I have decided that the relationship between this Administration and the people should be given a different name than democracy. Obviously these people think differently than the founders on many subjects related to the governance of this nation. I looked over a list of possibilities that struck me as appropriate and determined that "dimocracy" was the best twist of word to use to describe the government we have today. That does not exempt any of the Democrats in Congress who have gone along with the emergence of this form of government in our nation. They are as guilty as the President but not the perpetrators of this crime, just a bunch of unwitting accomplices. But the sinister Mr. Cheney, who often speaks like he was a dictator in waiting, is a co-perpetrator of the theory that being a wartime President means never having to say you are sorry. Of course with the stroke of a pen the Supreme Court could turn this government from a Dimocracy into a Dictatership on no less than three cases that they are hearing currently.

It is apparent that our nation is not concerned about any topic more serious than the growing dominance of Wall Mart in our national consumption derby. This is true in spite of the way the nation used to control their Presidents, which was sort of loosely based on something called the Constitution. Of course that was before the Supreme Court started appointing our Presidents by Judicial Fiat. You see there used to be rules about things that the President could not do in our nation. That was also before the idea that war suspends the whole Constitution was floated in this nation. Now we regularly accept that the people's right to know is trumped by "executive privilege" the right of the President and his staff to have private meetings where they let their hair down. Dick, not having any hair to let down had to come up with something to enliven his contributions to these meetings, which evidently according to Woodward at first was the sound of snoring. Then the light bulb went on and Dick whipped us up a great story. The President and Vice President never have to explain anything that they do and the people have no right to know what they are doing.

Now I don't know about the rest of you but that idea makes me more nervous than a whole plane-full of terrorists with nukes in every pocket. The way things work in democracy is the people and their representatives have a right to know how policy got developed. Since 9/11 the President has decided that he can jail anyone for any length of time without either presenting evidence or permitting the victim access to a lawyer, a judge or anyone at all. There are two cases before the Supreme Court that will decide that issue; then there is the Dick Tater doctrine of Executive Power. Those three cases will determine how much the rights of the people to know what our government is doing will be subordinated to the power of Cheney and Bush. They can turn this nation from a Dimocracy to a Dictatership in the wink of a judicial eye.

Can you do anything about it if these judicial opinions go against everything that makes the power of the people meaningful here? Of course you can if enough of you care to make it matter. The two elements of the Roman Empire that kept the mob quiet, Bread and Circuses are here in full sway. Cheap goods manufactured abroad and the tens of thousands of hours of TV generated each year are at war with your real interests. Anyone who thinks that there is not more to life than shopping and The Apprentice or whatever else you might fancy to "relax" your mind after a hard day at work is not going to care.

So what will it be for our nation, Dictatership, continued Dimocracy or a really Democratic Republic? You have to choose between them this year. It is far more of a choice than you have ever made before in your lifetime. I know a lot of you are working two jobs to make ends meet. I know that a lot of you are tired and trying hard to find the time to love your kids in spite of the pressure of just keeping a roof over their heads. We have something worth preserving here and it is disappearing before our eyes. I am certain that the value of these times will live on in human history not because I am here now, but because these are the days that will determine if we will have a Democracy or not. It is clear that Benjamin Franklin was dubious at the end of his life as to whether or not we would keep our Republic. I hope against hope that we will prove him wrong once again. It is a real battle between those who want the convenience of greater power than democracy allows and those who just want Democracy to survive. God bless and keep you all safe from Dick Taters everywhere.