Enemies of the State

Hey isn't it interesting to think that maybe we're seeing the beginning of the end of the Empire? A ten year war in Afghanistan, (plus the machinations of that man with the mark of the beast on his head), helped bring down the old USSR. Could our little excursions into the baffling lands of Afghanistan and Iraq, be the precursor to our own demise as a hegemon? Although, when the house of cards starts to tumble, I suppose it could get even uglier for a lot of us. Tomorrow's "enemy combatant" could turn out to be today's angry, anti-torture, left-wing blogger. What happens when the beast turns inward? Or maybe we are already using foreign lands as a stand-in for the homeland fight. There really is an entrenched authoritarian strain that runs right through the land of mega-malls and fast food franchises. Freedom ain't what it used to be - freedom now is the ability to shop where we want, when we want. There's a war against people who look and think different than us. Oh yeah, they are here among us right now. We talk of bombing countries, building walls, re-making the world in our own image. Anything to be more secure. Too much security is called prison. But whose image are we re-making and what are we re-making it into? Freedom and democracy have been turned up side down. There are some who are raising their voices...although it looks like anyone pitching for the rights of a "detainee" is by definition giving comfort to the enemy. This seems to be a zero-sum game, where ulitmately we all can be judged "enemies of the state." Yes, any "free-thinkers" are already on thin ice. Throw global warming into the mix and that ice is getting thinner by the day...