If the Republic Had Not Died A Long Time Ago, This Would Indeed Be the Death of the Republic

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If the Republic Had Not Died A Long Time Ago, This Would Indeed Be the Death of the Republic (Reprise)
Written by Chris Floyd
Sunday, 31 July 2011 23:04

Looking at the "deal" being formed to solve the "debt ceiling crisis," I thought it was appropriate to break out the old headline I used a few years ago. The current reference, of course, is to the extraordinary "special committee" or "Super Congress" which the deal intends to establish. This is an unaccountable politburo which will be able to circumvent all normal democratic (and republican) principles and issue budget-slashing, tax-cutting legislation that cannot be debated or amended, but simply approved or rejected by the rest of the now-powerless representatives and senators.

That's not all. If the politburo -- handpicked members split evenly between the two gangs of thieves and poltroons that now hold sway on Capitol Hill -- can't agree on just how much they want to gut the budget and cut taxes for the rich, why then, this will trip a series of "triggers" which will automatically start gutting, slashing and cutting, without any vote by the democratically elected representatives whatsoever. And surely it would be superfluous in me to point out that these unaccountable "superpowers" will soon stretch to cover other areas of legislation beyond budgeting and taxes.

Behind all the flim-flammery of this manufactured "crisis", we are watching the creation of a new form of government -- or rather, the further mutation of the new form of government that the United States has been crawling toward for a long time. We called it a "neo-feudal oligarchy backed by a militarist police state" here the other day. No doubt there are many other ways you could describe this murderous, ravenous, lopsided monstrosity of a system. But the one thing you cannot call it is a "republic".

As I wrote in my original piece, back in February 2008:

I don't know what will come next. I don't know if the United States can crawl out of the filthy pit of empire and tyranny over the next few decades and claw its way toward some new manifestation of democracy -- or if it will just keep sinking, raging, rotting, mutating further into a war-and-torture state that must feed constantly on human flesh to survive. Of course, I hope for -- and will work toward -- the former, the new manifestation, although I honestly don't expect to see such a thing in my own lifetime. But whatever will be, one thing is certain now: the constitutional republic of the United States is a dead letter, a relic of history.

more...

...more times than the hero's black sidekick.

after another since, as one poster put it yesterday, the founding of Jamestown. The country has been an oligarchy since the first indentured servant set foot on "free" American soil and was held in bondage, since the first chained human being was bid upon by a plantation owner at a slave auction, since the first broken treaty.

The constitutional republic fiasco itself was born in secret, negotiated behind closed doors, crafted by men who had gained their power to legislate through wealth and self-importance, just like the current panicky fiasco.

There have been some heroic attempts over the years to inject common sense and justice and real representation into the system, voices trying to wake the people up to the flim-flammery and get them united against it, but all were vilified, slapped down and crushed by the neo-feudal oligarchs and their toadies who have ruled since the beginning. And, you know, they could ALWAYS count on support from ordinary Americans who didn't know any better.

Its always been too late to get our country back, it was never ours to begin with. Its time to give up the sweet dreams that voting for cardboard cutouts handpicked by the oligarchs could be construed as democracy and start something new. Like a real democracy.