When Evangelical pastor Rick Warren separately interviewed Senators John McCain and Barack Obama recently, the answer to one question had at its core the importance of this election. Pastor Warren asked, “Of the current Supreme Court, who would you not have nominated?”
Obama said he would not nominate Clarence Thomas or Antonin Scalia. Not Thomas, because he’s incompetent and not a little crazy, although Senator Obama said it more nicely; and not Scalia because while he’s certainly smart, it doesn’t mean he’s not evil, although again, Senator Obama said it more nicely.
Senator McCain said he would not nominate Souter, Ginzberg or Stevens and that the next president could nominate two or three justices to the court. If you can imagine a Supreme Court of two Clarence Thomas’s and three Antonin Scalia’s, then you know how close we are to being either free or in the control of an authoritarian state that says it’s alright to snatch, detain and torture its citizens.
A court of Thomases and Scalias would diminish personal rights, remove the right to abortion and give major corporations all the rights of a citizen with none of the constraints. But mostly, it would give the executive branch unfettered power, where they can do as they wish and the rest of us do as we’re told.
There will be much hand-wringing, but you could still be snatched, detained and tortured, ranging from being driven around aimlessly for hours in a police van with no bathroom opportunities to a trip to Guantanamo Bay.
And once they’re in, we’re done. Computerized voting would be mandated, taking out all the uncertainty about who would win the next election.
One thing we know for certain, this campaign won’t be fairly fought on the issues. Instead, we’re going to be bombarded with a full-court press of dirty tricks marketing with books, commentators, print, radio and the Internet. It is going to be fierce and it will be capped off, as before, with Election Day voter suppression with police sweeps, ID checks and misdirecting information.
The way the rulers do it overseas is to bleed the country dry until the peasantry, in this case us, rise up and physically drive the rascals out. This will not be easy, given the aforementioned computerized voting, judicial domination and the new surveillance systems coming on line.
Latest polls say the race is tightening and whether they are true or not, it is best to work as though Obama is five points behind. And make no mistake about it, this is not a six-of-one-half-dozen-of the-other election. This election will determine the future and the safety of this nation and the world.
