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Like virtually everyone who writes about politics, Todd Gitlin falls into the trap of thinking that the political world is a reality unto itself, transcendent of other realities. Indeed, Washington, D.C. is treated as a special entity, a repository of omnipotence, omniscience, and if not omnipresence, the only presence. A ripoff of Vedanta, and an attitude due for a great surprise.
The dominance of the criminal Republican party depends on numerous external realities. The most important is the adequate functioning of the economic system. The economic system depends on a number of factors, but the chief one is the bounty provided by the planet in the form of clean air and water, fertile land, healthy waterways and oceans, and a supportive climate. Another factor is the freedom from uncontrollable diseases. Still another factor is the mutual trust and cooperation of the other nations of the world. All of these factors must work together to generate economic growth infinitely into the future.
Of course, this can't happen, regardless of who is President of the United States. What the Bush gang is doing is speeding up the process of d�nouement. In other words, events will overtake. The one thing we must do, though, is make life difficult for the Bush criminal organization, in order to be ready for change when the time comes. These are not strong men, not smart men, and not competent men. They will fail whether resisted or not, but resist them we must. By helping them fail, we will be better able to know what to do when the time comes.
