I get my phone service from AT&T. It used to be SBC, and Ameritech before that. I haven't been happy doing business with any of these names, but the competition costs more. Back in the '90s Ameritech allowed a guy who worked in personnel at a former employer to take out phone service in my name, using my Social Security number as proof that he was me. He ordered the service by phone. The people at Ameritech were complete jerks about the whole thing, and weren't even going to tell me where the phone service in my name was connected. No law enforcement agency gave me any help, but the local Secret Service agent at least gave me the one straight answer I got: the U.S. Attorney wouldn't prosecute any case under $10,000. Mine was only $1100. Eventually it was the Credit Bureau that got on the case and straightened things out. (The criminal was in jail for other offenses when I found out who he was. Most likely he was given an offer he couldn't very well refuse, and was put to work as an informant, provocateur, or some such.)

Nothing in the lineage of AT&T would surprise me. Some Salon readers might remember the prophetic movie "The President's Analyst," starring James Coburn, with a number of humorous cameo appearances, most significantly Barry McGuire. The villain, in the end, turns out to be the phone company. A re-release would be timely.

Everything I have seen written about this case has focused on the violations of law and of the constitution. What is ignored is that unlimited domestic spying is part of the natural progression of a mass society. This is because by its very nature a mass system is a movement towards concentration. Concentration of power, of control, of decision-making are the logical trend and conclusion of a mass system. If we truly wish to live free of government and corporate intrusion, we first must recognize the need to demassify the way we live our lives.

Unfortunately, this much needed demassification will not happen by the will of the people. We will have to wait for events to overtake. And overtake they will, beginning with Global Warming. Or, maybe not beginning with Global Warming. A natural phenomenon like the San Andreas fault might be the catalyst. An accidental start of World War III might to the trick. Or an intentional start of World War III. We've come close a couple of times before, with vastly better leadership than we have now.

However the future plays out, the bad intentions of people in power will eventually be their undoing. They may succeed for a while in foisting their evil plans on the world, but the natural interplay of forces will work against them. What we need to ensure is that they don't take us and the rest of the planet down with them.

As far as I know, no one else has raised this issue: If it is proven in court that the presidential elections in 2000 and 2004 were stolen, and that Gore and Kerry actually won, doesn't that make Bush's judicial appointments invalid. Further, wouldn't his appointees be required to recuse themselves in any cases related to election fraud? Just wondering.

At first glance the shenanigans of various Republicans and their propagandists seem alarming, but from a bit of distance they can be seen as a turning point. From Bush on down, the lies, obfuscations, distractions, diversions, and alarms have reached a psychotic crescendo.

The only option for all these psychotics is to become more psychotic. That makes them dangerous, but also very vulnerable. Fever pitch psychosis is not good for the health, and makes the psychotic do things that are foolish and thoughtless.

When you have a mass of psychotics, such as the Republican Party, as they intensify their madness reality keeps thwarting them, and something eventually will give. It could be Cheney's health, or Bush's thin hold on basic functioning, or Rumsfeld's ability to natter incessantly, or any of a great number of factors. But this cabal will break.

Another factor that is always in play is the corporate backing for the Bush criminal organization. At some point one of the key backers will likely see the light - that this gang is a threat to their profits, and poof, the well starts drying up.

I may be the eternal optimist, but it is fundamental to my own well-being that I have confidence in the overall benevolence of the collective unconscious, the universe, God, the Force, the Great Spirit, the Atman, Buddha consciousness, and everone's higher power. The imbalance has gone on for too long. I expect a great counterbalancing to start any day now.