How much control will there be in the future?

[The2ndWheel]

Sake of argument, Democrats take back Congress in the fall, the Bush administration actually leaves the White House in 08, and we get back to whatever the hell we called normal before 2000(you know, global empire at a slower pace). No more Bush, no more Rumsfeld, no more Cheney. Just your everyday elected leaders in charge. Everyone is sane again, except Ted Stevens. What do they do? There has to be some type of order. What do they do politically, economically, socially? Not so much what you want them to do, but what they will do. For example, do they go back to paper ballots, or are we stuck with the machines because this is the 21st century with a ton of people? Do we make more rules? Will they be broken, only to then have more rules written, then have those broken? Is civilization trying to catch up with itself? Can it? Will it without more control? Does anyone have any idea where we're going, what we're doing, how we're doing it, or why we're getting there to do it in the way that it's being done? Simple question really.

[CrispyQ]

1. We will continue down the same road, just at a slower pace

than the breakneck pace of today.

Somedays I feel completely hopeless. I look at DINOs like Ken Salazar, who helped confirm Rice, Alito, Roberts & who voted yes on crap legislation like the bankruptcy bill & I wonder how taking Congress in '06 can make much difference.

Other days I feel more hopeful.

[genie_weenie]

2. It doesn't matter if the Rulers in DC

have a (D) or an (R) behind their name. They are the ones in control, they are the ones who determine what is best, they are the ones who make the laws. And right now They realize the partnership and common cause is to be found with those with money and power. Not with the people. And it will not change in 06 or 08. Plus, in a bit of Orwellian Irony they will continue to claim to be "the servants of the people".

[TahitiNut]

3. Consider the chances that this cabal will be indicted and imprisoned

... for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Those 'chances' are an indication of how far away we are from taking back a government "Of The People."

Consider the chances of a national strike for Universal Health Care - which would put the American Worker on a more equal footing with those in other countries - and those 'chances' are an indication of how far away we are from taking back a government "Of The People."

Consider the number of People imprisoned in this nation - which doesn't include Junior, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et. al. - and that should give an indication of how far away from being a liberal democracy we are. When we imprison poor people at less than half today's rate and see corporate criminals imprisoned at 3-4 times the rate, we'll be closer to becoming a liberal democracy. What're the chances?

:shrug:

Most significantly, until we see a decreasing Gini Ratio (upward on the chart below), we will continue to be a Banana Republic - "Government of, for, and by the oligarchs."