Posted by
Rilaly on Tuesday, June 09, 2009 9:54:31 PM
Is it possible for a theocracy to rule the United States? If one were to listen to Hollywood and New York's literary world, the United States has stepped precariously close in the past. We've been jumping at cardboard cutouts for as long as I can recall. Think of all the movies, the books, the songs, and the talking head oratories. As these things go, such an overthrow of this nature would’ve been impossible for some Jim Jones archetype, because we've been chomping at their bit for decades now. We still jump at the first hint of puritanism, but when it comes to the more permissive types we've been an accepting nation. We've allowed notions that the nation would've scoffed at even twenty years ago. (James Earl Carter has an asterisk in this piece, because he was elected in the aftermath of Watergate.) We elect the permissive types, because it shows growth on our part, it allows us to feel enlightened when the pollster asks us why we voted the way we did, and it allows us to feel well-rounded and wonderful when our friends ask us who we voted for. We didn't know what to expect from the permissive types. We giggled at some of the possibilities, and we thought we might enjoy the fruits of a more permissive society. We had been told for decades that we live in a puritanical society, and we thought we could use a little more bipartisanship. We never stopped to gauge the worst possibilities, and we scoffed at what we thought were bell ringers on the street corners. We still don't. We still find it impossible to believe that the permissive types are going to be the ones taking away our freedom.