Ashcroft for Supreme Court?

A very astute friend, who for the moment will remain nameless, suggested something to me this morning that either I had not thought about before, or if I had, it struck me as so horrifying I must have immediately repressed it. That is the possibility that if George W. Bush is elected, John Ashcroft might possibly be appointed to the Supreme Court. John Ashcroft on the Supreme Court!!! Think about that! Our Attorney General who is now 0 for 5000 attempts to bring “terrorists” to trial. Who did actually triumph over a semi-nude statue. Who was anointed by his good friend Clarence Thomas with Safflower oil, or Crisco, or whatever it was. I bet if he makes it to the Supreme Court they will actually move up to olive oil. No, probably not, that would be too “foreign” for them. Our fearless Attorney General who immediately after 911 tried to reduce the budget for fighting terrorism and who told one of his underlings that he did not want to “hear anymore about terrorism.” Who has bravely tried to do something about the problem of prostitution in Nevada, attempted to interfere with Oregon laws regarding assisted deaths, interfered with laws having to do with legalized medical use of marijuana, and indeed, just about everything else other than terrorism, who is opposed to Roe versus Wade, and just about everything else that has to do with common sense and decency. We really need people like him on the Supreme Court.

I have just watched the Daily Show during which Ralph Reed was interviewed by Jon Stewart. I don’t understand how they get these people to even agree to appear on the Daily Show but somehow they do. Ralph Reed, the baby faced little assassin of the religious right, sat there and mouthed one outrageous lie after another and seemed to be completely unfazed by Stewart”s suggestions that perhaps it wasn’t quite like that. I am absolutely amazed at Republican’s ability to lie about everything. EVERTHING! I swear they never tell the truth about ANYTHING! And the major media lets them get away with it time after time. The real battle for America now is not between Bush and Kerry, it’s between American Democracy and the media. And this is a life and death struggle between the proponents of fascism represented by the media and defenders of democracy. The corporate control of the media simply has to be dismantled if democracy is going to continue in the United States . Indeed, corporate control of our lives has to be abandoned if people are to continue living decent and satisfying lives. Karl Polanyi was absolutely right: land, labor, and money are not simply commodities that can be bought and sold on the marketplace without dire consequences for the environment and the human beings involved. I realize it will be difficult or impossible “to turn the clock back,” but the fate of human life on this planet demands it. Big is not better. Economies of scale are not the end-all, be-all of human existence. Small farms are better than agribusiness and Mom and Pop stores are better for humans than WalMarts, Targets, and Coscos. People are not just faceless debits or credits on the balance sheets of big business. We must take back our humanity no matter what the cost. Voting for John Kerry will certainly not bring this about. But getting rid of Bush/Cheney and their corporate slaveholders will be a necessary and important first step.