In a little more than two weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court has twice strangled the rights of the American people. First, their ruling that the federal government has the right to make marijuana illegal under all circumstances and to prosecute citizens, even when those citizens are residents of a state that has legalized marijuana under certain circumstances. With that ruling in their holster, the federal drug thugs are at it hot and heavy.

Now, the court has ruled, in the Kelo case, that local governments may seize people's homes and businesses against their will for private development, even when the government doesn't have specific plans for that development. The Institute for Justice, who represented the homeowners being threatened, expressed their disappointment in their press release.

“The Court simply got the law wrong today, and our Constitution and country will suffer as a result,” said Scott Bullock, senior attorney for the Institute for Justice.  “With today’s ruling, the poor and middle class will be most vulnerable to eminent domain abuse by government and its corporate allies.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, writing in the dissent, said much the same:

‘Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random.  The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms.’

These are two outrageous decisions, each of which hands governments such overriding and unrestricted power that I have no hesitation in declaring that we, as American citizens, can no longer count on any right as being secure. We are officially slaves of the state... completely at the mercy of government officials, who are in turn dominated by the two major political parties and their willing cohorts in corruption.

It is clear that we can no longer count on even the Supreme Court to uphold the intent of the Constitution, which was to protect the individual rights of American citizens. Should we be surprised that justice, even at the highest level, has become muddled and even overturned by partisan and corrupt politics? Perhaps not, but the Supreme Court was my last hope for salvation. Their decisions have often been ignored and even laughed at by Congress and the President, but I took some consolation from having one branch of our government at least SPEAK for individual rights.

That last illusion has been wrenched from my mind. I am left with nothing but contempt for all three branches of our federal government... three branches that were to have served as check and balance on each other. That goal is now no more than an ideal of the past.  We're ensnarled in a morass under the hammer of an Executive Branch led by a lying madman, a Legislative Branch that no longer even pretends to act constitutionally, and a Justice Branch that is no longer able to even lend us a castrated voice for the people.

What choices remain for us?

For those of us who are unable, or unwilling, to BUY protection from our own government mob, we have but to work and wait for the hammer to fall on us. It won't always fall just on people you don't know, because there is no shortage of hammers. Unless you're a significant insider in either the Republican or Democratic party, or a contributor they value, the hammer is hanging over your head too. In a system as corrupt as ours has become, with thousands of laws you're not even aware of, targeting and taking down you or me takes hardly any system effort at all. Thanks to legislation passed after the terrorist attack, we have lost enough protections that we can simply be made to disappear... in the name of our own security.

Unlimited and unchecked power... and vast sums of wealth not yet taken, means that it is only a matter of time before the hammer gets to you. The poor are easy to screw over, but those with money are much better prizes. How long before they get to you? 

Some commentators are predicting that the 2 major parties will divide into 3 or 4, based on ideological differences. I still contend that it's more likely that the two parties will MERGE, because they will decide that looting is far more efficient without the wasted effort of competing with each other and taking turns. Naturally, when that happens, they will no longer even bother to tempt us with lies... and we won't even be able to pretend that elections have any meaning at all.

Our rights are gone; our liberties are being taken, one by one, while we fiddle in the forum. While we work, and vacation, and play, those who can profit from raping our nation are hard at it. Why do they do it? Why, because they CAN, and apparently we don't even mind enough to pay attention.

Will Americans eventually wake up and rebel? I know some who are ready now, but I know many more who are so whipped that they can't even get upset about our loss of liberty, and I know still more who are content to just enjoy life until the knock comes to their door.

When I bridle my natural optimism and face facts coldly, I come to the ugly conclusion that we have been so long and thoroughly conned... so whipped by watching others fall to ever-expanding government dominance, that the American people will meekly become complicit in our nation becoming the next great evil empire of planet Earth. Around the globe, many already think of America in those terms. Most don't yet blame the American people for the actions of our government, but they WILL come to that conclusion, because our government continues to claim that it acts with our approval. It doesn't, but if we do nothing to MAKE it reflect our will, then we ARE truly responsible for our government's actions... and guilty for having allowed it, by our inaction.