I thought that Obama was going to take on the status quo but so far the corporations have won the day. Here is a book about the corporate take over of America.

Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism, by Sheldon S. Wolin 2008

The following is a review of the book posted on amazon.com.

"A great book; well argued. The influence of 'corporate America' on the body politic is, in my view, well beyond repeal and thus any semblence or vestiges of democracy salvageable. Although differing in form from the totalitarian regimes of Nazi Germany and fascist Italy and Spain, many of the substantive elements in governance common to these regimes can be found in present day America. Unlike the history and evolution or transition of these regimes in to totalitarian governments, the transition to an 'inverted' American totalitarianism has been qualitatively different - but nonetheless effective. All under the veneer and guise of a democracy.

This book should be required reading for all Americans. "

It is incredible to see the short, pithy comments that ream Joe Klein out on his own Time magazine web page.

Could it be a psychological breakdown? Or just a journalist class breakdown in which their dysfunctional behavior becomes more manifest?

The hard problems of governance won't go away.

More progressives are now realizing that the fight is against the corporate and military interests who were calling the shots during the Bush years.

I saw the country come apart at the seams during the Vietnam War. With all the problems now and with the constitution and other institutions gutted, one could guess that things may get a whole lot worse before they get better.

When does an empire realize that it is at the end of its run?

Events were needed to make a pattern of danger leading to fear in the land.

The anthrax attacks. The computer science major in Idaho who helped the internet site of an Islamic organization and the side effects on the man in this article. The shoe bomber. The American Taliban, John Walker Lind who was the subject of a full hour on Democracy Now with the first interview of his parents. It can probably be found in the archives.

In our open society it would be easy to pull off a terrorist attack. I bet that Cheney thought it would happen and then would use the event to establish marshal law and to cancel the presidential election.

Glenn spent a lot of time on the high probability event at the time of an attack on Iran in his book "A Tragic Legacy"

Glenn's article highlights how far the country has fallen from its constitutional foundations and how close we came to being in much worse shape.

But, Obama doesn't seem to want to turn back to the basics. He wants to legitimize the unitary executive through congress and executive actions, which will have the support of the right wing court system.

Is there any hope for our Republic?

Someone who follows the main stream media cannot be informed about the important, complex issues facing the nation and the world. The media has failed.

And they are shameless about it. The media response was mute about the polls which showed that Americans were wrong on the basic facts about the invasion of Iraq. This is a score card on the job they are doing and if the public believes lies, that would have been a wake up call to a responsible media.

The Bush administration used the terms and concepts of our government to legitimize what they were doing. The problem is that they corrupted the language and concepts all the while claiming to be doing it in the interests of keeping us safe.

In this article Glenn is showing the way Orwell's "1984" has come to pass in the USA through political double speak. At the same time, Huxley's "Brave New World" by which the population is given happy pills is at work in the lack of engagement in what has happened to the USA. It is impossible to understand what is going on if one only follows the main stream media as pointed out in this post about the article from the NY Times.

Will we ever get the government back that we had in the past?

other than a few trolls, the comments to Glenn's postings are very thoughtful.

the ones today reached new levels of humor and irony.

congratulations!

I read through the Atlantic ratings and found you on the list as #22!

For the last couple of years I have told everyone I meet that the place I find the most insights on the web is your blog.

Bacus' bill voted out of senate finance committee yesterday, according to Jane Hamsher at firedoglake.com, was Obama's bill.

Obama doesn't really want a public option. He continues to take a middle ground that is not a win for anyone. It is now up to the house to hold the line. It would be an unexpected miracle if Harry Reid did the right thing and got the public option to the senate floor.

We had 8 years of denial of important issues during the Bush years and we don't need a more sophisticated way to delay thought and action.

Slightly off topic.

This involves a Muslim man from Kuwait who was on a humanitarian aid trip to Afganistan and got caught early in the war and was held for years and interrogated even under Obama.

When the case was finally brought to a judge, it was thrown out. This article is based on the redacted public transcript.

I find it easier to get my mind around a specific case like this than the general discussion of the torture.

http://www.truthout.org/10140910?print