTUS continues to erode personal freedom, as Patriot and the proposed Patriot II turn the Attorney General into the nation's Chief Inquisitor, as the Pentagon seeks to build a massive database containing not merely every fact but every allegation (however unfounded) about everyone, and as the press continues to transform itself from watchdog to puppydog, and as the malAdministration abandons even the basic principles of humanity, it's becoming more and more clear to me.
The government has run out of squeezably soft Charmin, and is now using the Constitution and the Bill of Rights for the former's intended purpose.
This, therefore, must define the opposition's battle cry for the next election (presuming we actually get to vote, or get our votes counted... which is also another story): It's the Constitution, stupid.
(Edit: in the "credit where credit is due" department,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
riverheart suggested the meme to me. Thank you, my beloved.)
And to be sure, the economy's not only in the shitter, but (according to the Financial Times, quoted in Paul Krugman's New York Times opinion column), the neo-conservative ideologues for whom Bush II is but a shill are actively promoting an economic collapse, so they can force the government to destroy the social safety net built up over the past seventy years.
But it's not just the economy this time, and the 1990's meme isn't enough for the 2000's crises. As the SCOTUS continues to erode personal freedom, as Patriot and the proposed Patriot II turn the Attorney General into the nation's Chief Inquisitor, as the Pentagon seeks to build a massive database containing not merely every fact but every allegation (however unfounded) about everyone, and as the press continues to transform itself from watchdog to puppydog, and as the malAdministration abandons even the basic principles of humanity, it's becoming more and more clear to me.
The government has run out of squeezably soft Charmin, and is now using the Constitution and the Bill of Rights for the former's intended purpose.
This, therefore, must define the opposition's battle cry for the next election (presuming we actually get to vote, or get our votes counted... which is also another story): It's the Constitution, stupid.
(Edit: in the "credit where credit is due" department,
riverheart suggested the meme to me. Thank you, my beloved.)
