Dear George,
Do you ever wonder why it is so easy? How is it possible that you have screwed democracy to the wall with no real protest? Why is it that what little protest there is so easily marginalized? Why are the only two parties in congress the cronies and the cavers?
Many would blame 9/11. They argue that your draconian measures would have only been possible with the shock and trauma that followed the disaster. While this may be true to a certain extent, I am convinced it is only part of the story. No matter how great a catastrophe, recovery soon follows, and had 9/11 been the sole reason for America’s submissiveness, you would have been impeached long ago.
No, George, the groundwork for your redefinition of America was laid long ago and has had decades to develop and grow. Since the end of World War II, we have seen the gradual disintegration of the traditional social units that provided the individual with a sense of security. Television fragmented the family, malls fragmented the community, and Ronnie fragmented the unions. As a result, neither community nor solidarity remained.
So, people started looking to the state for the security and protection family and community once offered. Yet, all the state could offer was an artificial security created by the illusion that a strong police force and military was all that stood between the public and the barbarity of chaos and crime. Because the state was their sole protector, the public was willing to tolerate abuses. These abuses even made them feel more secure, especially if they were committed on marginalized “others”. The people’s relation to the state began to resemble an abusive marriage where the abused spouse is convinced there is nowhere else to turn. This, in turn, gave rise to the Cult of the Experts, who stroked the public’s brow and assured them that all would be well if they simply followed orders. Our experts are the high priests who cast auguries based on the flight and movement of birds with about the same accuracy as the priests of the Roman Empire. Of course, both auguries and forecasts are distorted by the assumption that the gods favor the priests.
What you have is a sinister feedback loop that is constantly turning in on itself. As our cities increasingly become depositories of congealed human waste the “respectable” become more afraid and, thus, more tolerant of an increasingly militarized society. This is aided and abetted by the 24-hour news cycle that is able to spread this urban fear across the land. The first thing frightened people do is surrenders their freedoms.
So, continue to work your magic. You have a public that is bending over and spreading their cheeks for you.
Your admirer,
Belacqua Jones
5:31:54 AM 
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