It won't come with jackboots and book burnings, mass rallies and fevered
harangues. It won't come with "black helicopters" or tanks on the street.
It won't come like a storm -- but like a break in the weather, that sudden
change of season you might feel when the wind shifts on an October evening:
Everything is the same, but everything has changed. Something has
gone, departed from the world, and a new reality has taken its place.

As in Rome, all the old forms will still be there: legislatures,
elections, campaigns -- plenty of bread and circuses for the folks. But
the "consent of the governed" will no longer apply; actual control of the
state will have passed to a small group of nobles who rule largely for the
benefit of their wealthy peers and corporate patrons.

To be sure, there will be factional conflicts among this elite, and a
degree of free debate will be permitted; but no one outside the privileged
circle will be allowed to govern or influence state policy. Dissidents
will be marginalized -- usually by "the people" themselves. Deprived of
historical knowledge by an impoverished educational system designed to
produce complacent consumers, not thoughtful citizens, and left ignorant
of current events by a media devoted solely to profit, many will
internalize the force-fed values of the ruling elite, and act accordingly.
There will be little need for overt methods of control.

The rulers will often act in secret; for reasons of "national security,"
the people will not be permitted to know what goes on in their name.
Actions once unthinkable will be accepted as routine: government by
executive fiat, the murder of "enemies" selected by the leader, undeclared
war, torture, mass detentions without charge, the looting of the national
treasury, the creation of huge new "security structures" targeted at the
populace. In time, this will seem "normal," as the chill of autumn feels
normal when summer is gone.

It will all seem normal. President George W. Bush signed an executive order
last week overturning a law requiring the release of presidential papers 12 years
after the end of an administration, The Associated Press reports. Bush officials
say the president has "reinterpreted" the law -- ordinarily the job of the Supreme
Court under the old republic -- to mean that no papers can be released unless
both the current president and the former president in question agree to it.

Historians, journalists or ordinary citizens seeking information about the actions of
past administrations will have to file suit to show a "demonstrated, specific" need
for access to the blocked material. The mere assertion of a "right to know" about
governmental affairs will not be sufficient. Such a right no longer exists.

A Bush spokesman acknowledged that anyone requesting to see such documents
would be tied up in expensive court battles for years. But the use of executive fiat
to abrogate the function of the Supreme Court and overturn a law passed by the
people's representatives was necessary to protect "national security," the spokesman said.

Of course, a sitting president already has the authority to withhold any
past documents that might endanger national security. But Bush's new edict
will allow the quashing of presidential papers that might be politically
embarrassing or reveal criminal behavior by past administrations.

Seem normal. Former special prosecutor Kenneth Starr predicts that the
curtailment of civil liberties, including the use of torture, will be
approved by "at least five Supreme Court justices," The Washington Post
reports. (No points for guessing which five.) The Quiescent Quintet will
gladly give "heightened deference to the judgments of the political
branches with respect to matters of national security," says Starr.

Indeed, the Bush administration is now openly considering the use of torture
to compel testimony from suspected terrorists -- or anyone designated as a
suspected terrorist, Slate.com reports. True, a few girlie-men are still fretting
about "constitutional rights," but the clever dicks in the Oval Office have that
one sussed: Recalcitrant prisoners can always be exported to friendly regimes,
like Egypt or Kenya, where they don't bother with such prissy concerns.
Information "extracted" there can then be used in U.S. trials.

(Excuse me while I vomit...
 This is such a sad time to be an American...)

Wouldn't evidence acquired by such heinous and unconstitutional methods be
thrown out by the courts? Ordinarily, yes -- under the old republic.
But in America's new weather, the judiciary will no doubt "give heightened
deference to the judgments of the political branches," etc. And if all
else fails, a handy executive order can always "reinterpret" the
constitution to accommodate the needs of "national security."

Normal. Armed with the sweeping new powers of the "U.S.A. Patriot Act"
passed late last month, the Bush administration is acting to "shift the
primary mission of the FBI from solving crimes to gathering domestic
intelligence," The Washington Post reports.

In other words, the feds will move from protecting the people to spying on them.
The CIA has also been given authority to take part in domestic surveillance and
investigation for the first time. These domestic "black ops" will be overseen by
a secret court appointed by the chief justice -- William "Top Quint" Rehnquist.

Like the chill of autumn. This week President Bush demanded that Congress pass
his "economic stimulus" bill by the end of the month, The New York Times reports.
The bill would give $25 billion in federal money directly to the nation's wealthiest
corporations, including IBM, GM and GE, refunding taxes they paid over the last
15 years. In all, the bill will give $112 billion in tax breaks to the wealthiest individuals
and corporations over the next two years.

It won't come like a storm. It will all seem normal.
Like a break in the weather, a shift in the wind.