The selection of General Hayden to head the CIA is merely another step in the neo-con campaign to eliminate democratic constraints and give the president dictatorial powers. A general who enthusiastically endorses spying on American citizens, Hayden's appointment is a giant step away from that old-fashioned idea of checks and balances. I believe a secret, military, governmental authority aimed at its own citizenry translates pretty well as Geheime Staats Polizei.
The long-term aim of the neo-cons, it seems, is to transform the United States into one of those Third World military dictatorships that we used to be so fond of setting up in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Since these have become less fashionable in the Third World, perhaps it's a bit of nostalgia that leads the neo-cons to seek it at home.
These "backward" countries (1) had centralized militaristic authoritarian governments that kept close tabs on anyone who disagreed with their policies; (2) had a steep gap between rich and poor--with a small wealthy class and a huge underclass; (3) had a large proportion of their budget given over to the military establishment; (4) placed little emphasis on education, except for the very rich; (5) had poor human rights records.
Democracy is still alive in the United States, but it's not because the neo-cons aren't trying:
(1) Executive authority has reached unprecedented levels under the Bush administration. Bush has authorized spying on millions of Americans and initiated warrantless wiretaps. He has refused to enforce any laws passed by Congress that he doesn't agree with. He has made explicit his belief that anything he does or approves is automatically legal. He has declared himself above the law--both national and international. Secrecy has attained epic proportions--the Bush administration spends six billion dollars a year keeping information away from the people.
(2) For thirty years, after the end of World war II, economic equality increased in the United States, but since 1980 the gap between rich and poor has ballooned. Gini coefficients--the most effective measure of economic inequality--are growing at an accelerating rate, after a brief pause in the late 1990s. Incomes have declined for the poorest 20% of Americans, but climbed steeply for the richest 5%. This at a time when the most prosperous nations in the world are also those with the greatest economic equality.
3. The Pentagon's budget is higher than those of the 25 next highest nations combined. A hundred nations have military budgets smaller than what the Pentagon spends in a day. Fifty have budgets smaller than what the Pentagon spends in two hours. The cost of the Iraq war and its fallout (the long-term health costs from the widespread maiming of our troops, for example) is now estimated at two trillion dollars.
4. Twenty years ago the U.S. ranked first in the world in the percentage of its people who held a high school degree. Today it ranks tenth, and our position is rapidly declining. In 1970 more than half of the world's science and engineering doctorates came from U.S. universities. By 2001 the European Union granted 40% more than we did. The puny salaries we pay most of our teachers helps explain why the American educational system ranks at the bottom of industrialized societies. Money spent on teacher salaries is the single best index of a nation's future economic health.
5. Since 9/11 and the passage of the ill-named Patriot Act, hundreds of individuals have been imprisoned for years without a trial, without being charged with any offense, and without access to a lawyer. These are the kinds of abuses that helped trigger our own revolt against Britain, and to prevent which the Bill of Rights was passed.
Decaying institutions are characterized by short-term thinking. They sacrifice future assets to maintain present dominance. The United States is increasingly handicapped by its enormous investment in military superiority at a time when military might is becoming less and less relevant to a nation's strength. Bush's huge deficits are creating a situation in which our government will soon become a wholly-owned subsidiary of East Asia. Subordinating education and economic health to military supremacy is suicidal in today's world. The administration's militarism, its authoritarianism, its mistrust of its own citizens, its reluctance to join other nations in tackling international problems, its inability to tolerate dissent or criticism of its policies--these are signs of the mental sclerosis that has always heralded the decline of great nations.