And thus it ends...

nothing like it began.

There's an old saying, I think I first heard it from Ross Perot, batshit crazy as he was. Something about democracies only lasting 200 years. Or maybe empires. I don't know and my knowledge of history is withering away daily, so I can't remember and it may not even be true. But I've heard the notion put forth a few times and if it is true, I think I know why. This may not even be an original thought, but here it is. After about 200 years, the populace has become so far removed from tyranny and fascism that they no longer fear it. Or even know how to recognize it.

There's another old saying, being that you don't discuss religion or politics over alcohol. Or at work. Over alcohol, you'll likely say what you really mean and at work you can't even come close to saying what you really mean.

In training today at Cingular, the domestic wiretapping issue came up and one of my coworkers said that she doesn't care if the government listens to her phone calls, because only criminals have anything to worry about and it keeps her safe. I can't say "I don't give a fuck if you feel safe" when concerns about HR-friendliness abound. I really don't even know what to say to something that childishly simplistic anyway, just laugh at her fear of the boogeyman. But "9/11. Terror, terror. Bark, bark, howl." If I killed every other living thing on earth, I'd feel safe, but that doesn't justify anything.

Another coworker declared that there are "millions of terrorists" in this country. Millions.

Millions.

Fear of the boogeyman. Somewhere there's a Jewish dude saying "I'm glad it's not me this time." Communists agree. "We had our forty years in the spotlight. Let someone else play the demon."

Allegedly small-government Conservatives tripping over each other to defend a brazen act of big-government that violates the Constitution or to find a way to smear the Libruls with it. "You thought the Plame leak was so bad, why aren't you hollering about the NYTimes publishing this?" I'm more interested in finding out how much you sold your principles for and if I can get a similar price. I need a new car.

Patrick Henry says "give me liberty or give me death." My coworker says "I'd rather be alive than free." I say, "I'm sure the Germans said the same thing under Hitler, the Soviets the same under Stalin and the Chinese the same under Mao." "That was in the past," she says.

And we have always been at war with Eurasia.