Alea Iacta Est?

Each day brings us more revelations and more understanding. The House of Representatives seems united over one thing only, it would seem, and that is opposition to the FBI's raid on Rep. William Jefferson's office. It seems that Congressman Jefferson has been caught red-handed, so to speak, in the cookie jar, though as with all prospective defendants we should at least await his being indicted before we convict him of accepting bribes. And the unity of the House over this is simply that in the 219 years of its existence such an executive branch intrusion had never happened and the members feel that the Justice Department has overstepped the boundaries of jurisdiction. AG Gonzales seemed to disagree and according to ABC News claims that to House Speakers Hastert's objection the Justice Department's reply is that Hastert himself, as well as other members, is under investigation. I believe this is akin to throwing down the gauntlet. My take is that Bush is so committed to his domination that he wants to put the Congress in its proper place, which is under his heel.

Let's review:

• Bush lied to us about Iraq and whipped up our fears after 9/11 to get us to cheer him on his way into war.
• Bush is beating the drums again about Iran, as though a small nation which has initiated war against noone in the past century is a danger to us.
• The Constitution is clear that the snooping being done on all of us is illegal.
• My take is that Gen. Hayden's being named CIA Director is to further the militarization of intelligence and to put the stake, finally, through the heart of that organization (something the White House has been doing incrementally for decades).
• Bush has proposed militarizing the borders and there has been increasing talk of militarizing conflicts in our homeland.
• And Cheney has made some very unfriendly comments directed at Russia which Russian commentators liken to the Cold War years (whence Cheney cut his teeth).

As time has gone on even Bush's solid Republicans in the Congress are in a quandry over his policies. But Bush is undeterred. One thing is clear: the regime is not backing down on anything. Spying, secrecy, war, imperialistic ambitions, dictatorial powers, the regime does what it wants and thumbs its nose at us, the legislature, the courts, the Constitution, and history itself. Whether Bush is a religious zealot, a lunatic, an idiot, or just the nominal head of a fascist coup, our liberty and our safety are not things he frets over. And there is every reason to think that Bush and his henchmen will just give us more of the same for the rest of his term. The interesting, if seemingly paranoic, question is "Who will be in the White House" when we awaken on January 21, 2009?

Alea iacta est: the die is cast. These are the words that Seutonius, in his Lives of the Caesars, put into Julius Caesar's mouth in 49 BC as he crossed the Rubicon river into Rome with his army, an act forbidden by Roman Law. Plutarch's take was a variation: let the die be cast. In either case, bold, illegal actions are always gambles. The Roman republic died not long after this action of Caesar's, giving birth to the empire. If we wish to preserve our own republic we need to recognize the dangers and the citizenry, both through their own behavior and their representatives', need to assert their primacy. If we want a government of the people, by the people, for the people, we'll have to do it ourselves. Our country is like a fruit ripe for the picking and we cannot expect that the thief will return it to us out of the goodness of his heart. More likely we should expect our lives and land to be devoured and ourselves, like inedible pits, to be spit out upon the ground.