Remember the end of the classic movie, "Casablanca?"

Captain Louis Renault, Vichy France's prefect of police, says to Rick as the plane disappears into the fog, "Round up the usual suspects!"

This sends the "cops" running to find any scape goat, pickpocket, black market swindler or other "person of interest" in ANY other crime ever committed during the Vichy reign over a frightened-into-submission public while Rick and Louis stroll through the fog enjoying the last line of that incredible movie: "Louis... This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Well, in the words of that great philosopher, Yogi Berra: "It's like dejavu all over again!"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070922/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

Try to imagine, if you can, the horror of being an Iraqi citizen in Anbar province right now. My dad used to use the old joke: "I didn't know whether to shit or go blind, so I just closed one eye and farted!"

I always got a kick out of that one. But it's nothing to laugh about in Iraq. Imagine living every minute of every hour of every day in constant fear of being shot or blown up. Imagine being terrified ALL the time. Imagine not being able to send the kids outside because they might never return. Imagine.

Imagine not knowing who to trust. Or, worse yet, not being able to trust ANYONE.

It's difficult to imagine the amount of damage this administration's actions have done to Iraq. I don't know how they will ever recover. But I do know this: If I were living in Iraq and especially in Anbar province right now, I'd be hiding in Saddam's "spider hole" or any other crevice where it felt safe for a minute because "Georgie" and his puppets there are "Rounding Up The Usual Suspects." And in this case, with his gang of thugs and mercenaries, that could be fatal.

Blackwater's "rules of engagement:" Kill them ALL! Let God sort them out!

"Georgie's" ethics: Oh, never mind... I can't describe what doesn't exist.

In her new book: "The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot," Naomi Wolf lists the 10 steps from Freedom and Democracy to Fascism. This administration has taken us to the brink of America's destruction as a nation of Civil Liberties and Freedom.

Here are the 10 steps:

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy.

2. Create a gulag. (Secret prisons where torture is condoned)

3. Develop a thug caste. (Blackwater)

4. Set up an internal surveillance system.

6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release.

(Bye-Bye Habeas Corpus)

7. Target key individuals. (Joe Wilson/Valerie Plame)

8. Control the press. (Ruppert Murdock)

9. Dissent equals treason. ("You're with us... Or you're again' us!")

10. Suspend the rule of law. (The last step: Martial Law!)

Here's a link to explanations of the 10:

http://bodo.gnn.tv/blogs/23051/Fascist_America_in_10_Easy_Steps

I'm going to get the book today and will review it soon. But I don't need to read it to know Ms. Wolf has a great perception of what's been happening in our country.

"We The People" MUST stand against these monsters. "We" are the only safeguard left between America and "Bush World!"

Speak up, America! Stand and fight if necessary. Blackwater is getting vital training in Iraq which will serve them well when the time comes to use them here against us.

Please! Please! Pay attention! Please, please speak now while we still have some of our rights left!

Remember the "good old days" when our country had the respect of the world? Remember when our diplomats needed only a small contingent of US military, usually Marines, to "protect" and "secure" them when they traveled?

Well, in the words of that great philosopher, Bob Dylan, "The Times They Are A Changin'"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20070919/wl_time/cantheuslivewithoutblackwater

These days here in "Bush World" we don't need no stinkin' respect! We only need a contingent of well-armed mercenaries with no-bid contracts who don't worry about a little thing like right or wrong when making life and death decisions about Iraqi civilians.

What have we become?

Prime Minister Malaki, in an attempt to appear to stand up to his puppet masters in Washington, has announced that Blackwater should be banned from further Iraqi operations. He is telling Condi that Blackwater should be replaced with another "security" company. But, as everyone knows, that would involve another no-bid contract probably with Haliburton, the formation of another "wholly-owned subsidiary" of the off-shore corporations which fund "Georgie's" and Dick "The Monster" Cheney's "retirement" accounts AND the transfer of ALL the current employees of Blackwater to that new entity! It's a LOT of paperwork!

It's probably easier for "Georgie" to have Malaki "taken care of" quietly by some other puppets in Iraq who don't mind doing a little thing like murder when there's big money involved.

Interesting place, this "Bush World."

But remember... There are still nearly 30% who BELIEVE the surge is working!

Andrew Meyer, a 21 year old student at University of Florida, might be asking the question: "What happened to freedom of speech?"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/09/17/police-taser-florida-stud_n_64789.html

I've been debating since this happened with myself about posting my opinion about it. What have we become? Is this what "Bushworld" is going to be like?

When do the storm troopers begin using bullets instead of tasers? When do they begin breaking down the doors of bloggers because "they" don't like what we say?

If I were the parent of Andrew Meyer, I'm afraid I'd be in jail in Florida by now. If I saw my son manhandled and abused as this young man was for asking a political question in an open forum, "they" would have had to use deadly force on me.

I hope the American people are as outraged by this atrocity as I am. I know there will be some, like my adversary here at the Cafe, who will ALWAYS take the side of the "police" in a matter like this. But this is so beyond outrageous I can't imagine how ANYONE can defend the actions of the "Gestapo" at University of Florida.

John Kerry should be yelling for them to stop. He offered to answer Meyer's question before he was grabbed by these "rent-a-cops" who dragged him away. Where is the administration of the university? Two of the officers have been suspended WITH pay! Why weren't they jailed for assault?

I'm outraged by this as you can probably detect. This isn't the America I want my children to see. This isn't the America I taught them about. This isn't the America I love.

Instead, this is the America that George W. Bush and his cohorts want. It's easier to "rule" a people if they live in fear. Saddam showed us how well that works.

Freedom of speech is the most fundamental of our constitutional rights! And "they" took that away from this young man.

I hope he recovers from this vicious attack. I hope his heart and other organs weren't permanently damaged by this attack. I hope he sues the University and wins enough money to support him for the rest of his life. I hope the "black-booted thugs" who mistreated him are not immune to prosecution and I hope they can also be held liable in a civil matter.

This kind of thing shouldn't happen in OUR America! This kind of thing happens in dictatorships! This kind of thing happened in Germany in the "bad old days." This kind of thing happened in Saddam's Iraq. This kind of thing MUST not be tolerated in a "FREE" society like our used to be before this administration perverted our Constitution and took our civil liberties.

I'm outraged!

What happened to Freedom of Speech?