So you know how I'm always harping on how "The neocons are up to evil shit, but we never know until it's too late"? I haven't been real good on going on the offensive and reading more conservative press, obviously. Today though, I realized I may have already hit on the "next big thing" a long time ago.

I'm driving in to work today, and I can't get the words "single-party state" out of my head. I mentioned this before, way back on May 8th. In late June, Paul Krugman had an editorial in The New York Times about the possibility of becoming a one-party state. At least one journalist from a major newspaper has discussed this, so I know I can't be completely crazy for thinking it.

You don't think it's possible? We have a Republican President, a Republican House, and a Republican Senate. We have a press that seems to be terrified of going after the Republican-led government. We have a weak, divided "opposition" in the Democrats. Sounds like we could be well on our way.

Furthermore, we have a consolidation of power taking place. The Republicans got into office, and have used September 11th to galvanize their strength. September 11th could end up being our Reichstag fire.

Of course, we would never have a death camp, charismatic-leader type single party state. No, this is America, where we're good at illusion and lying to ourselves. The Democrats would still be around, but they'd be even more diminished than they are today. Propaganda is an obvious entity that we already have plenty of. There wouldn't be any "thought police," but plenty of pseudo-patriotic and religious rhetoric to try and keep us in line. Again, something we already have plenty of. And there would be plenty more bullshit efforts like the one to codify in law that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. One party enforcing their laws, their policies, their morals, and their beliefs.

The Republicans are smart, and they're patient - just like terrorists. They know that it's going to take some time to get where they want to be, and they're willing to work and to wait.

Everyone knows I'm not fond of the GOP, and I'm sure this just looks like yet another attack on them. But we cannot let the GOP become the "dominant governing party in the country for a generation" as Karl Rove would like. Effective single party rule would be indescribably bad, no matter where you are on the political spectrum. Of course, ask Republicans, and none of them would admit how much they'd love this single-party scenario. Just like a company that repeats the mantra of "competition is good," when they know full well how nice having a monopoly is when they can get away with it.

The only hope of putting a kink in their plans is to vote Bush out of office next November. It pains me to say it, because they're weak and I hate them too, but the Democrats are our only hope. The problem is, I'm afraid that if the Democrats actually started taking a stand and taking action, it could backfire and they could be left even weaker than before. The Republicans are masters of letting the Democrats fuck themselves, and I'm afraid that even if the Dems did the right thing, they could end up accelerating exactly what I fear. Furthermore, even if Bush was pushed out, it may not completely derail what's been going on, only delaying the inevitable.

I hope I am just crazy, and this is just the ranting of someone who doesn't know shit about politics. But we are so totally fucked if I'm right, so I'm not letting go of this.