Someone sent me a link to this story: Old-line Republican warns ‘something’s in the works’ to trigger a police state. It grabbed my attention:

Thom Hartmann began his program on Thursday by reading from a new Executive Order which allows the government to seize the assets of anyone who interferes with its Iraq policies.

Yikes. So, am I a terrorist for even thinking that if the war in Iraq was a Silicon Valley startup, they’d have been laughed out of every VC’s office and never been funded in the first place? Certainly, conservatives are stepping up to defend the new order:

He then introduced old-line conservative Paul Craig Roberts — a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Reagan who has recently become known for his strong opposition to the Bush administration and the Iraq War — by quoting the “strong words” which open Roberts’ latest column: “Unless Congress immediately impeaches Bush and Cheney, a year from now the US could be a dictatorial police state at war with Iran.”

Oh, snap! Noam Chomsky must be grinning from ear to ear right now.

“I don’t actually think they’re very strong,” said Roberts of his words. “I get a lot of flak that they’re understated and the situation is worse than I say. … When Bush exercises this authority [under the new Executive Order] … there’s no check to it. It doesn’t have to be ratified by Congress. The people who bear the brunt of these dictatorial police state actions have no recourse to the judiciary. So it really is a form of total, absolute, one-man rule. … The American people don’t really understand the danger that they face.”

Some Americans understand full well what’s been going on – and this problem didn’t start with the Bush administration (and it likely won’t end there, either). This is not a partisan snag – the problem is much, much, MUCH bigger. The Democrats / liberals aren’t going to save your bacon, my friends…