2006: The year we lost our chance

"I coulda been a contender!" America could have been a great democracy.

"Every child has the chance to become President." Not any more.

"Who will be the last man standing?" It won't be us.

"....with liberty and justice for all." Not after 2006, the year we lost our chance to chose democracy over sound-bites, honesty over corruption, hope over violence, bravery over fear, love over hate. Don't you people understand? Our way of life is on its way out. Ten years from now, the America that we know will be GONE. And those of us who are left will be scratching our heads and muttering, "What happened...."

What happened is this: Americans forgot their responsibilities as citizens to be ever-vigilant, to protect our liberties, to take care of business, to CARE. And we got manipulated. And lied to. And conned. And trapped. And coerced into thinking that WAR is the answer to everything.

And in 2006, the great neo-con war machine began to turn inward and the war on US began. It started out simply enough. In November of 2006, the Bush-Cheney faction lost too many seats in Congress and Diebold wasn't enough to push them over the top. Then we had another September 11 and the White House was forced to declare martial law. Some people protested. But most of us did nothing. "Go along to get along." It escalated so slowly, no one got alarmed....

Then they started rounding people up. Our liberal neighbors started to disappear. Our schools decayed. The electricity stopped working. What happened to our jobs? We waited to be told what to do.

In 2006, we lost our chance. Now there are only a few of us left -- who remember the old days. "I coulda been President...."

Not any more.

PS: Is there still a way for us to avoid this obvious projection of our future based on our present and past? Yeah duh. Let's start by defending the Constitution with our very lives if necessary, tossing the Bush bureaucracy in jail, passing election finance reforms, dealing with terrorists realistically instead of just constantly blowing up their wives and children, killing off the Halliburton/Lockheed war machine -- and re-starting those daily tours of the White House!

2006: The year we took our chance back again!