LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ncalrod)

Ok here is a question to any one who thinks they have an answer. I have heard a lot of speculation as to what direction the United States of America is going in and what its future holds.

Some people believe that things will continue to limp along both in the US and in Iraq pretty much as they have been as long as Bush is in the office. They believe that in 2008 President Bush will voluntarily step down at the end of his term and he and his cronies will willingly relinquish the reigns of power to who ever wins the 08 election. Some time after that (years most likely) the US will figure out a way to get out of Iraq and the US can start getting back to where it was before this nightmare started. Basically they believe the pendulum that swings back and forth from liberal to conservative will swing liberal for a time as it has in the past.

Then there is another camp of people who believe that the current state of affairs is far more serious than most people recognize. They think that we are witnessing the death throws of democracy, civil liberties, and most other “human rights” in the US. They believe that the “war on terror” will be the jumping off point for a new totalitarian government that will last long after 08 comes and goes. They believe that the powers granted to the government to fight the war will continue to grow as our remaining freedoms dwindle proportionally.  Some people even believe that the current government will declare a state of emergency following some kind of disaster or traumatic event and will use that fear to “temporarily” postpone the elections and “temporarily” suspend some of the rights and freedoms we have left. Further they believe that these temporary measures are anything but temporary and will form the basis of a new totalitarian (perhaps even fascist) state that exists in a constant state of war forever at the mercy of fear. Some people who believe this is our future also look on with concern at the vast numbers of evangelical Christians in the military in positions of power who have openly stated that they feel that their duty is first to their god, second to the government and a distant third to the people. They see the wall of separation of church and state crumbling and the Bush and his cronies establishing stronger ties with the far right religious conservatives who them selves believe that it is their destiny to return the US to a fictional golden age where the county is a Christian nation all marching in lock step with the government to whom they have given their support.

The first group views the second as a paranoid bunch of conspiracy theorists who see plots and subterfuge lurking in every corner and that it is all but impossible for there to be any potential extension of the administration much less a total take over and conversion to a totalitarian state. They say the people would not allow it and more importantly the military no matter how conservative or religious would ever support a move to extend the duration of the administration much less any sort of coup d'état that would end in a dictatorship.

The second group thinks that those in the first group are a bunch of naive idealists who can’t see the danger looming for all the ideals and good wishes they carry.  They think that the cries of “it could never happen here, it could never happen to us” sound eerily familiar and that the end is a lot closer than any one wants to believe.  They believe they see the US we all knew crumbling and a terrifying new form is emerging from its ashes.

I am by no means saying that these are the only two schools of thought or that they have to be exactly as I said they were, I am just pointing out two divergent opinions some groups of people hold and asking for input or thoughts on which if either of these schools of thought are correct. 

Thoughts?

(cross posted to a few different places)