Just how long can *any* shitstorm last?

[Stinky The Clown]

We're living in a world gone mad. The cause of this - the Neocons and their unholy band of religiously insane supporters - are starting to really fray around the edges. Some of the fray is the direct result of savy politicos reading tea leaves and not seeing a party in the midterms. Some of the fray, however, is a direct result of a tide of sentiment going against them and their antics.

In the last year or so, not very much has gone their way. Oh sure, they've used their totalitarian grip on the cogs of government to push through their agenda. Their stated goals are being met (the usual crap - tax cuts, judges, international power grabs for cronies, raping the economy for self-enrichment, and on and on ....). But here's the deal.

Not too many people are buying their crap anymore.

No matter what they do, their polling says they're mired in unpopularity. No matter what they do, even many on their own side are running from them (for less than altruistic reasons, but running nonetheless). The sheeple are opening their eyes. It will take an effort that seriously risks being so outrageous as to fail to turn things back their way.

I'm thinking the shitstorm may well abate in November.

[SeattleGirl]

1. I have long said that this current state of affairs will not last forever.

It cannot, as nothing in nature (be it Mother nature or human nature) stays the same forever. The big problem is, how much freakin' damage will these people have done before the tide really turns (and I agree --it's turning already, just not fast enough for my taste).

Unless they REALLY get bold, I do think the shitstorm will end in November; there ARE too many people who aren't buying this crap any more. And yes, they will try to steal another election, but I have a feeling that this time they won't get away with it. There are too many "normal" people (if i may use that term) who may have voted for Bush, et al, in the past, but who will either stay home this time, or vote for the other side. And while Bush may still have a 30% stronghold with the fundies, there ARE more of us than there are of them. People are getting sick of this; I read about them on websites; I hear them when they call into talk radio shows. People do not like the fact that the reputation of this country has gone straight into the toilet, courtesy of Bush and Co. They don't like it, and they will be more and more willing to kick those people to the curb in order to try and redeem us before it's too late (and I hope to God it's NOT too late).

[gratuitous]

2. It's lasted a depressingly long time already

Mostly because I underestimated the corrupt Bush administration's political will for keeping the shitstorm going. Also because I underestimated the moral paralysis of the major media. And because money and power are strong motivators.

What will be satisfying, though, in the end, will be just how fast it all falls apart. The Republicans are putting forth a mighty effort to maintain the façade that they're unified, resolute and all-powerful, but the termites and the wood-borers have done their work. Great indeed will be the fall of this house, built as it has been on the shifting sand of fear, terror, corruption, malfeasance, and deceit.

And when it does fall apart, the same folks who have been lying to us for years will concoct new lies about how they were warning us the whole time, extracting one report from this time, or one line from that news story as proof that they saw through the shenanigans of the Bushistas all the time. And some folks will actually believe that they were never fooled, that they were never part of Chimpy 90% approval ratings, that they never really thought invading Iraq was a good idea.

I don't know how much grace I will be able to muster for the ordinary folks. I won't have much, ever, for the sycophants and the stenographers in the Fourth Estate.

[longship]

3. I cry about the damage they've done.

To the people they've murdered.
To the people they've tortured.
To truth.
To the checks and balances of our government.
To our basic freedoms.
To our political system.
To the planet.

Shitstorm, *indeed*.
When will our Democratic Party leaders see things this way?
When will *they* open their eyes?