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Funny you should mention that.
I think the most plausible hypothesis is that the corporations that the media speaks for (see my earlier posts on the Propaganda Model) have decided that the bourgeois republic is no longer an adequate form of governance for them. It is simply too open to pressure and too subject to accountability from below for their tastes. They won the Cold War, goddamnit, and it's time to let them enjoy the fruits of their victory. When they're done feasting on us, maybe they'll let us have a share of the scraps if we behave. Maybe.
If we don't, well...it's off to Gitmo* with us!
The threat of torture is an effective tool for keeping the masses in line, according to the theory popular amongst these circles. You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. See, e.g., Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine.
In short, what we're seeing here is the standard media "sandstorm" (nice metaphor) against accountability. Big Brother loves you. What's at stake is the corporate system; not because it's necessarily threatened in any fundamental way (which it may or may not be, however you would like it to be), but because a few key figures have decided that the corporate system==huge profits and no risk (for them).
* Or wherever we decide to send our future torture subjects.
