Given Bush's aversion to any dissent and growing domestic surveillance,

[FormerRepublican]

how long do you think it will be before Bush and his stormtroopers start pulling in folks like us for "questioning"? Seriously?

There was a time in America when the very idea was unthinkable. I would have immediately scoffed at the idea our government could act to silence the dissenting party. But times have changed. The government has amassed huge powers and exercises them in secret. I no longer scoff at the idea the government could be preparing to silence all dissent to maintain Bush in power.

So what do you think - how long before we seriously have to worry about the next knock on the door? After the next elections, and the evidence shows clear tampering? When Bush is forced from office by term limits? Just any old time the whacks in Washington feel like it?

And if that sad day does come, what do you think the reaction by average Americans will be?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. The PROPER American spirit is BRING IT ON. You think that they

can handle the truth?? I think not.

[Peggy Day]

2. Denial Big Time

[Paranoid Pessimist]

3. It's Already Happening. They're still in the process of

compiling their Enemies List, which will include all of us. We'll be easy to find through the internet.

[punpirate]

4. Given that the general fear...

... is that an authoritarian fascism will take over, the experience of Italy and Germany is instructive. In both those countries, the leaders maintained the appearance of the usual forms of government and the rule of law.

So, what did the country do when there was evidence of tampering in the last three elections? A small percentage screamed bloody murder--the rest were busy shopping and watching reruns of "Laverne & Shirley." In Germany, Hitler convinced Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag, so that new elections could be held (since the Nazis didn't have a majority).

When calamity struck, Congress feared challenging Bush's "emergency powers" as commander-in-chief, in the same way that Hitler invoked the Enabling Act, which gave him the power to do what he wished, bypassing the Reichstag.

In both Germany and Italy, the structure of the government was pretty much unchanged--but the executive was amplified--the courts were still there, the parliaments were still there, but they were all perverted to serving the interests of the executive.

The differences between now and then is that both Mussolini and Hitler had created cults of personality around themselves, so that the people would see the state when it saw them. That worked pretty well for Bush in his first term, but not so well now--Katrina shattered that illusion. The powers that be among the Republicans will not allow Bush to seize control. They will want, very much, to see an orderly transfer of power to someone else in 2009. That person will, of course, be another Republican who wins with a small enough margin to make it seem like a democratic contest.

That's the way it happens. Gradually, without any outward appearance of great upheaval or arbitrary seizure of power, so people don't notice. When dissidents start getting picked up, the people won't notice, either. What happened when thousands of people of Arab descent were picked up after 9/11? Some noticed and worried about diminution of rights. Most people feared that the terrorists were all around us, among us, which is exactly what the Bushies wanted people to think by rounding up so many people.

The US isn't immune to what happened in Italy and Germany, although lots of average citizens think so. And yet, it is happening slowly enough not to be noticed.

[FormerRepublican]

5. Excellent analysis. Thank you.

[Talismom]

6. This is a very interesting and important topic that I've been mulling

over for quite some time. It's difficult to get someone to get past the denial and really discuss it with you! I'd like to read more and get more input. Kicked!