Longterm, the most profound effect of this presidency will be...

[Syrinx]

It will be the sea change in the balance between government secrecy and personal privacy.

They can now surveil our every move, but they've been phasing out the FOI Act, and closing libraries that make government-collected data available to the public.

We were outraged when they started checking our library records. But nobody else was. And now it has come to this.

We, in this country we call home, are surveiled, cataloged and indexed -- and cross-indexed, by big-business, otherwise known as corporations. And by the government. We know this. We know of secrets deals between the government and the big phone companies to listen to our calls.

And they are hiding publicly obtained information!

By the way, does the following defintion sound familiar?

Main Entry: fas·cism
Pronunciation: 'fa-"shi-z&m also 'fa-"si-
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian fascismo, from fascio bundle, fasces, group, from Latin fascis bundle & fasces fasces
1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control <early instances of army fascism and brutality -- J. W. Aldridge>
- fas·cist /-shist also -sist/ noun or adjective, often capitalized
- fas·cis·tic /fa-'shis-tik also -'sis-/ adjective, often capitalized
- fas·cis·ti·cal·ly /-ti-k(&-)lE/ adverb, often capitalized

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=fascism&btnG=Words

[izzie]

1. My thinking is that the voters can get Congress to do its job

Some of this power must go back to Congress. I do find it odd that so many Am. think that a President can do no wrong so anything they think to do with information from them is fine, a very troublesome trend. Or maybe a trend that has just got out of hand. It used to be we did not trust govt. so liked this checking on every thing. People seem to forget no state signed on to this Constitutions in a snap. They did demand more to it before they would sign on. I find that type that keeps saying things like this 'if you have done no wrong what is the harm?' just scary. Who is the one that will judge what is harm?

[Lasher]

2. "If you have done no wrong then what is the harm?"

Then you won't mind if I go through your purse right now will you?

Good response to that one, I think. I read it here at DU a long time ago.

[izzie]

4. And I am sure they would come back with I have not one thing to hide

It is a strange come back yet I hear these callers on TV say it over and over. They just can not be thinking. Even well educated people on talk show say it. Very odd for Americans.

[B Calm]

3. We will be viewed with distrust and suspicion by the entire free world

from now on. Think how the world use to look up to America as a bastion of truth. How sad for America right now and how humiliating for us.

[ixion]

5. one thing is for certain: the concept of the 'Unitary Executive' must be dismissed

once and for all.

And I really hope there is a simultaneous backlash to restore both our privacy and the FOI access. Ending the so-called 'War on Drugs' and 'War on Terror' would also be productive.

This country has been damaged for at least a generation. It will take decades to repair the damage, both foreign and domestic.

The worst part is that we've not yet reached the damage repair stage. At this point we're still sinking in Banana Republic pudding. :-(

[Syrinx]

6. The War Analogy Has Been Misused And Abused

There can be no true war on drugs, as drugs are inanimate objects. That war is really a War on the American people. And of course the War On Terror is also a "war" against a tactic. Waging war on a tactic is not logical. The "War On Terror" is really a form of state-sponsored terrorism, because it is nothing more than a campaign to frighten the American people into giving up more and more of their rights -- exactly what the uber-plutocracy wants.

[ixion]

7. exactly...there is no such thing as a war against an abstraction

and I would like to see the whole 'war' analogy dispensed with as well. It has softened the true meaning of the word, and is being used as a viaduct for removing civil liberties, and worse. These are, in essence, nothing more than PR campaigns that have destroyed tens of thousands of people's lives.

[NewJeffCT]

8. Roberts & Alito will have the longest effect

Even if Bush is locked up for life in The Hague, all of the radical judges he appointed will be around for years and decades to come. The best hope we have is that no more Supremes need to be replaced prior to Bush leaving office, and that 2008 is the start of a long-term trend towards Democrats like 1968 started a nearly trend towards Republicans - when Bush leaves office, it will have been 28 years of Republican presidents and only 12 of Democrats, and Clinton was not exactly a fire-breathing liberal. He also had to deal with Republican shenanigans in blocking/tying up many of his judicial nominees.