It's oh so true....

Entry for February 16, 2007 As the Empire Crumbles
Please read the following by David Michael Green and visit his website www.regressiveantidote.net
" Published on Friday, February 2, 2007 by CommonDreams.org>> Game Over: Thirty-Six Sure-Fire Signs That Your Empire Is Crumbling>> by David Michael Green>>>> So. You've built yourself an empire, eh?>>>> Well, bully for you!>>>> What's next, you ask? Well, now you've got to do what everybody does >> when they have an empire, of course. You've got to worry about it falling >> apart, mate!>>>> But how to tell for sure? Let me see if I can be helpful. Here are >> some rules of thumb to keep in mind, thirty-six sure-fire indicators that >> your empire is falling apart:>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when the folks who are gearing up >> their empire to replace yours start blowing up satellites in space. And >> then they don't bother to return your phone calls when you ring up to ask >> why.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when those same folks are cutting >> deals left, right and center across Asia, Latin America and Africa, while >> you, your lousy terms, and your arrogant attitude are no longer welcome.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when you're spending your >> grandchildren's money like a drunken sailor, and letting your soon-to-be >> rivals finance your little splurge (i.e., letting them own your country).>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when it's considered an achievement >> to pretend that you've halved the rate at which you're adding to the >> massive mountain of debt you've already accumulated.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when you weaken your currency until >> it looks as anemic as a Paris runway model, and you're still setting >> record trade deficits. (Hint: Because you're not making anything >> anymore.)>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when "the little brown ones" (thank >> you George H.W. Bush - certainly not me - for that lovely expression) in >> country after country of "your backyard" blow you off and proudly elect >> anti-imperialist leftist governments.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when you can't topple those >> governments and replace them with nice puppet regimes - like in the good >> old days - even if you wanted to. And you badly want to.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when one of their leaders comes to >> the United Nations and makes fun of your emperor, calling him the devil, >> and joking about smelling sulphur where he just stood. And though a few >> folks cringe, everybody laughs.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when just about your entire >> military land force is tied up in a worse-than-useless war launched on >> the basis of complete fabrications, that every day is actually making you >> less - not more - secure from external threat.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when almost half the soldiers in >> that war are high-paid mercenaries, and you don't dare institute a draft.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when you send soldiers into war >> with two weeks training and a lack of armor, and then you keep them there >> for three, four and five rotations.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when a member of the Axis of Evil >> can test missiles and explode nuclear warheads, and all you can do about >> it is mumble some pathetic warnings about how they better not do that >> again or there will be consequences.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when you even think that there is >> an Axis of Evil.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when a rag-tag military hodge-podge >> of irregulars has you pinned down in an endless fight you can't win, but >> also can't lose.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when you're too dumb to even ban >> Humvees as a first step toward ending your dependency on a foreign-owned >> crucial resource.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when you trade your prior moral >> leadership on human rights issues for global disgust at your torture, >> 'extraordinary rendition' (a.k.a. kidnaping for torture) and the >> dismantling of nine centuries worth of civil liberties progress.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when you blow off international law >> that you once helped create, and undermine the institutions of >> international governance that you once helped build.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when opinion polls confirm that >> every month you're more and more despised throughout the world.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when you can't even pull off the >> hanging of a tin-pot murderous former dictator without turning him into a >> hero.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when you're the richest country in >> the world, but nearly 50 million of your people don't have basic health >> care coverage.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when the World Health Organization >> ranks your healthcare system 37th 'best' in the world, just above >> Slovenia, and just below Costa Rica. (And far below Colombia, Cyprus, >> Saudi Arabia and Morocco.)>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when instead of making it easier >> for citizens to obtain a higher education, you're making it harder and >> more expensive.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when your government gives tax >> breaks to industries as a reward for exporting your jobs elsewhere.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when the so-called 'opposition' >> party can't even turn that obscenity into a viable campaign theme and use >> it to clobber the worst emperor in your history.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when your middle class has been >> stagnant for three decades, while the wealth of the hyper-rich continues >> to climb through the roof.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when your reaction to that is to >> exacerbate the problem by enacting tax policies that massively increase >> further still the gap between the rich and the rest.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when the predatory class has taken >> over your government and is stripping the country of everything not >> bolted down to the floor. And then it sells the floor itself, as well, to >> your rivals.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when you're spending tens of >> billions of dollars you don't own on new nuclear warheads and space >> weapons that don't work, to be used against an enemy you don't have.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when one of your cities drowns and >> your government does next to nothing before, during and after.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when a massive environmental >> nightmare is looming around the corner, and your emperor not only ignores >> it, but claims it isn't real while taking steps to exacerbate it.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when your emperor is warned by a >> CIA briefer of an imminent terrorist attack of vast proportions, and >> responds by remaining on vacation and dismissing the briefer with the >> words: "All right. You've covered your ass, now.">>>> You know your empire's crumbling when the same emperor drops >> everything to fly across the country from his vacation home in order to >> sign a bill intervening on the wrong side of a personal medical drama >> involving a single family.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when gays and immigrants are used >> as diversionary issues to keep people from thinking about the pillaging >> of their country and their wallets actually taking place. And it works.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when people are getting more >> religious and less scientific, not the other way around.>>>> You know your empire's crumbling when your political leaders start >> to be chosen by dynastic rules of succession.>>>> And you especially know your empire's crumbling when the most >> idiotic child of one of the least accomplished leaders in its history is >> not only crowned as the next emperor, but is even revered for a time by >> most of the public as a great one.>>>> Rome? Britain? Spain?>>>> At this rate we'll be lucky to end up like Belgium.">>>> David Michael Green is a professor of political science at Hofstra >> University in New York. He is delighted to receive readers' reactions to >> his articles (dmg@regressiveantidote.net), but regrets that time >> constraints do not always allow him to respond. More of his work can be >> found at his website, www.regressiveantidote.net